Onto the Stage - ‘Slighted Souls’ and other stage and radio plays

Onto the Stage - ‘Slighted Souls’ and other stage and radio plays
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2014-06-06
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 8190191152

A compendium of the author’s stage and radio plays: "Slighted Souls" is a poignant love story set in rural Telangana, beset with feudal exploitation of the downtrodden dalits. Besides forcing the dalits to toil in the fields as bonded labor without impunity, the land owning doras had no qualms in reducing the womenfolk of this ilk as sex slaves in the gadis, which leads to an armed rebellion. "Men at work on Women at work" is a tragic-comic episode depicting the fallout of sexual harassment at the workplace in the Indian urban setting with its traditional cultural underpinnings. "Castle of Despair", built on the slippery ground of man's innate urge for one-upmanship, portrays its facade of falsity on the grand stage of human tragedy. The radio play, "Love on Hold", lends voice to the felt anxieties of a man and a woman as their old flame gets rekindled and the dilemmas of possession faced by the couple in a conservative cultural background.

Prey on the Prowl – A Crime Novel

Prey on the Prowl – A Crime Novel
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2014-01-06
Genre: Art
ISBN: 8190191144

Even as Detective Dhruva was enamored of Kavya, whom he rescues from her kidnapper, Radha, an alleged murderess on the run, gatecrashes into his life. But when Kavya too joins him after her man was poisoned there ensues the tussle of a love triangle, which gets unraveled in a poignant end, but not before a series of murders. So, then who could have poisoned Ranjit the realtor, Shakeel the Inspector, Pravar the criminal and Natya his accomplice? Well the needle of suspicion tilted towards Pravar that was till he perished with his mate, but then who was the one? Could it be Radha under the scanner for her role in the death of her husband Madhu and his mistress Mala, Pravar's sister? Or was it Ranjit's spouse Kavya, who owing to Stockholm Syndrome, takes to Pravar her kidnapper. As these deaths by poisoning puzzle Dhruva, Radha avers that Kavya had the motive and the means to kill her spouse, her paramour and his wife besides the cop. However, reckoning that when the ill-motives of the natural suspects to commit a murder are an open secret, someone with a hidden agenda might be tempted to use that as a camouflage for his subterfuge, Dhruva begins to look around for the culprit.

Crossing the Mirage - Passing through Youth

Crossing the Mirage - Passing through Youth
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2013-02-15
Genre: Art
ISBN: 8190191187

If passing through youth was like crossing the mirage of life for Chandra and Nithya, it proved to be chasing the mirage of love for Sathya and Prema though for plain Vasavi, Chandra's pitiable sibling, it was the end of the road. As life brings Chandra, who suffers from an inferiority complex for his perceived ugliness, and Nithya, who was bogged down being jilted by Vasu, together, they script their fate of fulfillment. And as poetic justice would have it, Sathya, who caused Prema's heart burn, himself was led down the garden path by Kala, doing a Sathya on Sathya. Just not that, life has in store just deserts for Vasu owing to Nithya's retribution as he tries to stalk her. Besides, after many a fictional twist and turn, the way the story ends, challenges the perception that fact is stranger than fiction.

Jewel-less Crown

Jewel-less Crown
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2013-02-15
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 8190191160

It's perilous penning this blurb. It's fine when man is modest about his work. It even affords him the aura of an invisible crown! But what about his work? Were it an art or craft, it is there for all to see. What of a literary work of an unheralded author? Well, lauding the same might raise one's eyebrows. Failing to praise wouldn't make a 'jewel-less crown' either! Why not see, if this is the great Indian novel. This is the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious man, the decline, and the decay of his conniving wife, the trials, and tribulations of their wayward son as well as the grit and gall of a spirited woman, who enters into his life. This depiction of their life and times not only pictures the facets of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, but also portrays the possibilities of repentance and resolution, love and empathy coupled with compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism, and that makes it the saga of our times. The story of a lifetime, truly.

Inane Interpolations In Bhagvad-Gita

Inane Interpolations In Bhagvad-Gita
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2021-08-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:

The Manusmriti, the social doctrine of yore, and the Bhagvad-Gita, the spiritual tome in vogue that lay down the discriminatory dharma (duties) of the four social classes (castes) have been the bugbears of the Hindu backward classes. However, to their chagrin, of late, as the latter is being mindlessly promoted even though the former was constitutionally debunked, they began advocating that it too should be dumped in a dustbin. Ironically, the improbability of their progenitor Krishna, the architect of the Gita, relegating his own ilk to the social margins failed to dawn upon these that Gita supposedly slights, even to this day! Thus, their intellectuals, instead of seeking to reclaim their priceless heritage, albeit after ridding its interpolative garbage, tend to rubbish it a la throwing the baby with the bathwater, and needless to say they must ponder. Also, it is high time that the Gita-class stop laying store by the self-aggrandizing verses in this Vyāsa’s classic, evidently inserted by their progenitors that came to bedevil the Hindu spiritual integrity and social harmony. Likewise, the grumblers of the dalit desertions must see the need for setting the Hindu house in order to prevent the fractious poaching by the Church, if not to facilitate the ‘hoped for’ return of the prodigals. So also those who take pride that Hinduism is the only religion that reckons all faith as true, should be concerned about the ‘in vogue’ Gita that belittles some of their caste fellows. Besides, this work beckons the feminists to reckon the second of the two interpolations from it cited in the cover image that degrades them in unspeakable terms. It is hoped that this ‘overdue’ work, might lead the ‘denied’ castes as well as the favoured folks for an objective approach to the Gita ‘as it is’ which could dispel the misgivings of the former and the delusions of the latter, thereby bridging the Hindu emotional gulf with its abridged book that restores its original form. So, this is a must read for every Hindu, whether or not one concurs with its propositions, and likewise for the students of logic and reasoning.

Glaring Shadow – A stream of consciousness novel

Glaring Shadow – A stream of consciousness novel
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 77
Release: 2014-03-31
Genre: Art
ISBN: 8190191128

In a stream of consciousness mode ‘Glaring Shadow’ is the self-account of the life and times of a man, who liquidates his immense wealth only to consign it to the flames. The agony and ecstasy of his life as he makes it big in our materialistic world and the way he loses his soul in the bargain, only to regain it when tragedy strikes him makes one ponder over the meaning of success in life. This philosophical ‘novel of a memoir’ is a compelling read that is conducive to contemplate about the nature and scope of human relationships.

Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife (A critical appraisal of Islamic faith, Indian polity ‘n more)

Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife (A critical appraisal of Islamic faith, Indian polity ‘n more)
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2013-04-10
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 819019111X

The sublimity of Muhammad's preaching in Mecca and the severity of his sermons in Medina make Islam a Janus-faced faith that forever bedevils the mind of the Musalmans. This thought-provoking work, besides dissecting the anatomy of Islam, steeped in the Quran, seeks to depict the psyche of the Musalmans, shaped by the proclivities of their prophet, vicissitudes of his life and the attitudes of his detractors, which the mechanism of their umma perpetuates. More to the point, aided by “I’m Ok – You’re Ok”, the path-breaking work of Thomas A. Harris and Roland E Miller’s “Muslim Friends–Their Faith and Feeling”, this book, for the first time ever, psycho-analyzes the imperatives of the Muslim upbringing, which has the potential to turn a faithful and a renegade alike into a fidayeen. Also, apart from delving into the ironies of the faiths that affected the fate of the peoples, eclipsed the cultures of communes, altered the course of history and afflict the politics of the day, this book examines how the sanãtana 'Hindu' dharma came to survive in India, in spite of the combined onslaught of Islam and the Christianity on Hinduism for over a millennium. This book is for those who wish to be aware of the follies of their faith and the foibles of others to lighten the burden of dogma and reduce the baggage of prejudice postulated in its thirty-five well-structured chapters. Also, besides providing a panoramic view of the Indian history, this thought-provoking book appraises the way Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad, Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi et al made or unmade the post-colonial India. Possibly in a new genre, this free ebook is a book for our times. Contents Preface of Strife Chapters 1. Advent of Dharma 2. God’s quid pro Quo 3. Pyramids of Wisdom 4. Ascent to Descent 5. The Zero People 6. Coming of the Christ 7. Legacy of Prophecy 8. War of Words 9. Czar of Medina 10. Angels of War 11. Privates of ‘the God’ 12. Playing to the Gallery 13. Perils of History 14. Pitfalls of Faith 15. Blinkers of Belief 16. Shackles of Sharia 17. Anatomy of Islam 18. Fight for the Souls 19. India in Coma 20. Double Jeopardy 21. Paradise of Parasites 22. The Number Game 23. Winds of Change 24. Ant Grows Wings 25. Constitutional Amnesia 26. The Stymied State 27. The Wages of God 28. Delusions of Grandeur 29. Ways of the Bigots 30. The Rift Within 31. The Way Around 32. The Hindu Rebound 33. Italian Interregnum 34. Rama Rajya 35. Wait for the Savant

Stories Varied - A book of short stories

Stories Varied - A book of short stories
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2016-06-18
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 8190191195

This collection of short stories deals with women's dilemmas in the Indian social milieu accompanied with unique denouements. While 'Ilaa's Ire' contrasts woman's lot of the day with her eminence in the Vedic Age, '201' Qualms" depicts her predicament, torn between personal loyalty and citizen's responsibility. As "?" addresses woman's marital stress in an alien land, 'Cupid's Clue' is about her acting on rebound in her native place. Even as 'Autumn Love' lets woman discover the marital void in her life, 'A Touchy Affair' makes her amenable to her man's other woman. Just as 'Love's How's That' inflames woman's old flame, 'A Hearty Turn' brings her innate lesbian leanings to the fore. If 'Love Jihad' bridges lovers' religious divide with a secular plank, 'Tenth Nook' creates her marital gulf on the materialistic ground. While 'Eleventh Hour' is about woman's lust for love, 'Twelfth Tale' underscores her zest for power.

Of No Avail – Web of Wedlock

Of No Avail – Web of Wedlock
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2021-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Lured by the pitch - All marriages are made in heaven but some are delayed on earth: We endeavor to hasten them all - Priya goes to Renuka Marriage Bureau. Scanning the prospects, when she spotted Venu, whom she slighted long ago, she rushes to him to bring about a dramatic encounter. What brought about Priya’s change of heart to seek her former suitor and how Venu responds to his old flame’s fresh overtures lend suspense to their romance in this eclectic novella.

Sundara Kãnda

Sundara Kãnda
Author: BS Murthy
Publisher: Self Imprint
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2011-09-16
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 8190191179

While Mahabharata's Bhagvad-Gita is taken as a philosophical guide, Ramayana's Sundara Kãnda is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading it or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of this great epic to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds. Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike. Interestingly, as the following verse illustrates, it was the forerunner of the magic realism of our times – “Gripped she then him by shadow / Cast which Hanuman coast to coast, Recalled he in dismay then / What Sugreev said at outset / That one fiend had aptitude / To grip its prey by mere shadow.” On a personal note, my paternal grandfather, Bulusu Thimmaiah-garu, like many in his time, was a life-long practitioner of Sundara Kãnda parayana (the epic’s daily recital in part or full), whose spirituality could have providentially guided me in this, rather an effortless, trans-creative endeavour.