Mohanaswamy
Page 19
(Kannada original for ‘Your Arrival is My Right’)
About the Book
Mohanaswamy has just lost his long-time partner, Karthik, to a woman. Even as he scrutinizes himself, the choices he’s made, the friends and lovers he’s gained and lost, Mohanaswamy dreams of living a simple, dignified life. A life that would allow him to leave behind, even forget, the humiliation and fears of adolescence, the slurs his mind still carries around - gandu sule, hennu huli - and the despair that made him crave to conform.
A coming out of the closet for Vasudhendra himself, these stories of homosexual love and lives jolted Kannada readers out of their notions of the literary and the palatable. The gritty narratives of Mohanaswamy explore sexuality, urbanization and class with an unflinching hones^’ that will both unnerve and move readers in English, and serve as a … introduction to one of the strongest voices in Kannada literature.
About the Authors
Vasudhendra was born at Sandur in Ballari district, Karnataka. After working as a software professional for more than twenty years, Vasudhendra now runs his own publication house, Chanda Pustaka, which publishes and encourages new writing in Kannada and has instituted the Chanda Pustaka Award which recognizes young short story writers. He is also associated with local support groups for LGBT individuals. The author of thirteen books in Kannada, that have sold over 80,000 copies, Vasudhendra has won many literary awards, including the Kannada Sahitya Academy Book Prize, the Da Raa Bendre Story Award and the Dr U.R. Ananthamurthy Award.
Rashmi Terdal is a journalist presently working with the Times of India, Bengaluru. Born and brought up in Dharwad, she has a passion for Kannada poetry and fiction. Some of her poems have been published by leading Kannada dailies and magazines and the Kannada Sahitya Academy.
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First published in India in 2016 by Harper Perennial
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
First published in Kannada by Chanda Pustaka, 2013
Copyright © Vasudhendra 2016
Translation copyright © Rashmi Terdal 2016
P.S. Section copyright © Vasudhendra, Rashmi Terdal 2016
‘Bed Bug’ was first published in Out of Print magazine
P-ISBN: 978-93-5264-126-0
Epub Edition © December 2016 ISBN: 978-93-5264-127-7
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Vasudhendra asserts the moral right
to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publishers.
Cover illustration: Harshad Marathe
Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers India
www.harpercollins.co.in
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