Sermons in Stones (Untold Legends of Temples And Towns And Socio-Cultural Stories)

A tale, or a legend, a mythical narrative, a fable, or a parable, are all forms of different types of stories. Nobody can deny the fact that a story not only entertains us, delights us, but also connects us with multiple realities of life, forges a bonding between the human and the non- human world, between the natural and supernatural World, between the past and the present, and between birds and animal and the human beings. There are stories and legends and myths scattered all around us. All we need is to explore them, to unearth the tales and myths buried in oblivion. India is really incredible. There are famous temples which are imbued with interesting legends. There are towns which have fascinating histories of their own. Sermons in stones has untold legends and myths appertaining Temples and towns hitherto not known much. The book has also non-fiction articles and tales about socio-cultural subjects.

Dr. C. D. Verma is a former Associate Professor, and Head, Department of English, Hans Raj College, a premier institution of Delhi University. During his four decades of long teaching career, he has written a number of books and articles. His articles have been published in leading magazines, newspapers and research journals. His books, The Gita in World Literature, The Exile Hero and The Reintegrating Vision, W.H. Auden ( Selected Poems) Look Back in Anger and Mrs. Dalloway (Sterling Publishers) have been widely acclaimed. His Latest book The Sermons in Stones (Untold legends of Temples and Towns, and Socio-Cultural Stories), has been published by Amazon Kindle direct publishing.

When I joined Delhi University as a Lecturer in English, the then Head of the Department of English, asked me to teach A Man For All Seasons, a play presented and written by Robert Bolt in 1960. In this play, the playwright had followed a new critical theory, propounded by Bertolt Brecht, a famous German dramatist. Owing to its new style and technique, there was paucity of critical material, and the students were finding it difficult to comprehend the play, and critically appreciate and evaluate it. I accepted the challenge and assiduously prepared notes to help the students understand the text. Meanwhile, a new Publisher contacted me and persuaded me to convert the notes into a book, which I did, and he published it. After that there was no looking back. Writing became a passion with me. Over the years I published several books and over 300 articles There is no gainsaying the fact that for writing, one has to do plenty of research, and for that one has to read a lot. So, reading and writing became my major enjoyment. I have travelled a lot, both in India and abroad. I have been literally a globe-trotter. However, I would humbly aver that during my travels, I generally found India to be more fascinating. What engaged me the most were the stories, tales, legends, myths with some of the famous places of tourist attraction, especially the temples, the towns with pristine history and the monuments. I explored the annals of such places. So engrossing and stimulating were these stories, tales and legends that I could not resist the temptation of exploring them and writing on and about them. In addition socio-cultural subjects - such Mirasis (street singers and jesters), Pandas, the record holders of the family genealogy at Haridwar, Hijras (eunuchs), snake charmers, etc. - prompted me to know about their histories and tales connected with their traditions and customs, and write about them. Then, I keenly observed what happens in the realm of nature and in the animal kingdom.

**Contents and Sample Pages**