"Dhind"

Book Review: “DHIND” - Marathi

Author: Shankar Patil

Genre: Short stories, Comedy

Pages: 129

Cost: 100 Rs.

Publisher: Mehta Publishing House.

“Shankar Patil” is one brilliant and well known writer in Marathi literature. I only read one of his books earlier that was also another short stories compilation called “Un”. It was very good so when I found this book “Dhind”, I immediately pick this up without thinking twice. Shankar Patil has his unique style of writing, he mostly wrote on rural life of Maharashtra. There are many other authors who wrote on rural life of Maharashtra as once it was very popular genre. But Shankar Patil has its own flavor. He narrates very serious matters through comedy and with many hilarious incidents to support them. In any ways I love stories on rural areas, it is because I born and brought up in city like Mumbai but I am very much curious about rural life. Although I enjoy traveling, it is simply impossible to travel every place. So these books does traveling for me, books help me explore the unseen world. Books not only help me travel places but also allow me travel in time. Books are actually Time Machines. How? See as for this book it is based on rural Maharashtra of around 1970. So I know what was it like then and how much transformation happened in those areas in 2 - 3 decades. This is what I called Time Travelling.

I think the stories in the book happen around 1960 to 1970. It is the time when lot of transformation was happening or was about to happen in rural India. Indian government was very keen to create awareness and educate them about various matters through running various campaigns such as Family Planning, keeping tab on alcohol consumption etc. So Shankar Patil wrote a book how the uneducated people in villages interpret these campaigns in their own way.

First story on which book is titled is called as “Dhind”. Dhind is process in which a man is humiliated by making him sit on donkey and make him parade all over the village on the donkey with band-baja. In this story a village grampanchayat decides that anybody who consumes alcohol will have to go through this humiliating task of Dhind. So whole village is waits for a scapegoat for their entertainment. And when they found one guy and take his Dhind all over the village in grand style. But the twist in the story is that the man start enjoying this parade and makes the villagers take him through each and every lane which they fulfill unwillingly. So instead of man who consume the alcohol the whole “Dhind” becomes a physically drill and punishment for others. On top of that the man again comes in the morning consuming alcohol and demands for the Dhind again.

This is only one story and it is more funny in Shankar Patil’s words and there are 10 more stories like this. In my suggestion it is must read book. If I have to rate the book I will give 9 out of 10.

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