Description

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This novel, in its rural form, along with the flow of the story, keeps on criticizing the contractors of various castes and religions, pinching them in the backside. In fact, at the center of the plot of the novel is a village named Madaripur-Junction in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Madari-natured characters dominate the village, reflecting absurdities. Madaripur-Junction is mostly a junction of social anomalies and oddities. Representative characters of Madaripur are Chhedi Babu and Bairagi Babu, who belong to the so-called upper caste. Along with them, all their friends and associates are also present like shadows. These characters are not only fully present in the story but are also writing the story of their downfall by openly displaying their conflicts and laughing at their vile deeds while being neck-deep in rowdiness, obstructionism, maneuvering, deception, cunningness, and trickery. On the other hand, there are a few people from the so-called lower caste of the village who are gradually becoming aware, trying to stand up for their rights and are constantly fighting for socio-political equality. Chaita represents this struggle. But In this struggle, he becomes a victim of the most low-grade village politics and conspiracy and is ultimately sacrificed. Then, Chaita’s wife Meghiya and the people of his community try to work together to further his fight. Cunning conspiracies are hatched to destroy this effort till the end. The main intention of the novelist is to show all this, or rather to expose it and put it forward. The setting of the story is purely rural and the fabric of its environment has been woven so intricately that we start diving into the ocean of the past in a moment. As this depth increases, every scene and character of it starts seeming familiar and experienced to us. It seems as if everything is happening around us. The flow and freshness of the language speed up the story’s pace. New turns keep coming step by step in the entire story, due to which a state of constant questioning remains in the mind of the reader. Although in the end, the narrator leaves us alone in a dejected state of mind and quietly departs, we find our hearts getting moist more than our eyes there.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Balendu Dwivedi is an Indian author. Born in the revolutionary surroundings of Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Mr. Balendu Dwivedi found solace in the soothing fragrance of the triadic garland of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and Saraswati, i.e. Prayag, where he learned his maiden lectures of philosophy under the lotus feet of renowned teachers and graduated from the University of Allahabad. The revolutionary zeal that he innately carried from his native place, the pious sensibility intrinsic to him, and the wisdom of philosophy turned him into a literary personality of eminence. His two Hindi novels have been published by Vani Prakashan, Daryaganj, New Delhi. The first one is ‘Madaripur Junction’ and the second one is ‘Via Fursatganj’. ‘Madaripur Junction’ is a satirical novel and has been awarded by the ‘Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan’ among many others. ‘Madaripur Junction’ emits such a glaze that it simply mesmerizes and captivates to the extent of catharsis. It has now been translated into English by Mr. Sanjay Dev. Mr. Dev is a good translator and is presently working as a deputy director at Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi.