Argala
Shilpayan Prakashan | 2023 | 206 pages | Rs. 395
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Argala is neither a language nor a colour. It is a medium of expression that adopts the colours of sunrise and lives in the colours of sunset. She sees herself in Van Gogh’s paintbrush and colour and admires her form in the mirror of his imagination. From Bandh’s sketches to the canvas of her life, Argala has the imprint of youth. The colours and fantasies of love that she finds untouched in the paintings of Van Gogh and Picasso, the colours of love that Van Gogh and the melodious paintbrush of imagination could not complete, Argala sees those fantasies and colours in Bandh. But Bandh’s colours are delicate, there are scratches of truth in imagination and Argala, knowing this, wants her delicate fantasies to absorb the bond of Bandh within herself. In Bandh’s imagination, Argala wants to transform the bitterness and thorny feelings of truth into the sweet stalk of love. Argala is full of longing to be complete with the incomplete imagination of Van Gogh and Picasso and the incomplete colours in Bandh’s life. Argala wants to live the bond, with the love of the language of the bond and the love of colours. Argala sees the living bond within herself and it within her.
‘A recently published novel, Argala, by Anil Pushker, a somewhat cautious and serious erudite writer of contemporary Hindi poetry, is new and refreshing writing. It is not a spicy discussion of a woman’s body, nor is it a cheap fabric of separation and attachment. The meditation in which Anil Pushkar seems to be engaged, breaking away from the norm through words, is not an ordinary effort to understand the female mind. The writer’s honest frankness adds colour to this novel’s liveliness. The plot of the story, its characters, and the dialogues of the characters are not present with a simple description; instead, the serious experimental mental creation of the writer determines the path of his intention to be different. ‘Argala’ is such a novel written in the land of India that there is no hesitation in calling it an innovative experiment in Hindi literature. Whatever you say, the truth is that man’s liberation is from love and in love.‘
– Amarendra Kishore
‘Anil Pushker’s novel, ‘Argala, ‘ is the story of a wandering Bandh who is a painter in search of love. He is confused about his thoughts and is unable to take a direction. Argala is the heroine who wants to walk in one direction. It is essential to read this novel so that today’s young generation can understand it more deeply. This novel awakens ideology. ‘
– Bharat Dosi
Critics
Harivanshrai Bachchan Ki Anuvad Drishti
Rubi Press | 2014 | 260 pages | Rs. 488
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A literary critique and study on the life and writings of Harivansh Rai Bachchan published by Ruby Press. The book is based on research done during Anil Pushkar’s PhD studies under the supervision of Dr. Ranajit Saha at Jawaharlal Nehru University. It contains a comprehensive study of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s translation works of Omar Khayyam’s Madhushala, Shakespeare’s plays such as Hamlet Othello etc. and Yeats’ collective poems.
‘This book has been written with a lot of intelligence, professionalism and hard work. It contains formulae for the upcoming researchers that will help and inspire them. The author has studied the topic systematically and reached relevant conclusions.
– Ajit Kumar
‘The subject of the book is entirely new. The author has compared each translated work with the original and has also given a detailed explanation of the translation done by Bachchan while not agreeing with it; for example, he has expressed his agreement or disagreement by considering the translation by explaining each rubai of Khayyam separately. In this, Bachchan’s views on translation, insistence on the superiority of translation in Hindi, creative autonomy of translation and translation work in accordance with the context and genre of the text have been discussed in detail, which is very important for translators.‘
– Mahendra Raja Jain