Phashi Bakhal By Ratnakar Matkari

mind was eating him inwardly. How did he allow the other person to die? How did he help the other person to hang himself to death? He was terribly upset about this. The moment his eyes saw a rope in any form he used to remember everything. Automatically and uncontrollably his hands used to start knotting the rope. He knew that he was behaving very unwisely, but he could not control himself. Every single piece of rope was bringing back the dreadful memory. The house was full of ropes of all sizes at all places. The curtain had a rope, the churner had a rope, the well in the backyard also had a rope. It was strong and very thick. While tying it to the bucket he always remembered that day. His mind used to shatter. He used to leave the rope and the bucket dangling into the well, as if hanged till death. Matkari has always succeeded in giving human touches to his abstruse stories. बोलावणं... निजधाम... जेवणावळ... रत्नाकर मतकरींच्या या असाधारण गूढकथांनी मराठी कथेमध्ये एक नवीन वाट तयार केली. या कथांमधील वातावरणे, चित्रदर्शी वर्णने, माणसाच्या मनातल्या गूढाचा घेतलेला वेध, वैशिष्ट्यपूर्ण रचना आणि हादरवून टाकणारा शेवट, या साऱ्यांनी मराठी कथेत त्या वेळेपर्यंत अस्तित्वात नसलेले एक विलक्षण कथाविश्व निर्माण केले. यातल्या कथा रंगभूमीवर आल्या, दूरदर्शनवर सादर झाल्या, अनुवादित झाल्या. मुख्य म्हणजे, दोन पिढ्यांच्या मनावर गारूड करून राहिल्या. फार वर्षांपूर्वी वाचलेल्या या कथा वाचकांच्या स्मरणातून कधीच गेल्या नाहीत. उलट त्यांनी त्या इतरांना सतत सांगून जिवंत ठेवल्या. आजच्या तरुणांना तर या गूढकथांचे अधिकाधिक आकर्षण वाटू लागले आहे... या, कालच्या आणि आजच्या व उद्याच्या वाचकांसाठी नव्या स्वरूपात काढलेला गूढकथांचा संग्रह...