There are three texts waiting to be discussed here: the ‘original’ Chaklet, a collection of eight Hindi stories written by Pandey Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’ published in 1927 after five of them were serialized in Matvala, a Calcutta based Hindi weekly; its translation into English by Ruth Vanita titled Chocolate and also a detailed introduction by her, contextualizing both the texts in their different time zones i.e. 1927 and the present. While the emphasis on a different reading of the text within the milieu of 1927 is clearly articulated, the translator also insists on its relevance for the present context by drawing a historical genealogy of the kind of politics, especially sexual, that the text represented. As if to buttress her argument, the translator has also added two extracts from Ugra’s novels Chand Hasinon ke Khutoot and Phagun ke Din Char.
February 2007, volume 31, No 2
687505 362346Hi there, just became alert to your weblog by means of Google, and located that it is truly informative. Im gonna watch out for brussels. Ill be grateful should you continue this in future. A great deal of individuals is going to be benefited from your writing. Cheers! 802099