an orch

estra of lite

rary voices from Indic languages

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www.oup.com

Diverse, intense, anguished, euphoric, elemental, and mellifluous—

India narrates her stories in multiple languages.

From the burning field of a drought-struck village in Andhra Pradesh

to a village under severe threat of submersion in the Maland region of

Karnataka; from the deep solitude in an apartment block in Bombay

to the intense aggression on display in a bull-taming contest in the

Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu; from a Paranaki settlement by a

river in Kerala to life in an old-age home in Calcutta, these stories are by

authors and distinguished translators, closely attached to the roots of India.

A bouquet of tiny gems, each story meticulously picked up, this new series

‘Oxford Novellas’ opens a window to the unfathomable phantom of India.

The Oxford Novellas will grow over a period of time into an

exclusive collection for your shelf and I sincerely hope you will

enjoy reading them.

Warm regards,

Sugata GhoshDirector: Publishing – Academic & General Global Academic PublishingOxford University Presssugata.ghosh@oup.com

CHELLA

PA

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EEPA

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IRIKKUN

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RKKU VEN

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LLA O

PPEES

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OG

AVA

NI PILLA

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GRO

VIRED

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D’SO

UZA

SAN

IYA

VAA

DIVA

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TYAN

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Encompassing

literature, popular and

genre fiction, writers

old and new, this series

presents an orchestra of

Indic voices

CHELLA

PPA

Series editor Mini Krishnan

Tamil

ISBN: 0198097476

9780198097471Paperback

ArenaVaadivaasal

‘Don’t let go of your hold, Picchi!’ Marudan

yelled … Leaping up to a man’s height, the bull

contracted its back in mid-air, tucked its head

inward, let its hindquarters drop, and thus

suspended, came down suddenly with great

force, all four hooves slamming the ground. …

Before he could find his footing, the bull had

sprung up and leapt high again.

C.S. Chellappa was a writer and an

eminent literary critic. He has short stories, poetry, plays, essays,

and short novels to his credit. To realize

his vision of Tamil literature, he founded

the iconic little magazine, Ezhuthu,

which he published for a decade.

N. Kalyan Raman is a translator of

contemporary Tamil fiction and poetry.

This is his sixth volume of Tamil fiction in English

translation.

Picchi and Marudan make their way to the bull-taming contest

at the Chellaiyi festival at Periyapatti to redeem both memory

and fear. They have a past to overcome. The local zameendar

fields his unconquerable animal and, against all odds, Picchi

jumps into the arena. As the Kaari turns to face him and

Chellappa’s outstanding Tamil classic unfolds, the ground shakes

and the page trembles. Picchi’s grip on the bull is just a breath

behind the author’s grip on our imagination as the sport of

jallikattu spins the reader in and out of the arena. Vaadivaasal,

a masterful account of power relations, describes the traditional

rituals of bull-taming and captures the life-and-death struggle

between animal and man.

OX

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D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Tamil

ISBN: 0198097476

9780198097471Paperback

ArenaVaadivaasal

‘Don’t let go of your hold, Picchi!’ Marudan

yelled … Leaping up to a man’s height, the bull

contracted its back in mid-air, tucked its head

inward, let its hindquarters drop, and thus

suspended, came down suddenly with great

force, all four hooves slamming the ground. …

Before he could find his footing, the bull had

sprung up and leapt high again.

C.S. Chellappa was a writer and an

eminent literary critic. He has short stories, poetry, plays, essays,

and short novels to his credit. To realize

his vision of Tamil literature, he founded

the iconic little magazine, Ezhuthu,

which he published for a decade.

N. Kalyan Raman is a translator of

contemporary Tamil fiction and poetry.

This is his sixth volume of Tamil fiction in English

translation.

Picchi and Marudan make their way to the bull-taming contest

at the Chellaiyi festival at Periyapatti to redeem both memory

and fear. They have a past to overcome. The local zameendar

fields his unconquerable animal and, against all odds, Picchi

jumps into the arena. As the Kaari turns to face him and

Chellappa’s outstanding Tamil classic unfolds, the ground shakes

and the page trembles. Picchi’s grip on the bull is just a breath

behind the author’s grip on our imagination as the sport of

jallikattu spins the reader in and out of the arena. Vaadivaasal,

a masterful account of power relations, describes the traditional

rituals of bull-taming and captures the life-and-death struggle

between animal and man.

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Kannada

IslandDweepa

Now the time had come for the village to

drown. The Sharavathi had never come close to

Hosamanehalli though she would roar ferociously

from a distance during the monsoon. But she was

now thinking of swallowing it up.…

This was what Ganapayya noticed as he walked

towards the house from the farm. … what would

happen if the flood was stalled? … The warnings

of the old man from the Submersion Office

echoed in Ganapayya’s ears.

Na. D’Souza has written forty-five

novels including Manjina Kanu and

Baman besides twenty-five novels

for children. Many of his short stories and

novels have been translated into Telugu,

Malayalam, English, Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi,

and Konkani.

Susheela Punitha retired as Professor of English, Mount Carmel

College, and Centre for Postgraduate

Studies, Seshadripuram College, Bangalore.

As land wrestles unsuccessfully with water to save itself from

being swallowed, everyone leaves except Ganapayya and

his family. When the Sharavathi rises, it isn’t only snakes that

enter the little farmhouse. Unknown to Ganapayya, his wife’s

playmate from long ago finds a place in an otherwise happy

marriage. Everyone and everything changes in the farmer’s

life as the values and ways of the Malnad region disappear

under the flood waters of the hydroelectric project in this first

‘displacement-novel’ presented in D’Souza’s unique style.

ISBN: 0198097441

9780198097440Paperback

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Kannada

IslandDweepa

Now the time had come for the village to

drown. The Sharavathi had never come close to

Hosamanehalli though she would roar ferociously

from a distance during the monsoon. But she was

now thinking of swallowing it up.…

This was what Ganapayya noticed as he walked

towards the house from the farm. … what would

happen if the flood was stalled? … The warnings

of the old man from the Submersion Office

echoed in Ganapayya’s ears.

Na. D’Souza has written forty-five

novels including Manjina Kanu and

Baman besides twenty-five novels

for children. Many of his short stories and

novels have been translated into Telugu,

Malayalam, English, Tamil, Sanskrit, Hindi,

and Konkani.

Susheela Punitha retired as Professor of English, Mount Carmel

College, and Centre for Postgraduate

Studies, Seshadripuram College, Bangalore.

As land wrestles unsuccessfully with water to save itself from

being swallowed, everyone leaves except Ganapayya and

his family. When the Sharavathi rises, it isn’t only snakes that

enter the little farmhouse. Unknown to Ganapayya, his wife’s

playmate from long ago finds a place in an otherwise happy

marriage. Everyone and everything changes in the farmer’s

life as the values and ways of the Malnad region disappear

under the flood waters of the hydroelectric project in this first

‘displacement-novel’ presented in D’Souza’s unique style.

ISBN: 0198097441

9780198097440Paperback

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Marathi

ThereafterTyanantar

Because there is no equivalent for ‘love’ in

Marathi…. Not affection, not lust, compassion,

pity … feeling of love … I love you … I love

my friend … I love him … I love her … I

love my nation … I love god … I love beauty

… I love this book … that colour … I love

butterflies … batatawada … Bombay …

bhelpuri … deep blue sea … Dilip Kumar … I

love this … that … I love you more than him!

Saniya has ten volumes of

short stories and three novels to her credit. She

has won many literary awards, two of which are State-level prizes.

Maya Pandit is Professor at the

English and Foreign Languages University,

Hyderabad, and is involved in teacher

development projects.One day, with no warning at all, Radhika’s husband Lalit

leaves her. Not for another woman, but to find himself.

Distraught at first and then angry, Radhika proceeds to

rebuild her life and even steers it on her own terms.

Saniya excels in creating an atmosphere which suffuses the

novella with both sentiment and emotion that flows without

break till the end of the narrative. There is a constant knitting

of the past and present, building up, however, to a satirical

resolution of sorts in the present.

ISBN: 019809745X

9780198097457Paperback

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Marathi

ThereafterTyanantar

Because there is no equivalent for ‘love’ in

Marathi…. Not affection, not lust, compassion,

pity … feeling of love … I love you … I love

my friend … I love him … I love her … I

love my nation … I love god … I love beauty

… I love this book … that colour … I love

butterflies … batatawada … Bombay …

bhelpuri … deep blue sea … Dilip Kumar … I

love this … that … I love you more than him!

Saniya has ten volumes of

short stories and three novels to her credit. She

has won many literary awards, two of which are State-level prizes.

Maya Pandit is Professor at the

English and Foreign Languages University,

Hyderabad, and is involved in teacher

development projects.One day, with no warning at all, Radhika’s husband Lalit

leaves her. Not for another woman, but to find himself.

Distraught at first and then angry, Radhika proceeds to

rebuild her life and even steers it on her own terms.

Saniya excels in creating an atmosphere which suffuses the

novella with both sentiment and emotion that flows without

break till the end of the narrative. There is a constant knitting

of the past and present, building up, however, to a satirical

resolution of sorts in the present.

ISBN: 019809745X

9780198097457Paperback

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Telugu

Moogavani PillanagroviBallad of Ontillu

Kesava Reddy, a dermatologist

by profession, has several published

novellas to his credit. Basing the

narrative on his own family history, he has

authored as well as translated

this novella.

ISBN: 0198097425

9780198097426Paperback

Bakkireddy lay on his back, his palms beneath

his head, staring at the wall-niche and the

rolled up document in it. He found himself

muttering, ‘This morning, selling my land at

auction, I buried my father a second time.’

He half rose from the cot on his elbow with

the intention of getting up and retrieving the

scroll. But at that moment he heard a familiar

sound in the loft of the cattle shed.

Ancestral land was life and breath to Bakkireddy who

sees his father’s corpse in the sale deed of his farmlands.

As he loses grip on reality and finally sanity itself, his

end takes on epic proportions. Bakkireddy’s history

becomes myth and the novella strikes a chord as it

brings to the fore the issue of farmer suicides. Known for

his intense poignant novellas, Kesava Reddy continues

the tradition as he captures the collective tragedy of

rural India in this novella.

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Telugu

Moogavani PillanagroviBallad of Ontillu

Kesava Reddy, a dermatologist

by profession, has several published

novellas to his credit. Basing the

narrative on his own family history, he has

authored as well as translated

this novella.

ISBN: 0198097425

9780198097426Paperback

Bakkireddy lay on his back, his palms beneath

his head, staring at the wall-niche and the

rolled up document in it. He found himself

muttering, ‘This morning, selling my land at

auction, I buried my father a second time.’

He half rose from the cot on his elbow with

the intention of getting up and retrieving the

scroll. But at that moment he heard a familiar

sound in the loft of the cattle shed.

Ancestral land was life and breath to Bakkireddy who

sees his father’s corpse in the sale deed of his farmlands.

As he loses grip on reality and finally sanity itself, his

end takes on epic proportions. Bakkireddy’s history

becomes myth and the novella strikes a chord as it

brings to the fore the issue of farmer suicides. Known for

his intense poignant novellas, Kesava Reddy continues

the tradition as he captures the collective tragedy of

rural India in this novella.

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Bengali

TRANSLATED FROM BENGALI BY TUTUN MUKHERJEE

www.oup.com

` 0009 780198 097433

ISBN 0-19-809743-3

Sheet Sahasik

Hemantolok An orchestra of literary voices

from Indic languages

‘Can love-making be like gorging? No

… Is that how the Bengali gentleman

eats? Doesn’t he need the entire spread

of panchabyanjan, all fi ve fl avours in his

sumptuous meals? From the bitt er to the

sweet? Doesn’t he enjoy being fanned

while he eats? And the box of paan at the

end? Love-making’s like that.’

Defying Winter

Nabaneeta Dev Sen

O X F O R D N O V E L L A S

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DEV SEN

SHEET SA

HA

SIK HEM

AN

TOLO

K

Illustarion: Boski Jain

eaeaeaeaeaadddddd

hhhhhhhisisisiisisis

ooo o o ththththththeeeeee

edededdeded

aaaaaattttttt ththththtththththe eee e ee e

Novella Defying Winter.indd ii

19/07/13 4:08 PM

ISBN: 0198097433

9780198097433Paperback

Nabaneeta Dev Sen is one of the most

outstanding writers of our times. She has more than eighty publications

in a variety of genres, comprising poetry, fiction, travelogues, plays, letters,

memoirs, literary criticism, humour, and

children’s literature.

Tutun Mukherjee is Professor at the

Centre for Comparative Literature, University

of Hyderabad. She is a translator who has

also edited translations from different

Indian languages.

Sheet Sahasik Hemantolok

Defying Winter

Women fight; they remember; they forget; in the

twilight of their days they weep and curse their

children and fellow lodgers in a shelter home. As they

open up about the lives they lived and left behind, the

closed world of relationships of women within their

homes implodes on every page: anger, intolerance, and

the inevitable unfolding of power at different stages

in a woman’s lifespan; the tension between different

generations of women; and their dependence on

men, both economic and emotional. Nabaneeta Dev

Sen’s genius for retrieving the past is matched by the

wonderfully powerful lyric quality of this novella.

‘Can love-making be like gorging? No … Is

that how the Bengali gentleman eats? Doesn’t

he need the entire spread of panchabyanjan,

all five flavours in his sumptuous meals? From

the bitter to the sweet? Doesn’t he enjoy

being fanned while he eats? And the box of

paan at the end? Love-making’s like that.’

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Bengali

TRANSLATED FROM BENGALI BY TUTUN MUKHERJEE

www.oup.com

` 0009 780198 097433

ISBN 0-19-809743-3

Sheet Sahasik

Hemantolok An orchestra of literary voices

from Indic languages

‘Can love-making be like gorging? No

… Is that how the Bengali gentleman

eats? Doesn’t he need the entire spread

of panchabyanjan, all fi ve fl avours in his

sumptuous meals? From the bitt er to the

sweet? Doesn’t he enjoy being fanned

while he eats? And the box of paan at the

end? Love-making’s like that.’

Defying Winter

Nabaneeta Dev Sen

O X F O R D N O V E L L A S

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

DEV SEN

SHEET SA

HA

SIK HEM

AN

TOLO

K

Illustarion: Boski Jain

eaeaeaeaeaadddddd

hhhhhhhisisisiisisis

ooo o o ththththththeeeeee

edededdeded

aaaaaattttttt ththththtththththe eee e ee e

Novella Defying Winter.indd ii

19/07/13 4:08 PM

ISBN: 0198097433

9780198097433Paperback

Nabaneeta Dev Sen is one of the most

outstanding writers of our times. She has more than eighty publications

in a variety of genres, comprising poetry, fiction, travelogues, plays, letters,

memoirs, literary criticism, humour, and

children’s literature.

Tutun Mukherjee is Professor at the

Centre for Comparative Literature, University

of Hyderabad. She is a translator who has

also edited translations from different

Indian languages.

Sheet Sahasik Hemantolok

Defying Winter

Women fight; they remember; they forget; in the

twilight of their days they weep and curse their

children and fellow lodgers in a shelter home. As they

open up about the lives they lived and left behind, the

closed world of relationships of women within their

homes implodes on every page: anger, intolerance, and

the inevitable unfolding of power at different stages

in a woman’s lifespan; the tension between different

generations of women; and their dependence on

men, both economic and emotional. Nabaneeta Dev

Sen’s genius for retrieving the past is matched by the

wonderfully powerful lyric quality of this novella.

‘Can love-making be like gorging? No … Is

that how the Bengali gentleman eats? Doesn’t

he need the entire spread of panchabyanjan,

all five flavours in his sumptuous meals? From

the bitter to the sweet? Doesn’t he enjoy

being fanned while he eats? And the box of

paan at the end? Love-making’s like that.’

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Malayalam

Jeevichirikkunnavarkku

Vendiyulla Oppees

Requiem for the Living

Johny Miranda

MIRA

ND

A

www.oup.com

` 0009 780198 097464

ISBN 0-19-809746-8

Illustration by Author and

Boski Jain

Mammanji’s body lay there in the exact

state it had been in when she was buried!

Her face serene and beautiful, and still

rosy-cheeked …! The long, shiny white

robe she had been dressed in that day,

the wreath on her head, the black cross

in her hands; all of it intact. The flowers

looked as if they had been freshly plucked

and a fragrance flowed from the coffin.

O X F O R D N O V E L L A S

An orchestra of literary voices

from Indic languages

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

JeevIc

hIR

Ikk

uN

NA

vA

Rk

ku

veN

DIyu

llA O

pp

ees

TranslaTed from malaYalam bY sajai jose

Johny Miranda paints portraits

and is a writer who lives in Kochi. He

has published a collection of novellas.

Sajai Jose works as a copywriter in

Bangalore. Requiem for the Living is his

first published work of translation.

Jeevichirikkunnavarkku Vendiyulla Oppees

Requiem for the Living

ISBN: 0198097468

9780198097464Paperback

Josy Pereira, a young church sacristan, finds a key of gold in a

freshly dug grave that once held a woman who died at childbirth.

It begins to haunt his waking life, and soon, his sleep. Is it in

some way connected to a recurring dream he has, of a brutal

celebration with echoes of animal—or is it human—sacrifice?

The first Kochi-Creole work to appear in English, this novella

is set in a community descended from the dependants of the

Portuguese who had ruled the city four centuries ago. It is

a world that revolves around the church and the locals’ own

peculiar brand of faith—one where the vicar is permanently

drunk, the sacristan steals from the offering-box, and sainthood

is a reality that can be touched. A fresh sensitivity marks Johny

Miranda’s fictional imagination.

Mammanji’s body lay there in the exact state it had

been in when she was buried! Her face serene and

beautiful, and still rosy-cheeked…! The long, shiny

white robe she had been dressed in that day, the

wreath on her head, the black cross in her hands; all of

it intact. The flowers looked as if they had been freshly

plucked and a fragrance flowed from the coffin.

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Order Now

Malayalam

Jeevichirikkunnavarkku

Vendiyulla Oppees

Requiem for the Living

Johny Miranda

MIRA

ND

A

www.oup.com

` 0009 780198 097464

ISBN 0-19-809746-8

Illustration by Author and

Boski Jain

Mammanji’s body lay there in the exact

state it had been in when she was buried!

Her face serene and beautiful, and still

rosy-cheeked …! The long, shiny white

robe she had been dressed in that day,

the wreath on her head, the black cross

in her hands; all of it intact. The flowers

looked as if they had been freshly plucked

and a fragrance flowed from the coffin.

O X F O R D N O V E L L A S

An orchestra of literary voices

from Indic languages

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

JeevIc

hIR

Ikk

uN

NA

vA

Rk

ku

veN

DIyu

llA O

pp

ees

TranslaTed from malaYalam bY sajai jose

Johny Miranda paints portraits

and is a writer who lives in Kochi. He

has published a collection of novellas.

Sajai Jose works as a copywriter in

Bangalore. Requiem for the Living is his

first published work of translation.

Jeevichirikkunnavarkku Vendiyulla Oppees

Requiem for the Living

ISBN: 0198097468

9780198097464Paperback

Josy Pereira, a young church sacristan, finds a key of gold in a

freshly dug grave that once held a woman who died at childbirth.

It begins to haunt his waking life, and soon, his sleep. Is it in

some way connected to a recurring dream he has, of a brutal

celebration with echoes of animal—or is it human—sacrifice?

The first Kochi-Creole work to appear in English, this novella

is set in a community descended from the dependants of the

Portuguese who had ruled the city four centuries ago. It is

a world that revolves around the church and the locals’ own

peculiar brand of faith—one where the vicar is permanently

drunk, the sacristan steals from the offering-box, and sainthood

is a reality that can be touched. A fresh sensitivity marks Johny

Miranda’s fictional imagination.

Mammanji’s body lay there in the exact state it had

been in when she was buried! Her face serene and

beautiful, and still rosy-cheeked…! The long, shiny

white robe she had been dressed in that day, the

wreath on her head, the black cross in her hands; all of

it intact. The flowers looked as if they had been freshly

plucked and a fragrance flowed from the coffin.

OX

FOR

D N

OV

ELLA

S

Forth

coming Novellas...

Aranyakand (Konkani)Author: Mahabaleshwar SailTranslator: Vidya Pai Aa Maratheyum Marannu Marannu Njan (Malayalam)Author: K.R MeeraTranslator: J. Devika Apeetha (Tamil)Author: La.Sa RamamrithamTranslator: Padma Narayanan Sunnar Pande Kee Patoh (Hindi)Author: AmarkantTranslator: Madhubala Joshi Kusumabale (Kannada)Author: Devanoora MahadevaTranslator: Susan Daniel

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