The young artist Amar Singh runs from one city to another in search of a rather undefined and vague 'success' in life and in the process isolates himself from his wife Soni, his children, his home and hearth. In this famous Punjabi novel titled Ret Ki Ek Muthi, now being made available by the Trust in English translation under its Aadan Pradan Series, the master storyteller Gurdial Singh explores the subtle nuances of human desires and relationships which make human beings seek happiness without realising what it amounts to.
Gurdial Singh (b. 1933), one of the most respected novelists of India, has not only enriched the Punjabi literary scene, but has actually been one of the pioneering litterateurs of Indian literature. Recipient of all major literary awards of the country, including the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award (1999), he has contributed profusely in the genres of novels, short stories, drama and children's literature.
Dr. Ravi Nandan Sinha (b. 1952) is the Head, Postgraduate Department of English, St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Ranchi, Jharkhand and is an accomplished translator.
MIMETICALLY, A Handful of Sand takes for itself the province of the changing social landscape in post- Independence India. It is the story of Amar Singh, an ambitious young man, who moves to a big city in search of better opportunities. But in the process he has to leave his young wife behind, trapped in a small, lonely house. Gurdial Singh has narrated a very moving human story against the backdrop of the changing social face of India. The novel is also, and perhaps more so, the story of Soni, the young wife of Amar Singh, who has to face life alone when her husband embarks on his long journey to 'success'. The honesty, candour and poignancy that enliven the pages on which Soni appears will bring to the reader's mind images of women created by novelists like Thomas Hardy and Sharatchandra Chatterjee. Translating this great novel has been an immensely satisfying experience for me and, though my assignment is over now, I have not yet ceased to feel the power, the passion and the poignancy of this rivetting story of a young Sikh boy and his lovely wife Soni.
There is a certain quality in Gurdial Singh's writing that is difficult to define but which is responsible for a natural magnificence in his narration. A Handful of Sand is a short novel, just over forty-thousand words, but after one has finished reading it, one has a feeling that it is a very rich novel capturing the slow movement of time, interweaving the story of two individuals with the larger world view of Sikhism that defines them, and offering an insight into the way India has changed. It is one of those short novels that have a big and long-lasting impact on the reader.
For the readers of Punjabi and Hindi novels Gurdial Singh does not need any introduction. He is a major voice in Indian literature having won the prestigious Jnanpith award besides the Sahitya Akademi award and many other honours. Given the Padmashri for his contribution to literature, he has written novels and short stories that are among the most precious that India has produced. Now with the translation of many of his novels and short stories into English, he is also not an entirely unknown name to the readers of literature in English language. Much has been said about the manner in which Gurdial Singh has redefined post-Independence Indian novel, how he has given a new direction to Punjabi literature and how he stands in the great tradition of Indian literature, which is one, though written in different languages. The quality in his writing that has appealed to me the most is the poetry in his fiction.
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