BS Murthy
BS Murthy is an Indian novelist, playwright, short story, non-fiction 'n articles writer, translator, a 'little' thinker and a budding philosopher in ‘Addendum to Evolution: Origins of the World by Eastern Speculative Philosophy’ that was originally published in The Examined Life On-Line Philosophy Journal, Vol. 05 Issue 18, Summer 2004 (republished here) Born on 27 Aug 1948 and schooled in letter-writing, by 1983, he started articulating his managerial ideas, in thirty-odd published articles. However, in Oct 1994, he began penning Benign Flame: Saga of Love with the ‘novel art' and continued his fictional endeavors in ‘plot and character’ driven novels, Jewel-less Crown: Saga of Life and Crossing the Mirage: Passing through youth.Then entering the arena of non-fiction with a ‘novel’ narrative in Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife, possibly a new genre, he ventured into the zone of translations for versifying the Sanskrit epics, Vyasa’s Bhagvad-Gita (Treatise of self-help) and Valmiki’s Sundara Kãnda (Hanuman’s Odyssey) in contemporary English idiom. Later, ascending Onto the Stage with Slight Souls and other stage and radio plays, he returned to fictional form with Glaring Shadow - A stream of consciousness novel and Prey on the Prowl - A Crime Novel to finally reach the short story horizon with Stories Varied - A Book of Short Stories followed by the novella, Of No Avail - Web of Wedlock. And in the end, as a prodigal son, he returned to his mother tongue, Telugu, to craft the short story తప్పటడుగులు (Missteps) While his fiction had emanated from his conviction that for it to impact readers, it should be the soulful rendering of characters rooted in their native soil but not the hotchpotch of local and alien caricatures sketched on a hybrid canvas, all his body of work was borne out of his passion for writing, matched only by his love for language, which is in the public domain in umpteen ebook sites https://g.co/kgs/udd7SXSome of his published articles on management issues, general insurance topics, literary matters, and political affairs in The Hindu, The Economic Times, The Financial Express. The Purchase, The Insurance Times, Triveni , Boloji.com are reproduced in this site.He, a graduate mechanical engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India, is a Hyderabad-based Insurance Surveyor and Loss Assessor since 1986.He takes keen interest in politics of the day, has an ear for Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and had been a passionate Bridge player. He's is married, to a housewife, with two sons, the elder one a PhD in Finance and the younger a Master in Engineering.
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Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike.
Though it is a matter of consensus that the Gita in the present length of seven hundred slokas has many an interpolation to it, but no meaningful attempt has ever been made to delve into the nature and extent, not to speak of the effect of these on the Hindu society at large.
The methodical codification of interpolations carried out here, for the first time ever, puts the true character of Gita in proper perspective.
In this modern rendition, the beauty of the Sanskrit slokas is reflected in the rhythmic flow of the English verse of poetic proportions even as the attendant philosophy of the song that is the Bhagvad-Gita is captured in contemporary idiom for easy comprehension.
Access the ebook https://www.academia.edu/21433459/Bhagvad_Gita_Treatise_of_Self_help
Papers by BS Murthy
But then “the train stopped at a village station, as though to disrupt Roopa’s daydreams of modeling herself on the lady doctor at the Christian Medical College Hospital, and as she peeped out, the ill-lit platform seemed to suggest that the chances of her being
Dr. Roopa could be but dim.”
What’s worse, in a continuing saga, the Hindus of the day too remain unmindful of the inimical demographic designs of the Islamists and the evangelicals alike in their land that would portend its geographical doom should baffle the historians and the laymen alike. So this exercise is to decipher the peculiarity of the suicidal Hindu mindset that set India on its ruinous course, and continues to do so.
Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike.
Though it is a matter of consensus that the Gita in the present length of seven hundred slokas has many an interpolation to it, but no meaningful attempt has ever been made to delve into the nature and extent, not to speak of the effect of these on the Hindu society at large.
The methodical codification of interpolations carried out here, for the first time ever, puts the true character of Gita in proper perspective.
In this modern rendition, the beauty of the Sanskrit slokas is reflected in the rhythmic flow of the English verse of poetic proportions even as the attendant philosophy of the song that is the Bhagvad-Gita is captured in contemporary idiom for easy comprehension.
Access the ebook https://www.academia.edu/21433459/Bhagvad_Gita_Treatise_of_Self_help
But then “the train stopped at a village station, as though to disrupt Roopa’s daydreams of modeling herself on the lady doctor at the Christian Medical College Hospital, and as she peeped out, the ill-lit platform seemed to suggest that the chances of her being
Dr. Roopa could be but dim.”
What’s worse, in a continuing saga, the Hindus of the day too remain unmindful of the inimical demographic designs of the Islamists and the evangelicals alike in their land that would portend its geographical doom should baffle the historians and the laymen alike. So this exercise is to decipher the peculiarity of the suicidal Hindu mindset that set India on its ruinous course, and continues to do so.
Hence, as the accusation is on the religious ground, it is imperative that the theocratic credos of Islam and Christianity as well as the philosophical ethos of santana dharma aka Hinduism, the only surviving ‘way of life’ of yore on earth, are to be reckoned with.
Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017) was an Indian Telugu-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, and ghazals. He was also a professor, lyricist, actor, and Rajya Sabha politician. Reddy was awarded the Jnānpēth Award by the government of India in 1988, and he served as the Vice Chancellor of Telugu University.
The Manusmriti, the social doctrine of yore, and the Bhagvad-Gita, the spiritual tome in vogue that lay down the discriminatory dharma (duties) of the four social classes (castes) have been the bugbears of the Hindu backward classes. However, to their chagrin, of late, as the latter is being mindlessly promoted even though the former was constitutionally debunked, they began advocating that it too should be dumped in a dustbin.
Ironically, the improbability of their progenitor Krishna, the architect of the Gita, relegating his own ilk to the social margins failed to dawn upon these that Gita supposedly slights, even to this day! Thus, their intellectuals, instead of seeking to reclaim their priceless heritage, albeit after ridding its interpolative garbage, tend to rubbish it a la throwing the baby with the bathwater, and needless to say they must ponder.
Also, it is high time that the Gita-class stop laying store by the self-aggrandizing verses in this Vyāsa’s classic, evidently inserted by their progenitors that came to bedevil the Hindu spiritual integrity and social harmony. Likewise, the grumblers of the dalit desertions must see the need for setting the Hindu house in order to prevent the fractious poaching by the Church, if not to facilitate the ‘hoped for’ return of the prodigals. So also those who take pride that Hinduism is the only religion that reckons all faith as true, should be concerned about the ‘in vogue’ Gita that belittles some of their caste fellows. Besides, this work beckons the feminists to reckon the second of the two interpolations from it cited in the cover image that degrades them in unspeakable terms.
This ‘overdue’ work, might lead the ‘denied’ Hindu castes as well as the favored folks for an objective approach to the in vogue Bhagvad-Gita which could dispel the misgivings of the former and the delusions of the latter, thereby bridging the Hindu emotional gulf with its abridged book that restores its original form. Whether or not one concurs with its propositions, this original work could be of interest to the students of logic and reasoning as well.
This work is dedicated to the slighted castes, whose forebear, Krishna, bestowed the invaluable Gita upon the mankind that in due course was fouled by the vested priestly interests:
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This is BS Murthy's maiden writing in his mother tongue, whose body of literary work in English comprises of five novels (Benign Flame: Saga of Love, Jewel-less Crown: Saga of Life, Crossing the Mirage - Passing through youth, Glaring Shadow - A stream of consciousness novel 'n Prey on the Prowl - A Crime Novel), Of No Avail- Web of Wed Lock, a novella, a collection of short stories (Stories Vareid - A Book of Short Stories), a compendium of stage and radio plays (Onto the Stage - Slighted Souls and other stage and radio plays), a novel nonfiction (Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife) and two translations in verses (Bhagvad-Gita - Treatise of self-help 'n Sundara Kãnda - Hanuman’s Odyssey) that is in the public domain at various sites including this one.
Scanning the prospects, when she spotted Venu, whom she slighted long ago, she rushes to him to bring about a dramatic encounter.
What brought about Priya’s change of heart to seek her former suitor and how Venu responds to his old flame’s fresh overtures lend suspense to their romance in this eclectic novella.
“I hear it’s much worse in the U.S, where the pimps treat the prostitutes as vassals and abuse them in unimaginable ways.”
--------
Syed and Gayatri didn’t mean to fall in love. But love happens when you least expect it. It creeps up suddenly. When someone needs attention, care, conversation, laughter and maybe intimacy. Love doesn’t look at logic or at backgrounds and least of all religion.
Gayatri was from a very conservative South Indian family that went to a temple every Saturday. Syed brought goats to his family every Eid. That said it all. Their paths would never have crossed if it hadn’t been for that fateful day. That day when he walked into the coffee shop. Gayatri wondered if destiny chose our loved ones for us. Did we have any role to play at all?
She looked at her watch. Syed was late. They met every Thursday at five pm to catch up. Their conversation lasted for hours. Sometimes in the café, sometimes in his car, sometimes in places that she could never tell her friends about. They would never understand. And yet Syed made her happy.
Suddenly her phone beeped. He had sent a message. “On my way. Have something important to tell you.”
Gayatri stared at it and realized she had knots in her stomach. Thoughts flooded her mind. What did he want to tell her? [*] Will he propose? Or back out? Didn’t he say his people are highly religious? Wouldn’t they’ve put their foot down? She racked her brains at that, and bogged down by anxiety, her mind became numb. She sank into her seat and closed her eyes as though to crystal gaze. Soon, unable to cool her nerves in any which way she came of the café and waited for Syed at the gates. It’s as if she was trying to cut short her anxiety. When she spotted his car, in time, she waved at him furiously, and jumped into it as he opened the door for her.
Blaming it all upon the Loss Assessors, Palit reserved his choicest expletives for them all. He thought they were but a bunch of self-serving nincompoops with weak moral fibers. They were all superficial to the core sorely lacking the needed skills to separate the wheat from the chaff. Wouldn’t that let the bluffing claimants to take this mindless lot for a smooth ride of exaggeration? And lazy as they were with their assignments, they were all alacrity when it came to criticizing their colleagues’ work.
What was worse, he averred, with right inducements, they could be easily made to look the other way, even in the case of apparently untenable claims. With such Loss Assessors around, it was little wonder that the insurers might go under one day. As though to appear balanced, even after consuming a pint, Palit conceded to the presence of black sheep on the underwriting side of the fence as well. It was such who form a ‘nexus of loot’ with the insured and the Loss Assessors, he concluded.
Life was fine, thanks to hope
All that changed, owing to muse,
With one ‘novel’ passion pure
Affairs I had, twelve of them ...
'But should the dame resist long enough,' he continued with his soliloquy, 'for the adventurer that would be a different ball game altogether. Her reluctance to give in would only increase her appeal to him by the day, deepening his desire for her by the night. Won't that make it difficult for him to give up, resulting in unwelcome frustration? What's worse, it could result in reverse seduction, tying the philanderer in the nuptial knots. And for the married man, courting singles could be a hindrance, for they harp on his divorcing the wife as a prerequisite for liaison.'
When the stage was set for Paranjape to take the floor, he ordained the witness to remove her burka. While Mehrotra tried to size up the young woman who emerged from the veil, Paranjape tried to map the nuances of Suresh’s demeanor.
“Don’t you know who she is?” Paranjape asked Suresh.
“Objection Ms. Justice,” roared Mehrotra from his seat. “If she’s to further the prosecution, the indicted has a right to know who she is and not the other way round.”
“Ms. Justice,” said Paranjape spiritedly, “the interests of justice would suffer if the objection is sustained.”
“You may proceed,” said Justice Sumitra.
“Have you ever met her before?” Paranjape asked Suresh menacingly.
Having realized the import of her appearance, Suresh was flabbergasted beyond belief. Besides, he had no brief from Mehrotra either to tackle the ticklish tangle.
‘That was when Mithya’s life was under siege; she faced the unwelcome prospect of divorce, lo, owing to her own infidelity. Barely turned twenty-eight, as she was not for losing the good things of life her marriage afforded, she began planning a perfect murder of her man and her paramour. Leaving no lose ends for the police to tie her up to the murders, wearing a burka she spied upon Dhruva, the Station House Officer, likely to come knocking at her door for the inevitable questioning. While his reputation as an Ace of crime detection only increased her sense of challenge, giving an erotic edge to her criminal cunning, she turned covetous struck by his élan and enamored of his mien.
That late night, after seeing the end of both her men and having alerted the police about their death, she expectantly waited for Dhruva at her 9, Castle Hills, and when he knocked at her door, she received him in lingerie.
It's fine when man is modest about his work.
It even affords him the aura of an invisible crown!
But what about his work?
Were it an art or craft, it is there for all to see.
What of a literary work of an unheralded author?
Well, lauding the same might raise one's eyebrows.
Failing to praise wouldn't make a 'jewel-less crown' either!
Why not see, if this is the great Indian novel.
This is the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious man, the decline, and the decay of his conniving wife, the trials, and tribulations of their wayward son as well as the grit and gall of a spirited woman, who enters into his life.
This depiction of their life and times not only pictures the facets of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, but also portrays the possibilities of repentance and resolution, love and empathy coupled with compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism, and that makes it the saga of our times.
The story of a lifetime, truly.
Dedicated to
VV Rao my soul mate
PN Murty the friendly cousin
KB Bhaskar my computer guru
for their support of my literary cause,
Jewel-less Crown comprises of -
Book One - Artha and Kama
1. Party Gone Sour
2. Trauma at Tihar
3. Mind of the Maligned
4. Twist at Tis-Hazari
5. Trial in Camera
6. Dilemma of Qualms
7. Moment of Reckoning
8. End within end
9. Vestiges of Prestige
10. High on Rebound
11. Bellows of Delhi
12. Dicing with Life
13. Spidering Spadework
14. Loss to Order
15. Daring the Fate
16. Victims of Deceit
17. Baring the Soul
18. Garland of Guilt.
Book Two - Dharma and Moksha
1. Bliss of Being
2. Collage of Crime
3. Domain of the Devil
4. Renaissance of Life
5. Sprouts of Love
6. Despair of Hope
7. Turn at the Bend
8. Amity of Empathy
9. Day to Remember
10. Spirituality of Materialism
11. Sense of Reincarnation
12. Epilogue.
That apart, aided by “I’m Ok – You’re Ok”, the path-breaking work of Thomas A. Harris and Roland E Miller’s “Muslim Friends–Their Faith and Feeling”, this work for the first time ever, psycho-analyses the imperatives of the Muslim upbringing that has the potential to turn a faithful and a renegade alike into a fidayēn.
On the other, this work, besides appraising the monumental rise and the decadent fall of Hindu intellectualism, analyses how the sanātana dharma came to survive in India, in spite of the combined onslaught of Islam and the Christianity on Hinduism for over a millennium.
Also, besides providing a panoramic view of the Indian history, this thought-provoking book appraises the way Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi et al made or unmade the post-colonial India.
Possibly in a new genre this free eBook is a book for our times.
Contents
Preface of Strife
Chapters
1. Advent of Dharma
2. God’s quid pro Quo
3. Pyramids of Wisdom
4. Ascent to Descent
5. The Zero People
6. Coming of the Christ
7. Legacy of Prophecy
8. War of Words
9. Czar of Medina
10. Angels of War
11. Privates of ‘the God’
12. Playing to the Gallery
13. Perils of History
14. Pitfalls of Faith
15. Blinkers of Belief
16. Shackles of Sharia
17. Anatomy of Islam
18. Fight for the Souls
19. India in Coma
20. Double Jeopardy
21. Paradise of Parasites
22. The Number Game
23. Winds of Change
24. Ant Grows Wings
25. Constitutional Amnesia
26. The Stymied State
27. The Wages of God
28. Delusions of Grandeur
29. Ways of the Bigots
30. The Rift Within
31. The Way Around
32. The Hindu Rebound
33. Italian Interregnum
34. Rama Rajya
35. Wait for the Savant
Cingireddi Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017) was an Indian Telugu-language poet and writer. Reddy had produced over eighty literary works including poems, prose-plays, lyrical plays, translations, and ghazals. He was also a professor, lyricist, actor, and Rajya Sabha politician. Reddy was awarded the Jnānpēth Award by the government of India in 1988, and he served as the Vice Chancellor of Telugu University.