About the Book Vignettes: In February 2017, a Sahitya Akademi translation workshop was held in Chandigarh where a group of earnest litterateurs came together in serious discussion over selected short stories in Hindi by women writers of the twentieth century, Intensive debates, animated discussions and a painstaking perusal of selected stories led to the translation of sixteen short stories which had earlier been compiled in Volume III of Sahitya Akademi's Beesvi Sadi ka Hindi Mahila Lekhan. Sixteen of the stories, translated into English, are being presented to the reader in this volume. Arranged chronologically, they comprise a mixed bag of tales on diverse themes. The attempt in this collection has been to portray life in its myriad hues, the highs and the lows, the light and the dark, sunshine and shadows that constantly weave in and out through human experience. Life is not uni-dimensional, as the stories tell us: it is multi-faceted, many-splendored and magnificent in all aspects. So is the creative impulse which thrives not only on the joys of life but also derives nourishment from its pain and sorrow, from its ordinariness as well as its special moments. The stories collected in this volume are an effort to freeze for a moment the agony and ecstasy of human experience as seen through the eyes of the creative artist.
About the Author Manju Jaidka is a professor of English at Panjab University, Chandigarh. Author and editor of many critical books, she is the Chief Functionary of MELOW, an academic body devoted to world literatures. A former Chairperson of Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, she is also a novelist and poet. Her novels include Scandal Point and Amaltas Avenue.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
