Oxford Bookstore in association with Prakriti Foundation presents
Release of the book Manasarovar
By Ashoka Mitran
Translated by N. Kalyan Raman

Venue: the Oxford Book Store, Haddows Road

A profound meditation on the human quest for faith and inner peace.

The early 1960s, also known as the golden age of Indian cinema. Satyan Kumar, reigning screen god, moves from Mumbai to the Madras film industry. There he meets Gopalan, a middling studio writer. An inexplicable connection forms between the two men across the chasms of class and language. But just as an enduring bond springs up, tragedy intervenes. Gopalan’s son mysteriously dies and his wife’s dementia acquires homicidal overtones. Both men flounder as they try to understand their roles in these seemingly random events that radically transform their lives.

In spare unburnished prose, Ashoka Mitran examines the finite human capacity to deal with pain and sorrow and the need for redemption if life is to go on. And in so doing, he etches a fascinating portrait of the times, with a cast of characters that includes, among others, Pandit Nehru and Meher Baba, the silent mystic.

Brilliantly translated from the Tamil original by N. Kalyan Raman, Manasarovar establishes Ashoka Mitran as one of the most outstanding writers of contemporary Tamil literature.

The Author

Ashoka Mitran, born in 1931 in Secunderabad, is one of the most distinguished contemporary Indian writers. In a prolific career that began in 1955, he has written over 250 short stories along with two dozen novels and novellas. His work has been translated into many Indian and European languages. His years of rich and diverse contribution to Tamil literature have brought him many honours, including the Sahitya Akademi award (1996). Ashokamitran lives and works in Chennai.

The Translator

N. Kalyan Raman is a translator of contemporary Tamil fiction and poetry. He has published four volumes of Tamil fiction in translation, including three of Ashokamitran’s work. His translation of Tamil poetry and short fiction has been included in several collections of bhasha literature in English translation. He lives and works in Chennai..