The Bird of Gold and Other Stories (Sahitya Akademi Award-Winning Dogri Stories)

The Bird of Gold and Other Stories, originally published as Sunne Di Chirre in Dogri in 1983, received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986. It is a collection of seven long stories, laying bare the social inequalities, the injustices, the exploitation by the 'haves' and the general erosion of moral values in modern times. 'The Crocodile', for instance, exposes the sham and hypocrisy of the rich who manipulate things to their own advantage; The Bird of Gold' is a political fable of modern times exposing the corruption in our country which was once known as 'The Gold Bird' for the material prosperity. 'Down and Out' depicts the frustration of two educated but unemployed youths; 'Bereavement' has a similar theme but the treatment is more light hearted, The Horned Moon' is a moving story of the travails of a destitute child; 'Ringworm' tells of a poor writer who lacks intellectual honesty.

All the stories are marked by deep humanism and subtle satire, and succeeds admirably in holding up a mirror to some aspects of contemporary life.

Om Goswami (b.1947), well-known Dogri fiction writer, critic, playwright and editor, also writes in Hindi. He is the recipient of Central Hindi Directorate Award (1988-89), Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of Dogri short stories, Sunne Di Chiree, 1986 and Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in Dogri for Agg Goah 2009, among others.

Shivanath (1925-2014) Dogri writer, scholar and a translator from Dogri into English; some of his important works are Dogri Sahitya Da Itihas (criticism and translation), B.P Sathe (monograph), The Bird and Gold and Other Stories and Echoes and Shadows (both translations); recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of essays Cheten Di Chitkabri, 2004.

**Contents and Sample Pages**