Not Paid By Harishankar Parsai

Humour and satire are core of Hindi literature. Many authors are famous for their humorous and satirical writing. Amongst those writers the most prominent is Harishankarji. Some of his writing is translated by Ujjwala Kelkar which is a real gift to all those Marathi readers who love quality reading but are stopped midway because of the language barrier. Today, we see that each and every element of India is corrupted. Gone is the purity and sanctity. It is replaced by turbidity and doubt. The author succeeds in bringing these sharp, pungent colours to our notice through his writing. He does not skip any area. He includes politics, democracy, elections, literature, administration, education, police department and even spirituality. His writing opens our eyes and ears clearly and makes us understand the true meaning of the happenings all around us. It is true that his sarcasm is sharp, his disdain and cynicism is rude yet his antagonism about the disloyalty of the society is true to the core. Sometimes he uses myths, sometimes current affairs. But his intentions are quite clear. His writing makes everyone pause, think and reshuffle beliefs and behaviour. His writing has a wonderful meaning. Though it appears quite simple it is difficult to translate it. Ujjwala Kelkar has fulfilled this Herculean task with ease.