While preparing to wed the beautiful Bidyunmala, Devaraya is threatened by a treacherous brother within and enemies preparing for war without; worse still, Bidyunmala seems to be in love with Arjunvarma, a man Devaraya has come to trust. And so begins Saradindu Bandyopadhyay's classic tale of intrigue, love and war, set on the banks of the river Tungabhadra in fourteenth-century India.

    The resonance of this image grows through each section of the book as Hahn skillfully employs theme and variation, counterpoint and mirroring techniques. The ibis first appears as part of an illusion, the disappearing object in a magician’s trick, which then evokes the greatest disappearing act of all—death—where there are no tricks to bring about a reappearance. The rich complexity multiplies as the second section focuses on a disappearing lady and a dramatic final section brings together the bird and the lady in their common plight—both caged by their mortality, their assigned time and role.  All of the illusions fall away during this brilliant denouement as the two voices share a dialogue on the power of metaphor as the very essence of poetry. bird trick iv It’s all about disappearance. About a bird in a cagewith a mirror, a simple twiston the handle at the sidethat makes it come and go at the magician’s insistence. It’s all about innocence.It’s all about acceptance.It’s all about compliance.It’s all about deference.It’s all about silence. It’s all about disappearance.

    The immaculately dressed Chowringhee, radiant in her youth, had just stepped on to the floor at the nightclub.’ Set in 1950s Calcutta, Chowringhee is a sprawling saga of the intimate lives of managers, employees and guests at one of Calcutta’s largest hotels, the Shahjahan. Shankar, the newest recruit, recounts the stories of several people whose lives come together in the suites, restaurants, bar and backrooms of the hotel. As both observer and participant in the events, he inadvertently peels off the layers of everyday existence to expose the seamy underbelly of unfulfilled desires, broken dreams, callous manipulation and unbidden tragedy. What unfolds is not just the story of individual lives but also the incredible chronicle of a metropolis. Written by best-selling Bengali author Sankar, Chowringhee was published as a novel in 1962. Predating Arthur Hailey’s Hotel by three years, it became an instant hit, spawning translations in major Indian languages, a film and a play. Its larger-than-life characters—the enigmatic manager Marco Polo, the debonair receptionist Sata Bose, the tragic hostess Karabi Guha, among others—soon attained cult status. With its thinly veiled accounts of the private lives of real-life celebrities, and its sympathetic narrative seamlessly weaving the past and the present, it immediately established itself as a popular classic. Available for the first time in English, Chowringhee is as much a dirge as it is a homage to a city and its people.An excerpt (Chapter 1) from the book :http://arunavasinha.in/2011/05/27/cho...

    It is not about terrorism, the holocaust, or understanding death. They are the framework for this heartwarming story about a never-a-serious-thought high school senior and his best friend, a Deaf-blind, legless old man, who teaches him how to capture and hold, The Pristine American Dream. Pristine, "Characteristics of the earliest period or condition: original: still pure: uncorrupted: unspoiled [Pristine beauty]." Webster's New World Dictionary. Sometime, somehow, somewhere, we, as a people, stopped living and dreaming The Pristine American Dream as our Founding Fathers knew it. Like colors fading from a handkerchief long forgotten on a cedar post, the Dream has faded from our thoughts and aspirations. The change has been imperceptible, yet over time all of the brilliance has faded to the dull, uninspiring and common. The Pristine American Dream has taken on a different hue. To some, the American Dream has become a passionate search for easy wealth by hitting it big in the lottery, sweepstakes, a big lawsuit, or receiving an inheritance. To others it is landing a professional sports contract, or achieving prominence in politics, business or popularity without any thought to inherent rights. As important as these achievements may be to some people, The Pristine American Dream is much better. This story showcases The Pristine American Dream, which is those inalienable or inherent rights guaranteed to each American by virtue of their birth, and the diligence, hard work and determination required to obtain and enjoy the privileges of life. Simply put, inherent rights are the rights to be and to do good. Everything that is good is right, an inherent right. Nobody ever has the right to do bad; they only have the power to choose it. Many people see goodness as the result of religious dedication instead of the catalyst that fires the furnace of happiness. No matter what circumstances' individuals, families, communities or nations find themselves in, they always enjoy more peace of mind and happiness when they maintain their inherent rights. Privileges are the sweet things of life for which one must work to receive. This is a fiction story. The setting is Declo, Idaho during the years of 1966 and 1967. All the characters are fiction, but like many great fiction characters they may resemble living or dead individuals whose lives have impacted that of the author. Most family names are indigenous to the Declo community, yet there should not be any inference made that any of the characters are living or have ever lived. There are, however, certain authenthic individuals who make cameo appearances to add color to its historical setting.

    Tenida is the leader of a group of four young lads who lived in the neighbourhood of Potoldanga, Tenida was depicted as the local big-mouthed airhead with a heart of gold, who, although not blessed with academic capabilities, was admired and respected by the other three for his presence of mind, courage, honesty as well as his vociferous appetite. Descriptions of Tenida's nose also make frequent appearances in the text, being described as "a large nose resembling Mount Mainak". The narrator of the stories is Pyalaram, who seemed to share his leaders frailty in academic exertions. The other two characters who formed an integral part of the quartet were Habul Sen, who speaks with strong East Bengali accent (Dhakai) and Kyabla- the cleverest amongst the four. The stories of Tenida and his gang were usually one of comedy-adventure where the gang goes through a lot of pain- and humiliation- to solve a mystery which were mostly of comical solutions. The short stories were extensively based in Calcutta and it's suburbs, while some of the larger stories took the group to the Bengal countryside, and at times further away. It is said that Narayan Gangopadhyay created the character of Tenida on his landlord (who had the same name) - with whom he was a very good friend.

    More than forty years passed before Devi read Bengal Nights, the novel Eliade had fashioned out of their encounter, only to find small details and phrases, even her given name, bringing back episodes and feelings she had spent decades trying to forget. It Does Not Die is Devi's response. In part a counter to Eliade's fantasies, the book is also a moving account of a first love fraught with cultural tensions, of false starts and lasting regrets.Proud of her intelligence, Maitreyi Devi's father had provided her with a fine and, for that time, remarkably liberal education — and encouraged his brilliant foreign student, Eliade, to study with her. "We were two good exhibits in his museum," Devi writes. They were also, as it turned out, deeply taken with each other. When their secret romance was discovered, Devi's father banished the young Eliade from their home. Against a rich backdrop of life in an upper-caste Hindu household, Devi powerfully recreates the confusion of an over-educated child simultaneously confronting sex and the differences, not only between European and Indian cultures, but also between her mother's and father's view of what was right. Amid a tangle of misunderstandings, between a European man and an Indian girl, between student and teacher, husband and wife, father and daughter, she describes a romance unfolding in the face of cultural differences but finally succumbing to cultural constraints. On its own, It Does Not Die is a fascinating story of cultural conflict and thwarted love. Read together with Eliade's Bengal Nights, Devi's "romance" is a powerful study of what happens when the oppositions between innocence and experience, enchantment and disillusion, and cultural difference and colonial arrogance collide. "In two novels written forty years apart, a man and a woman tell stories of their love. . . . Taken together they provide an unusually touching story of young love unable to prevail against an opposition whose strength was tragically buttressed by the uncertainties of a cultural divide."—Isabel Colegate, New York Times Book Review"Recreates, with extraordinary vividness, the 16-year-old in love that she had been. . . . Maitreyi is entirely, disarmingly open about her emotions. . . . An impassioned plea for truth."—Anita Desai, New Republic"Something between a reunion and a duel. Together they detonate the classic bipolarities: East-West, life-art, woman-man."—Richard Eder, New York Newsday"One good confession deserves another. . . . Both books gracefully trace the authors' doomed love affair and its emotional aftermath."—Nina Mehta, Chicago Tribune

    Children story - all time lovable.

    As she grows from an impetuous; spirited child to a lonely young woman; Swati is witness to the upheavals and joys of the Mitra family even as the country slides towards the promise of independence and the inevitability of war.Anxious to ensure that his daughters find suitable husbands; Rajen-babu realizes it is only a matter of time before his favourite child too must leave home. While the boorish entrepreneur Prabir Majumdar decides that she will make him a fitting wife; Swati finds herself increasingly drawn to Satyen; the young professor who introduces her to a world of books and the heady poetry of Tagore and Coleridge.First published in Bengali as Tithidore in 1949; When the Time Is Right is a moving tale of a family and a nation.

    There are many legends about this man, but nothing definite is known about him. The famous Bengali writer, Sunil Gangopadhyay has pieced together this interesting biography, The Fakir, based on many legends.Lalan Fakir united people of different communities through his simple songs that expressed love of mankind and of God, without adhering to any particular religious creed or any traditional spiritual school. His simple teachings alienated the orthodox communities of Hindus and Muslims. But, he inspired thousands of simple folk who were attracted by his songs and by his universal message of love and hope.His simple compositions have since passed into folklore, and his uncomplicated message attracted people of different communities and bound them together during a time of strife and feudal oppression. But, there is no written record of the life history of this mystic. The Fakir is written based on the many legends that abound about him. The author describes Lalan Fakir as a simple young man whose gift of a sweet voice attracts the patronage of a local landlord.While on a pilgrimage with his patron, Lalu contracts smallpox and is presumed dead. His body is set afloat in the river Ganga. However, the young man is rescued and cared for by a Muslim lady. Due to these incidents in his life, he is considered an outcast by the both Hindu and Muslim communities.Based on these life experiences, Lalu then learns and amalgamates the teachings of various religions and preaches a universal path that does not subscribe to any traditionally defined beliefs. He is revered as Lalan Fakir and attracts a huge number of followers.

    This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

    ফ্ল্যাপে লিখা কথাঃI hear a sudden cry of pain!There is a rabbit in a snare:Now I hear the cry again,But i cannot tell from where.But i cannot tell from whereHe is calling out for aid;Crying of the frightened air,Making everything afraid.Making everything afraid,Wrinkling up his little face.As he cries again for aid;And i cannot find the place!And i cannot find the placeWhere his paw is in the snare;Little one! Oh, little one!I am searching everywhere.JAMES STEPHENS

    This novel focuses on the trauma of a mother who awakens one morning to the shattering news that her son is lying dead in the police morgue, reduced to a mere numeral: Corpse No. 1084. Through her struggle to understand his revolutionary commitment as a Naxalite, she recognizes her own alienation—as a woman and a wife—from the complacent, hypocritical, and corrupt feudal society her son had so fiercely rebelled against.

    During Das's lifetime, it was published twice: first time in Poush 1349 Bengali calendar(December 1942 AD) with a cover by Sambhu Shaha including 12 poems, second time in Srabon 1359 Bengali calendar (1952 AD) an enlarged version with a cover by Satyajit Ray including 30 poems. Das named the volume after the poem: Banalata Sen, one of Das’s finest poems, certainly his most popular. The enlarged edition published by Signet Press was awarded in 1953 at the Nikhil Banga Rabindra Sahitya Sammelan (All Bengal Rabindra Literature Convention).The recurring themes in the poems of this volume are love, nature, time, temporariness of life and love and etc. Above all, a historical sense pervades everything. The names that frequent in many poems are Suchetana, Suranjana, Sudarshana and Syamali and these women are deemed above or beyond women in general. In these poems, the love Das talks about crosses the boundaries of time and place and sometimes seems impersonal too.

    Hoteliers, pet-bear owners, friends of Freud (the animal trainer and vaudevillian, that is), and playthings of mad fate, they “dream on” in a funny, sad, outrageous, and moving novel by the remarkable author of A Prayer for Owen Meany and Last Night in Twisted River.

    wrote on the royal family of the erstwhile state of Travancore. The other two are Dharmaraja (1913) and Ramaraja Bahadur in two parts (1918-1920). Marthanda Varma on the surface, is a historical romance, but its subtext is a political one of contemporary significance. In the novel there is a subplot with Subhadra at the centre. Through what she does or what happens to her, C.V. is projecting a futuristic vision of the New Woman in the Indian context. The conventional image of the woman is replaced by an imagined figure that was to emerge on the Indian scene. Another unique feature of this novel is the introduction, for the first time, of untouchables, the channans of south Travancore, Hence is fiction asserting humanistic values over and above the taboos and superstitions of yester-years.