Aiwa Maru

by Anant Samant, Prashant Pethe (Translator)

A young Indian seaman sets out on a hazardous voyage from Hong Kong aboard the M. T. Aiwa Maru - A blacklisted vessel that has been banned from sailing. Although wary of the risks involved in his new assignment, Anant is mesmerized by the ship. But the terrors of the open sea are not the only perils that beset the multiracial crew of the Aiwa Maru. With the arrival of the second engineer's beautiful young wife Ujjwala, Anant finds himself irresistibly drawn to her even as matters aboard this bewitching vessel spin dangerously out of control. A cult novel in the original Marathi, Aiwa Maru is a dark and thrilling tale of passion, greed, obsession and adventure.

Genres: Marathi, Literary Fiction

463 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

His every short story and novel reflects the stormy life that he has lived across the seas and in this soil. He considers himself to be a common man, living common life; But his literature shocked Marathi readers and critics with unread, unheard, unseen world. His first novel ‘M. T. Aiwa Maru’ was like a fresh wind gushing in to feed hunger of younger generations for something true, timely and new. It was praised, acclaimed and awarded. Now, even after twenty years it is the best seller and the only novel of its kind in literature.
His second novel ‘Trimakasi Madam’ is nearly an extension of ‘M. T. Aiwa Maru’.
‘Avirat’ tells the story of proud, nation-lover NRI coming back to India to start a hotel bussiness and see his faiths, notions and dream shattering. The great Marathi author shri Jaywant Dalvi claimed ‘Avirat’ to be greater piece of work than ‘M.T.Aiwa Maru.’
‘Oshtories’ is the most sensitive of his novels trying to differentiate soul, mind and body. It connects spirituality with photography. In this novel Camera has a character and Photos clicked are points of climax. Using Photography as a medium the author discloses the secrets of love, soul and body. No novel in any language can even be compared with ‘Oshtories’.
These five of his dozen novels are enough to explain versatility, variety and strength of his pen. His every novel is adored by young generation of Marathi readers. His direct and deceptively simple style of writing spawned number of imitators but no equals.
Four of his books, ‘M.T. Aiwa Maru’, ‘K five’, ‘ Front line story’, ‘Bypassche divas’ were adopted by ‘National Association of Blind’ as talking-books.

Reviews

[Aniket Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The success of this book is it connects with you, although it takes time of some pages but it does connect. The language of Anant samant is simple and practicle (abusive words, frank conversations, sex , sense of humour etc. ) I like this book very much it portrays life on a ship, different situations, human emotions, how people are in real life etc. Those who felt it misogyny probably not read with the interest and did not analyze what author is trying to say (probably they are running from reality of life)

Characther of Ujjwala ,Deepak, Anant and captain of ship , and all the oter characters are perfect. Things about sex, homo sex, ; lesbian sex, and Immoral sex are things which are still happening in India and around the world. Author highlighted them with these characters.

After reading Trimakasi Madam , I was skeptical about reading this due to similar scenario (such as life on ship) but that was about ethical behavior, deceit, love ,hatred etc. was much more superior than this one ,because it was small book, it was like chota packet bada dhamaka. I would love to give 6 stars for that one. This one is about love and ship and different relationships (big one 385 pages)etc. But both are must reads.

[VijayaRaghavan S N · Rating 4 out of 5]

At last got hands on an Indian author book which isn't centered around sex. Don't get the illusion that there's no mention of sex when I said it isn't centered around sex. There is sex mentioned in it. Just like any other Indian author books. But the difference is that sex is not what is going to sell the book (if the book has got decent sales). If the book has done good business in the market then it's going to be a wake up call for other Indian authors that you need not base your book on sex to generate money.
This book has got a heart. Heart of seamen. It shows their strength and weakness at the same time. It shows their short comings too. Author could successfully transfer the feelings of seamen with his book. This would be a good read for everyone who always wanted to know or experience how it is out there.
The climax left me screaming at the protagonist. I felt rage and sorry for the character at the same time. I wished it ended on a different note. Some characters occupy your mind even after turning the last page of the book.
Long story short, an Indian book I cherished reading after a long long interval.

[P]

If graphic descriptions of women being tortured, whipped, punched in the stomach, slapped in the face, screamed at, threatened with murder, incest, humiliated and verbally abused floats your boat, then this is the book for you.

Speaking for myself, I found the 20 year old narrator implausible and colorless. The final scene of sexual assault was revolting to read. This rambling novel lurched from dull overwrought descriptions of sailing to sordid soap operatic dialogues. It meandered on and on, with little attempt at crafting a plot or memorable characters. As someone who enjoyed Moby Dick and Amitav Ghosh's trilogy, I picked up this novel thinking it might flesh out the lives of Indian sailors. What I got instead (and suffered through) was this chronicle of a particular vein of Indian masculinity in all its misogynistic and vilest manifestations.

No stars.

[Abhishek Merukar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very fine book when it's not about Ujjwala! Unfortunately, 60% of the book is about Ujjwala and so the book only left me half-impressed. The writer has natural flourish and the introduction (प्रस्तावना) of the book is one of the best passionate texts i've read in long time.
The start and end of the book is awesome but the parts where Ujjwala dominates the narrative was disappointing.

[अनिकेत · Rating 4 out of 5]

As stated in the book description, the book is really one of its sort. Its something newly I found in marathi novels. Thanks & Hats off to Samantji.

[Pratik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book is a state of art experience. It's basically a story a voyage. It is the journey of human minds breaking the boundaries of the society and going insane like an infinite ocean.
This is a must read specifically for those who are searching for 'something different' to read in Marathi.

[Siddarth Gore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is good and the characters are interesting. But there is a lot of repetition in the description of people and events. It's a good read.

[Niketan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing stoey balance

[Sagar Pathade · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book!!!! Fantastic!
Best book I've ever read of an Indian Author.
I'm surprised that this book was published in 1989😱
Hats off to Mr. Anant Samant.🇮🇳

[Leena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mind blowing!!!! 💨

[Aditya Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a Marathi book after a long time and this book was a great choice. Full with explosive emotions and lively prose, it breaks many barriers of Marathi literature. The story stuns you and makes you sad, but you know, you expected it exactly as it is. It brought me back to loving Marathi words and phrases. Now I'm even more determined to read as much Marathi literature as I can.

[Protyasha Pandey · Rating 1 out of 5]

463 pages misogyny. I don't know how the editors at penguin let this rather pulpy text pass as a novel, and I'm equally astounded at having survived it. Aiwa Maru is oddly reminiscent of a Bollywood flick from the 80s, whose plot revolves around

[Nisha Bikar · Rating 2 out of 5]

read it long back... would term it as okay okay.

[Prakash Srinad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was an okay read. The sea journey plot was good. It tells about the relationships of men, their greed and their passion for sailing. The characters are not strong at heart.

[Ashish Patil · Rating 5 out of 5]

New trend setter in Marathi