Dear All,
The subject raised by Kumar, though not Holmesian in nature cannot but fail
to arouse the interest of anyone who appreciates good literature, Holmesian or
otherwise. The mere fact that we have all joined a society whose sole object is
literary critique, the name of Manohar Molgonkar is well worth an honorable
mention. For reasons purely non-literary(perhaps PR-related) he never got the
kind of publicity many lesser writers have got during their writing careers.
He was a minor member of the Maratha nobility himself and served in the Indian
Army as well, hence his intimate knowledge of both these worlds. His masterpiece
is, no doubt, "The Princes", a story of a young prince who joins the Satpura
Rifles(a fictional Regiment,akin to the real-life Rajputana Rifles) before WW
II, leaves the service after the war, his loves, friends, Army life and
interaction with a new breed of scoundrels just coming into being in 1948-50:
The Khadi-clad Indian politician!
It's a full length novel and excellent by all standards. His masterpiece in
short stories is "The Monal Hunt" a Shikar-cum-Espionage tale which I first read
when my son was preparing for his 12th class exams. Yes, it was a part of his
English textbook! It is delightful read for 12-16 yar olds but no less to us
oldies too!
I place him at No 2, second only to RK Narayan, if at all.His other works are
the "Bandicoot Run"(Espionage/Military intelligence),"The Devil's Wind"(Life of
Nana Saheb Phadnavis, set during the Mutiny of 1857) and others mentioned by
Kumar.
I am still searching for Holmes and Watson at Christmas!
VPS


 

Kumar Bhatia <ceco@...> wrote:
dear Dr. Roy,
as tim symonds has already stated , your paper on 'Indianness in Indian
Writing in English'
sounds interesting.
as a professor of English you have undoubtedly read several works of
fiction by indian authors writing in english.
i take the liberty , however of bringing to your attention my favourite "
Indian-English" writer
Mr Manohar Malgonkar.
His novels capture ,in fascinating detail , the life and times of the
maharajas just before the independence of india. and their interaction with
their indian subjects as well as british overlords.
Mr. Malgonkar's commanding prose and vivid portayal of the characters
involved , is remarkable.
do read the following his novels if you have the time.
A BEND IN THE GANGES
THE PRINCES
THE DEVILS WIND ( set in 1857 )
sorry for this missive being non-sherlockian
best of luck with your paper
kumar bhatia


At 10:31 AM 12/13/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>There is 1 message in this issue.
>
>Topics in this digest:
>
> 1. Holmes and Watson at Christmas
> From: vijay singha <vp_singha@...>
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 23:20:45 -0800 (PST)
> From: vijay singha <vp_singha@...>
>Subject: Holmes and Watson at Christmas
>
>
>Dear Sherlockians,
> Christmas is approaching and the question posed by Tim is a timely
> one indeed.How DID they celebrate Yuletide?There certainly was no
> Christmas tree nor do I recall the two singing carols(imagine, if they
> did!) alongwith Mrs Hudson on the piano and Holmes on his violin.Did
> they exchange presents?What about St Niclaus(Santa Claus?)
> I think this calls for all of us to open our"Case books" and
> novellas and look for the answers.I recollect a Christmas goose in one
> of the stories.Was it "The Blue Carbuncle" that Nikhil is talking about,
> or was it the Beryl Coronet? I recall that it had to do with a
> stolen precious stone,which was found inside the said Christmas goose.I
> shall refresh my musty memory with a glass of sherry and a long, deep
> dive into my "case book" and be right back with an answer,even if
> they didn't, indeed,celebrate Christmas at all!
> Regards to all,
> VP SINGHA
>Nikhil Prasad Ojha <npojha@...> wrote: At least on the
>occasion of the BLUE CARBUNCLE, they seem to have celebrated
> it separately: the account began with Dr. Watson visiting the master a
> couple of days after Christmas "with the intention of wishing him the
> compliments of the season"
>
> Any other references?
>
>
> On 12/12/05, Tim Symonds <tim.symonds@...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Pinaki, I'd like to know if your paper is accessible on-line, as it
> > looks very interesting!
> >
> > Re. Sherlock Holmes, how did Watson and he celebrate Christmas, if indeed
> > they did? Any references anyone?
> >
> > Tim
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...
> > [mailto:SherlockHolmesSocietyofIndia@...] On Behalf Of
> > pinaki
> > roy
> > Sent: 11 December 2005 17:04
> > To: sherlockholmessocietyofindia@...
> > Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] Hi!
> >
> > Dear Sherlockians,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > This December again
> > seems to be a rather prosperous one for our Society, with plenty of new
> > members joining us. Welcome, all the new entrants!
> >
> > I apologise for my
> > absence: different family problems, including the death of my
> > calcer-afflicted paternal grandmother, and my concern with preparing a
> > seminar paper on 'Indianness in Indian Writing in English' are preventing
> > me
> > from contributing or participating. It will be over on 20 December
> 2005. I
> > am, however, relieved that our prolific Sumal is returning, and so we can
> > look forward to another intense session of internet postings! Sridhar,
> > V.P.Singha, Jeff, Tim and Julia...please contribute....your discussions
> > are
> > always epiphanic!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Pinaki Roy,
> > Department of English,
> > Faculty of Post-graduate Studies,
> > Malda College
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
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> >
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> >
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> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
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> >
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> >
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