The Fictional World of Arun Joshi : Paradigm Shift in Values

About the Book

Arun Joshi (1939-1993), who opened new panoramas of thought and imagination in Indian Fiction in English through the realistic portrayal of contemporary issues and the concomitant depiction of paradigm shift of values in the rapidly changing life and society, is a pragmatic novelist. He displays the hale and hearty universal lessons of social life, cultural phenomenon and spiritual heritage together with a number of traditional and modern values which might have been temporarily relegated to the background but are pertinent and appropriate despite the rapid growth of man, material and power in today's world. The Fictional World of Arun Joshi: Paradigm Shift in Values explores his novels, namely: The Foreigner, The Strange Case of Billy Biswas, The Apprentice, The Last Labyrinth and The City and The River; and a collection of his short stories: The Survivor and Other Stories, along with two other short stories published in different magazines, which tender fresh and forceful interpretation of his contents through the Eastern and Western cases and go into great detail of their impact on mankind in general. Joshi's understanding and perception of modern life and its predicament in the light of emerging paradigms of values coalesce to create sense of values among the readers so that they can realize and judge the worth and importance of healthy values in their lives for real success, happy living and enduring peace.

Navgeet VaNGMAY

About the Book

From time to time, the dedicated editors along with the enlightened navgeet poets (neo-lyricists) have tried their best to expand the global consciousness of navgeet (neo-lyric)— the modern version of geet (lyric) in Hindi language, for the purpose of disseminating knowledge and wisdom to the receptive and perceptive society of the world. One such effort can be seen in the form of this edited book— 'Navgeet Vangmay' (नवगीत वाङ्मय), whose 'Samarambh' (the beginning) section contains brief introductions of three founder navgeet poets— Shambhunath Singh, Shivbahadur Singh Bhadauria, Rajendra Prasad Singh with their intelligible comments on navgeet and their three navgeet on various themes; whose 'Navrang' (nine-colours) section comprises brief introductions of nine prominent contemporary navgeet poets— Gulab Singh, Mayank Srivastava, Shanti Suman, Ram Sengar, Nachiketa, Virendra Astik, Buddhinath Mishra, Vinay Bhadauria and Ramakant) with their lucid comments on navgeet and their nine navgeet on multiple themes; whose 'Ath-bodh' (erudition) section includes a prudent article, taken from Dinesh Singh's 'Naya-Purane' magazine (geet issue-5, 1999); whose ‘Sakshatkar’ (interview) section covers a noteworthy conversation of Madhusudan Saha with Abnish Singh Chauhan; and whose ‘Parshisht’ (Appendix) section encloses the first lines of navgeet with page numbers and names and addresses of navgeet poets for giving a pretty picture of this form of Hindi literature. In this regard, Dr. Vimal (Former Prof. and Head, Dept. of Hindi, Vardhman University, Vardhman, W.B.) considerately remarks— "Due to my constant association with the great masters of the art of editing, I am writing here with authority that the editing technique used in the book— ‘Navgeet Vangmay’ edited by Dr Abnish Singh Chauhan, is actually touching the pinnacle. Due to this skill in the captivating presentation of each aspect of the book (selection of navgeet poets, navgeet, comments, an article, an interview etc.), it is not only commendable but also exemplary. Hence, let me express my heartiest congratulations to the editor for his proficiency in the art of selecting and editing literary contents of Navgeet Vangmay."