Kasturi Mrig (Award Winning Collection of Rajasthani Short Stories)

Kasturi Mrig: The stories included in this collection have a distinct charm and identity of their own. Their pace and movement appear inimitable. Through the well-defined rhythm of these stories, the author deals with a host of issues in a very sensitive manner maintaining a core theme throughout. The stories acquire a vivid hue as they take the reader into the deep recess of the author's mind Chetan Swami has the ability to blend the common man's slight with that of his own and present them in his stories. What the reader sees before him is a simple, uncomplicated and mature work which leaves no scope for perplexity of any kind.

Chetan Swami (b. 1957) is a poet, fictionist, editor and translator. He is the author of the poetry collection Sawaal, a short story collection Aangne Bichale Bheeta, and a book of satire Rachaay, Besides, he has edited many Hindi and Rajasthani collections of poems and into Rajasthani and is the recipient of the Shiv Chand Bhartiya Award from Rajasthani Sahitya Akademi, Bikaner and the Kadwa Meetha Sach Award for Journalism.

Jyotika Elhance is assistant Professor at Vivekananda College, University of Delhi. She has been actively involved in academic pursuits, including translation of Rajasthani Literature into English. One of her translated works, Jaajam, a short story of Jagdish Chandra mathur won for her a Prize in the golden Jubilee Literary Translation Competition Organized by Sahitya Akademi. Her articles have been published in leading national journals.

The stories of Kasturi Mrig have a distinct charm and identity of their own. Their pace and movement appear inimitable. Through the well-defined rhythm of these stories, the author deals with a host of issues in a very sensitive manner maintaining a core theme theme throughout. The stories in this collection acquire a vivid hue as they take the reader into the deep recesses of the author's mind. The distinctive premise of each story unfolds in an appropriate milieu that justifies its underlying theme fully. In all Chetan Swami's stories the 'Suffering Man' is the same. If we want to understand this man wholly in any one of his many stories, them it definitely is through 'Kasturi Mrig'. 'Money is like a kasturi Mrig, a musk deer'. In this story, the father tries in vain to make his son imbibe this lesson, but his son's destiny leads him somewhere else because...' How can a deer, in whose navel the musk has developed, ever remain stationary? It is destined to wander around from place to place in search of that even elusive musk...'

The scenic landscapes that these stories paint before its readers are rendered even more picturesque and earthy by the creative genius of its author. Chetan Swami has the ability to blend the common man's plight with that of his own and present them in his stories. Whether it is the symbolism of 'Allow Me an Entry' or the contemporary relevance of 'Sacrifice', his skill of telling stories is such that the underlying rhythm remains intact. It seem jarring. In fact, the wide range of issues that he deals with and his deep insight into each one of the them draws the reader's attention towards the harsher realities of life and compliments his genius immensely. His story 'Mandi', reveals the extreme regression that has spread its tentacles in this world and has everyone in its grip from the young to the old alike. Another commendable thing about the author is that nowhere does his skill become so dominant that we become tempted to classify his art in the genre of realistic writing. What the reader sees before him is a simple, uncomplicated and mature work which leave no scope for perplexity of any knid. After reading Swami's collection, we are inadvertently reminded of what Raghuvir Sahai, a famous Hindi poet, has once written, "the best carving is that which doesn't get noticed by the people's eye."