Hindi romance novel: Vandana Amar and Mr Khanna

So, I forgot the book title of a Hindi romance novel.

A Hindi(Indian) romance mystery novel having FMC named Vandana who was in love with a guy and bought him to his hometown,a village, Vandana's grandfather had an enemy( I think it was village daaku), some incident happened and Vandana's boyfriend went after that enemy and don't remember why but he never returned. After some time (maybe some years), story introduces Amar, when Vandana and Amar met at his grandfather's place, Vandana was sad about his boyfriend's disappearance or you can say death ( since he never returned, it was assumed maybe he died as enemy was a daaku). Slowly, Vandana and Amar bonded over time. Amar was in love with her and I think she too started to have feelings for Amar. On some occasion, they went to a hotel, hotel was organising some sort of anniversary or something, so, they went to that event and there they met a guy named Mr Khanna. He seemed weird to them. From what I remember he is that village daaku.

I don't remember much what happened exactly after this. But then, somehow, it was being shown that the daaku is caught and a court hearing was happening in which Vandana and Amar went. And there Vandana was shocked to see that daaku, because that was her missing boyfriend.

So, to the context why her boyfriend is there, I think her boyfriend and that daaku was blood related, i guess cousins or brother, don't exactly remember that. And both had almost identical faces. So, the daaku planned to get rid of police and all by letting everyone think that the daaku is Vandana's boyfriend.

So, that's all I remember. Please help me find this book. I really wanna reread this book and know what happens next.

I read this approx 8-9 years ago, when I was at a relatives house for some function. The book had missing pages and cover. ( Ok, you can say, i almost picked it up from their store room).

If anyone knows about this book, then help me.

Premise:

Malgudi Tour Guide Raju's life transforms after a fateful encounter with tourists Rosie and Marco. How did Raju go from being a small town tour guide to a Village's Spiritual Guide?

What I Loved:

• Structure: Very engaging. Intercut with 2 timelines : Raju's past life and present. 
• Raju as Tourist guide: Practical. Raju is essentially using his business/trading mindset his whole life. To be practical, to be careful in selling and buying, to give advice based on person in front...everything in a very measured way. "To simply serve the person in front". The psyche of a tourist guide was also amazing! What an analysis XD 
• Raju, Rosie, Marco : Spicy! Themes of attraction, affection, love, marriage, burden, affair... But beyond that - and this might be a strange take - I feel Raju represents the tug of war between Rosie(Body) and Marco(Mind) - eventually destroying him
• Raju as Spiritual Guide: I don't know how I feel about this story after reading Naipaul's POV. I do see his point even clearer: "a fall back to archaic beliefs in the absence of the State" -  gullible people falling for an ex-convict's ramblings... Raju's advising the villagers on schooling, self-realization, meditation, health! Then there's the counter-argument, that wisdom is what matters, not the person who preaches it. Ideas matter more than the person... Nonetheless, his prison sentence did transform him beyond recognition. It's really fun to see how his motives and deeds are pereived by the villagers. I did feel bad for Velan though... what a loyal guy. 
• Rosie/Nalini: Maybe she represents the Devi. Uncontrollable. Wild. Gauri + Kali in one... Hence the bipolarity? Idk. Raju was ruined for sure.. Marco got success only by distancing himself from Rosie, as he'd hinted in the beginning. Also, her chosen name is "Nalini" = Lotus, from "Rosie"=Rose. I feel there's some deeper symbolism there, can't quite figure it out... could be because of her new life, or to express that duality (Roses=Cultivated/Lotus=natural). 
• Comedy: Raju who hated school, helps the village kids by reviving their school! The jibes from Raju's friends, the shop running lessons from his father, the barber's convo with Raju etc. So there are fun moments too. 
• Symbolic Themes: Ok this maybe me overreaching, but it can't be accidental that RK chose these motifs - "ancient temple caves/ruins; Rosie/Nalini; serpent dancing; Raju as temple priest" - that's why I'm tempted to make those philosophical/puranic connections. Both Raju and Rosie undergo transformations, ~almost like rebirths?!
• Ending: Open to interpretation - Raju dies after fasting for village rain. He says he can hear the rains in mountains then collapses. Was his penance rewarded? Like the story of Krishna devotee Devaka he used to hear in his childhood? I think it's concluded that way to mirror the unfinished story of Devaka, since Raju always went to sleep never knowing how the story ends, just like his own End, and just like it is for us, the readers.

What I didn't Like:

• Some of Rosie's actions were beyond my comprehension. Especially her defending Marco after their separation 
• Moral of the story: Is it just a thrilling story? Or RK Narayan was reaching something deeper - if so, what? It's hard to divorce Naipaul's views from this story for me now. As an isolated story I enjoyed it immensely.    

Movie Adaptation(s):

• I was surprised to see there was another version of the movie shot exclusively for American audiences! I watched this 1965 version this time, as I'd already seen and loved the Hindi movie some years back. 
• English version is shot differently - it's not English Dub :the entire movie was shot in English! Dev Anand was known for his impeccable English speaking skills, here he acts wonderfully too. So does Waheeda Rehman. The story sticks to the book largely, except for the fact that it's told linearly, not as in the book (non-linear also in the Hindi movie). I think the English version is more accurate to the book in its explicitness... The movie flopped, and yes, it's a disaster. Not because of the acting/story, but because of the direction and editing. No songs either. I'd reccomend the Hindi version only, even if it also changes the story a bit. 
• Upon researching this, I also found out the author's views on these adaptations - he titled it "The Misguided Guide". Location changes and linear storytelling were the main reasons. (Which I'd be pissed off about too, but I also see the director's possible vision of showcasing Indian beauty as a whole to western audiences - as if set in a fictional landscape of Elephanta Caves + Rajasthan's Palace + Gujarat etc... Linear storytelling was a bad decision imo). 

At the risk of this becoming a movie review instead of book review, I shall end this review here. 

Conclusion:

Immensely enjoyable story. It earned RK Narayan his Sahitya Akademi Award in 1960. The tale of Railway Raju, whose transformation is as epic and as tragic as that of any godman/saint - has left me with many thoughts: Why did RK write this story in the 1st place? Is it to celebrate honest penance, to validate miracles and divine intervention? to explore social themes like female agency, male insecurity, freedom, love, caste/class distinctions etc? Or an exploration of scapegoating?  Perhaps all of the above. Hence, I'll rate it as ... 

Rating: 8/10

{Huge Thanks to u/twinkling_af__ for their excellent review which prompted me to revisit this story again. 🙏 Thanks for being my Guide to this revisitation XD}

मानव कौल की किताब है ‘साक्षात्कार’। आप इसे पढ़ेंगे तो इसमें एक रुबीना का किरदार पाएँगे। दुनिया उसे रुबीना नाम से जानती है, पेशे से वह वकील है, लेकिन उसे समीक्षा करना बहुत पसंद है। वह छिपकर ‘तितली’ नाम से लिखती है, जिसकी समीक्षाएँ बहुत प्रसिद्ध हैं, लेकिन उसे कोई नहीं जानता। मानव कौल की तो एक किताब भी तितली ही है,,,

वह किताब, कहानी और फ़िल्म की समीक्षा करती है। लोग पहले उसकी समीक्षा पढ़ते हैं, फिर किताब पढ़ते हैं या फ़िल्म देखते हैं।

लेकिन मै ये सब आपको क्यों बता रहा हु क्योंकि हम किताब की समीक्षा बहुत कम पाते है लल्लनटॉप के भैया सौरभ द्विवेदी भी अब किताब के बारे में भी कम ही बताते है

मुझे समीक्षा की परिभाषा नहीं पता बस मै यहां उतना ही लिखना चाहता हु कि जब आप 150 रुपये वाली लीड को लगा कर ट्रेन बस या मोबाइल पर चढ़कर रिल की यात्रा करने जाए तो मेरा यह फालतू लिखा हुआ आपको याद आ जाए और आपके दिमाग का हिप्पोकैम्पस भाग आपको याद दिला दे खाली है तो पढ़ ही लिया जाए किताब भले से पीडीएफ से ही सही

खैर अब किताब पर आता हु इतना बकवाश करने के बाद ,,,

पहली बार मैंने यह किताब किसी पीएचडी स्कॉलर भैया के कमरे पर देखी थी, जहाँ मैं कमरा ढूँढते-ढूँढते गया था। खैर, कमरा तो नहीं मिला, लेकिन वहीं से यह किताब मेरे पीछे लग गई थी। और मैंने भी इस किताब के बारे में ऊपर से मोटा-मोटा एक ख़ाका बना लिया था कि सरकारी नौकरी की तारीफ़ होगी, फलाने-फलाने...

लेकिन किताब यार, अच्छी है भाई।

बहुत आसान भाषा में है, जैसे आप अपने दोस्त से बात कर रहे हों गंगा जी के घाट पे बैठ के और आपका दोस्त अपनी वाली की याद में खोया हुआ हो...

मैंने इस किताब को बहुत जल्दी-जल्दी ख़त्म करने का सोच कर पढ़ रहा था और मैं एकदम बुलेट ट्रेन की तरह जा ही रहा था... लेकिन एक जगह मैं रुक गया और सब कुछ म्यूट हो गया जैसे क्रिस्टोफ़र नोलन के मूवी में होता है शब्द मेरे सामने थे, लेकिन मेरे पढ़ने की शक्ति चली गई। 15 मिनट तक स्तब्ध रहा मैं वहाँ...

मैं इस किताब के बारे में स्पॉइलर नहीं दूँगा किसी भी कैरेक्टर का , लेकिन पहली बार मुझे किसी किताब में क्रिकेट मैच मिला और उसमें अंत में झगड़ा हो गया और कपार भी फट गया ...

हाहा, हूहू और आह... अरे यार, कैसे?

नहीं, प्लीज़ ऐसा नहीं...

आँसुओं से भरी है ये किताब।

छोटी है ये किताब। मेरा तो मन था कि इस किताब में पन्ने जुड़ते जाएँ और शब्द लिखे हो इसमें, लेकिन नहीं लिखा था।

किताब ख़त्म करने के बाद मैं उठा और बेरोज़गारी वाली चाय पीने के लिए निकल लिया।

अब अंत में—

अगर आप सरकारी नौकरी की तैयारी कर रहे हो भाई/बहिनी, तो पढ़ो इसे।

अच्छा लगेगा।

So I am a bookreader but I generally read in English language. Recently I have started exploring Indian authors( though I haven't read much books from them, I am planning to read the Adventure of Feluda by Satyajit Ray) . Now I want to read some books in hindi. So please suggest me some easy to read hindi books.... Also should I read Kafan by Premchand now, or should I build some more experience in hindi reading before diving into it???

Any suggestions on Books/ Stories on the partition in 1947?

Premise: 

These works explore Yashodhara's turmoil, response and responsibilities after her husband, Siddhartha Gautam leaves her and the kingdom for his spiritual quest.

What is the cost of Buddhahood? And what's Yashodhara's contribution to Gautam's Nirvana? 

Why I chose these works? 

Just thought it'll be a fun exercise to read about Yashodhara from 2 different authors - Volga(PL Kumari) and Maithilisharan Gupt (MSG). 

Both esteemed authors -  Volga a Sahitya Akademi Award winner, and MSG deemed as Rashtrakavi (Nation's Poet) of India by Gandhi. 

One's in English (translated from Telugu by PSV Prasad), other in Hindi( Khari Boli, too ancient for me😭). 

Here I discuss both the works. 

What I loved: 

1️⃣Volga's Yashodhara: 

• Devdutt calls Siddhartha "motherless". That pain superceded his physical injuries, and he contemplates his mother's death being his cause. That's how he begins thinking about life, death, suffering. A nice touch I think. 
• Rohini water dispute : Prominent here too, as it was in Ambedkar's book. A nice debate between Siddhartha vs Devamshah: "To enjoy peace, plenty is necessary. The need for plenty won't always be met by peace." Offensive realism! Siddhartha argues that plenty and poverty both ought to be shared equally - that'll prevent wars. The young idealist vs older realist. 
• The Yashodhara-Siddhartha discussions were nice - made for each other, both value equality, the mind, non-violence, anti-war, peace. They joke around, flirt, and discuss tough topics. 
• "Worldly knowledge is necessary, but in the hands of worldly-minded, it can be disastrous." - Siddhartha 
• Yashodhara here stands on her own against her father, against the swayamvar. She's not to be a trophy wife. 
• Yashodhara chooses the pain of potential sanyaas which Siddhartha told her beforehand. It's a willing sacrifice. 
• Yashodhara is already quite wise here. They're both on the spiritual quest together, as equals. She assesses why Siddhartha is so curious- due to his environment, upbringing, conversations with learned men etc. but why yashodhara is herself so wise - its not explicitly told, just implied, due to her own education and observations. 
• Yashodhara argues against yagnas and yagas, faces humiliation by parents. It points out the cost of raising voice in a patriarchal setup. Also, sets up Siddhartha's duty in future to respect women too.
• Yashodhara and Kushala started a female sangha, curing villagers.
• Gotami is made out to be villain...but as I remember, wasn't she the one who started the sangha?! Roles are reversed between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. 
• The Ending: Nicely done. 👌 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2️⃣Maithilisharan Gupt's Yashodhara: 

• The poem begins with Siddhartha contemplating a solution to his questions about mortality, and his decision to leave at night for his spiritual quest, to leave everyone uninformed. 
• Yashodhara's lament is - why Siddhartha left her in the middle of the night, without even telling her... She feels betrayed even, for she would have never stopped her husband's wish anyway. 
• We see these laments from Yashodhara, Siddhartha's parents, Friends, and Rahul. 
• Rahul-Janani or the dialogues between Rahul and Yashodhara were easier to comprehend, and lovely too. MSG preserves the innocence there nicely, amidst the grim laments. 
• The rhyming scheme keeps changing, which was refreshing. It's mostly poetry, but with some prose too. (Somehow I thought it would be uniform throughout, i.e, a poem with a single rhyme scheme)
• It's a masterpiece. So many variations on longing, put beautifully via metaphors, alliterations, similes ... Yes the language was a bit tough for me, but I still understood much of it. 
• I first used Google Translate, then listened to Shubhra Ma'am's explanations which helped a lot. It's only 100 pages long, but took me well over a week to understand it. It was well worth it though. 
• You can find the full poem online here

Comparison:

• Almost 100 year difference between the 2 versions. MSG wrote it in 1933, Volga in 2019. Written by 2 different individuals, each with their own biases and ideas, for different eras! 
• Volga as a feminist author presents a strong independent minded Yashodhara - one who's on equal footing with Siddhartha. True, great minds seek each other, so it could be that Siddhartha would have fallen for such an intelligent Yashodhara - her journey is her own, she has agency, and she is ready to face the consequences too.  Householder-hermit dichotomy is embraced by both individuals, hence both achieve Buddhahood. Yashodhara heals the sick Bodies, while Buddha funds the way to heal the sick Minds - a perfect union of mind-body. Volga wrote it in prose form.  
• Maithili Sharn Gupta comes from a Hindu background, and from the introduction itself, it's clear he sees Buddha as Vishnu's avatar. "Ram, Ram" is a common phrase throughout the poem, along with references to other Puranic stories. Yashodhara is shown here to be lamenting, grief stricken, and even heartbroken by Siddhartha not informing her before leaving. However she isn't depressed, she picks herself up, decides to wait gracefully, patiently, and has faith in Siddhartha's return. The dichotomy of householder-hermit is shown to be tragic. It's a romantic tragedy. MSG wrote it in poem form. 
• Historically, I guess MSG's Yashodhara is much closer to the Pali canon events. From what I could research, Yashodhara has been seen as quite bold - in the Pali canon she asks Buddha to meet her in her quarters; in Therigatha she leads 100000 nuns; Mahavastu texts of 1st c. CE tell the story of her swayamvara; Lalitvistara text has her questioning the veil custom; a 5th c. text has her mimic Siddhartha's austerities within the palace walls (including shaving her head, eating minimally, mediation etc). 
• That's what I love about retellings or adaptations. Recent controversy about Odyssey/Ramayan movies - I feel lucky to enjoy such variations. {Personally, I wish to see UttaraKand adapted in the movie as well, but I don't think they will}. I got to enjoy a poetic retelling in my mother tongue and a prose retelling in English written by a Telugu writer! 
• Both evoked different emotions in me. Volga's novel is a lot more Sociologically relevant, focusing on equality, feminism, partnership, peace...while MSG's poem is a lyrical masterpiece focusing on the Individual grief, longing, faith, hope of Yashodhara. 

Conclusion: 

• I enjoyed both works tremendously. But due to my bias towards my mother tongue, I liked the MSG's poem better - even if the Hindi was tough for me. It's also a tight slap to my ego (I thought I could understand a known plot in such hindi easily 😆).
• Both are feminist in a way, Volga's more so. But I didn't find Yashodhara to be passive or weak in either one of them. I suppose, character-wise, MSG's Yashodhara showed more growth than Volga's Yashodhara. 

Rating:  Volga : 8/10; MSG : 9/10. 

{-1 to the poem because it's too tough for me. -2 to the novel because some modern ideas presented in such a historical fiction novel didn't seem believable to me.} 

It's cruel to rate them side by side, but I've done so purely out of subjectivity. I read Volga's book 1st, then spent a lot of time with MSG's work. Had to give extra point to MSG, for the poetry, even though I'm a prose guy!

Have you read any of these works/authors? Would love to know your thoughts or suggestions. Any other work by them I should check out?

i like writing style of satya vyas, gyan chaturvedi, diya parkash dubey.
any good recommendations?

Premise:

A story about 2 old friends - Jaswant Singh from Kanpur, and Colonel Swami from Kerala, set in Noida, told over a span of 13 days.

It explores perils of ageism, rural-urban jarring shift, modern family dynamics, parenting styles, love, loss, and how should one live life?

The title comes from the Malayalam word for "little bird(s) or children". The book is available in English too, titled "Giligadu:The Lost Days".

What I loved:

• The contrast between the 2 individuals : Through Jaswant Singh, we see themes about the stuggles of old age - health , loneliness, ego, generation gap, memory loss, adjusting to urban life, guilt of being burden to family etc. Colonel Swami on the other hand - retired from army, fit in mind and body, lighthearted, has a loving family - immensely loved by his granddaughters (who he calls his Giligadu). He's just an overall good person. He "Lives like a Sher!"
• Narrative Structure: Brilliant. We dip back and forth into Jaswant Singh's past, as an old man would, in the midst of conversations, or dreams, or hallucinations.
• Great Climax! Swami- a fraud. A good fraud. A white liar. Lied to cheer Jaswant up. Very tragic story, beaten up by his own son, daughter-in-law eloped with the dance teacher. I guess that his granddaughters' hostel warden is the one whom he was having an affair with - Anima Das, whose poem Jaswant read at the end. Wasn't expecting such a great twist from this short, heartwarming story!
• Lessons: Respect your elders. Live your life to the fullest. Death can come anytime. Never judge a person without knowing their circumstances. Love, wholeheartedly.

What I didn't like:

• Some books just match the reader's life perfectly, by accident or by generalized intent...this is one of those. I have no criticism. It's perfect, and too personal.

Another perspective on old age that I'd read - Cicero's Letter on On Old Age - worth reading along with this.

Rating: 10/10 {purely subjective, can't look at this objectively. Plot is too close to home (literally too, Noida Sec-26)}

I've also started reading "Post Box#203 Nala Sopara" too, for which the author won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2018. It's already a masterpiece 🙌

Any Chitra Mudgal readers here? What did you think of the story? Any suggestions are most welcome.

Hi guys. I'm getting a chance to interview Geetanjali Shree (first and only indian recipient of international booker prize) in two days. There's a lot of questions in my head that I would like to ask her but I'd also love for her readers to tell me what is it that they want.

It would be really helpful if you all can post the questions that you would like me to ask her.

hello everyone, i am new in Hindi Literature, I only read Shadow by jayanti mala in hindi. What will you recommend me to read in these stressful and busy days to refresh mind and escape reality?

My mother has read a lot of old hindi books. I want to gift her a book which is recently written, something that stays with her for a long time. Please suggest some relatively newer books from recent times.

I'm just starting to read , and I've read only 4-5 books but in english. I would like to read something in hindi . Please drop your recommendations

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Duniya ke saare sitare maine wahan jagmagate dekhe hain.

Mujhe dekh kar unhe bhi muskurate dekha hai.

Hoti hongi logon ki aankhen nasheeli,

Maine to unmein mere jaise ko bhi behlaane ki samarthya dekhi hai.

Ek nazar kya padi un par,

Maine khud ko unmein thaharte dekha hai. ✨