Asmani

by Shubhada Gogate

Asmani, which literally means "from the sky` ,is a collection of thirteen Science Fiction stories by renowned writer Shubhada Gogate. The stories cover various subjects like space travel, genetic engineering, aliens,robotics, time travel etc. They tell us of possible situations which can arise out of the galloping advancement of various branches of science, human response and emotional involvement in these situations, and possible solutions to them. In "Asmani` a farmer in a small village faces the strage phenomena of an earthquake which occurs only in his farm. That too, regularly and at specific times. Simultaneously his crops and fruits start growing very fast. In a very short period his crops are ready for harvesting even though the crops in neighbouring fields are only half grown. He is very happy but is also worried as the strength of the tremors is also growing. He complains to the police and also tells a reporter about the strange things that are taking place on his farm. They start investigating and suddenly one day they find all his crops and fruits ruined. Finally they do find who is responsible for this disaster but before they can do anything the culprit escapes them. "Marginals` tells the tale of a being on the margins of humanity. By chance he befriends a young boy and then slowly reallises that he is being used for futuristic experiments carried on clandestinely. He finds himself in an emotional storm and decides to escape even if it means his death. "Kalachaturaci chittarkatha` is an interesting story of ordinary people who get entangled with a time-travelling thief and the police on his trail. "Dhavati bhet` is a story of an alien`s visit to earth for getting more first hand information about this planet. But his plan turns into a fiasco when he is chased first by stray dogs, then by humans and then finds himself into situations which are quite ordinary for humans but he has never imagined.So he abandons his plan and escapes. All the stories are based on latest developments in scientific research and convincingly told. Shubhada Gogate has received various awards for her sc.fi. writing and one of her stories ( Birthright-not included in this collection) is translated into English and Hindi and is included in the anthology of sc. fi. brought out by National Book Trust.

122 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 1989

Reviews

[Prakash Shenoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

वेगवेगळ्या मासिकांमधून प्रकाशित झालेल्या विज्ञानकथांचा एक उत्कृष्ट संग्रह. शुभदा गोगटे यांची कथांची निवड चांगली आहे. क्लोनिंग, कालप्रवास, यंत्रमानव अशा अनेक विज्ञान विषयांवरच्या त्यांच्या कथा या संग्रहात समाविष्ट आहेत. गवत खाऊन काम करणार्या यंत्रमानवाची गंमत "बकाबक'मध्ये आहे, वंशशास्त्राच्या (Genetics) घोडदौडीत निर्माण होऊ शकणारी शक्यता "मार्जिनल्स'मध्ये दिसते तर कालप्रवासाचा उपयोग करणारे चोर-पोलीस "कालचतुराची चित्तरकथा'मध्ये भेटतात. भविष्यातल्या शक्यतांमध्ये संभाव्य मानवी भावभावनांचं चित्रण करणाऱ्या या कथा आहेत.