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Translated from Hindi, short stories by Nirmal Varma - profound, gentle, beautiful.
206 pages
First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
Nirmal Verma
98 books120 followersA well-known name in Hindi literature, Nirmal Verma is known mainly for his fictional works. Born on April 3, 1929, he obtained a M.A. in history from Delhi University. He studied Czech at the Oriental Institute in Prague, and has been a Fellow with the International Institute for Asian Studies. Nirmal Verma is a recipient of India's highest literary award, the Jnanpith, and his short stories Kavve aur kala pani won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985. Some of his more popular novels are Antim aranya, Rat ka riportar, Ek Chithra Sukh, and Lal tin ki chat.
Vedina, his first novel, is set in Prague, Czechoslavakia. Like all his works, it is rich in symbolism with a style that is simple yet sophisticated. As one of the most important prose Hindi writers of our times, Nirmal Verma's creativity extends to the description and travel to places in Europe especially on Czechoslovakia and literary criticism. Among his nonfiction writings is Kal ka jokhim an investigation of the Indic arts in the 20th century. His diary, Dhundh se uthati dhun, describes his life in detail while addressing issues related to Hindi literature. His works have been widely translated into English and Gujarati.
Vedina, his first novel, is set in Prague, Czechoslavakia. Like all his works, it is rich in symbolism with a style that is simple yet sophisticated. As one of the most important prose Hindi writers of our times, Nirmal Verma's creativity extends to the description and travel to places in Europe especially on Czechoslovakia and literary criticism. Among his nonfiction writings is Kal ka jokhim an investigation of the Indic arts in the 20th century. His diary, Dhundh se uthati dhun, describes his life in detail while addressing issues related to Hindi literature. His works have been widely translated into English and Gujarati.
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December 12, 2023
The title of the story is a representation of the fluidity of life which is exceedingly central to the thinking of Verma. The story gives us the impression of ‘motion’ which has become an inherent feature of life, and is a force which is awfully important for life.
The narrative presents the robust image of backward and forward motion. We see Latika going to the girl's room and her shadow falls on steps leading to the room. This is a representation of her disturbed psychological state, her chaos and mental distress in which she has been presented throughout the story and is maintained till the end when she walks in the corridor, shaken by the question, which she was not able to answer.
As she walks along the corridor, her eyes are not focused, she is inattentive but at the same time she is focused on some sort of photographic realism within her. She is nonconcrete and concrete at the same time, just like the motion of birds. She has identified herself with the birds, and her disposition can be equivalent with the motion of birds, which makes her mood unbalanced, and it is this quality of uncertainty, permanent movement which is in the scene where we see her walking along the corridors.
None of the characters of the story has got a secure footage in the present:
**We see Doctor Mukherjee as stable but at heart he still is a refugee and not completely broken off the country from which he has fled from.
**Latika, no doubt is the central figure of the story and is most bewildered among the group of three. Her mind is in past which makes her dissociated from the present and creates a communication gap with almost everyone around her.
Her mood swings are linked by the author with the mountain landscapes of the story. This is one of the most important mood setting factors in the story.
Verma has made use of light for the setting of his story, as can be seen in the scene where during the Hubert's rooftop performances, the light of candle parries with darknes around and holds it separate existence.
Apart from light the author has also made use of sound for the setting of the story. The author depicts sound as ever active, ever present force which destructs the body of silence.
The text says,
## "silence of the jungle in voiceless", and
## "Sounds and voices like dreams in deep sleep flutter the light gossamer curtain of never stillness..."
Another point which is important in the text is the cadence and symmetry of the birds' motion, which suggest a sense of conjunction, a motion inward and a point of rest from where the energy in impelled outward.
Latika, the dominant figure of the story, also wants to feel this point of motionlessness, in spite of her roosting in the past.
She wants to feel the point where body and mind, time and space congregate and gives a feeling of the present.
In the entire story we are given instance where in Latika wants to touch this center of stillness.
As an answer to Latika's question Mukherjee tells her that life is ever flowing and one can look into the past, one can remember the past but one should, must not preoccupy with it. In spite of his share of memories, he has not fixated himself with past.
Latika goes back to her room, and here she is not that burdened with the need to cling to the past. We can see the sense of unknown, the future, a time free of the past in her mood swings.
The two important points which must be noted while reading this story are:
1) There is a representation of female mind and psychology by a male author, which give the whole story a strong feminine, but not a feminist touch.
2) The author constructs his story by keeping a female character at the centre, and develops it with the help of bottled-up memories, inhibited desires, and unstated thoughts. These things for women give a more emotional touch, then that of the men.
We can see this in the story as well. The dealing of Hubert and Dr. Mukherjee with their emotions and memories are different from that of the Latika.
The author of the story is always detached from the characters and is a neutral observer of the events. Throughout we hear a third person's voice, which impersonal but still able to evoke the inner feeling of the characters.
There is a sense of apology in Hubert's voice when he asks Latika to return the letter he had written to him.
"Please consider it unwritten", he says.
Throughout the story we hear the voice of Latika which is clearly enunciated. Sometime not complete but we get the sense. Apart from the human voices there are the voices of trees, stream, and wind, which combine the moods and the setting of the story.
The motive of third person narrative has been very well executed by the author. The voice of author is not biased to such an extent that it becomes impossible for us to decide that whose perspective he is holding.
Verma has not made any of his characters in negative light. There is no bad boy in the story.
In a way the third person narrative of the story asserts the view that there is a higher force which governs the life of human being.
The narrative presents the robust image of backward and forward motion. We see Latika going to the girl's room and her shadow falls on steps leading to the room. This is a representation of her disturbed psychological state, her chaos and mental distress in which she has been presented throughout the story and is maintained till the end when she walks in the corridor, shaken by the question, which she was not able to answer.
As she walks along the corridor, her eyes are not focused, she is inattentive but at the same time she is focused on some sort of photographic realism within her. She is nonconcrete and concrete at the same time, just like the motion of birds. She has identified herself with the birds, and her disposition can be equivalent with the motion of birds, which makes her mood unbalanced, and it is this quality of uncertainty, permanent movement which is in the scene where we see her walking along the corridors.
None of the characters of the story has got a secure footage in the present:
**We see Doctor Mukherjee as stable but at heart he still is a refugee and not completely broken off the country from which he has fled from.
**Latika, no doubt is the central figure of the story and is most bewildered among the group of three. Her mind is in past which makes her dissociated from the present and creates a communication gap with almost everyone around her.
Her mood swings are linked by the author with the mountain landscapes of the story. This is one of the most important mood setting factors in the story.
Verma has made use of light for the setting of his story, as can be seen in the scene where during the Hubert's rooftop performances, the light of candle parries with darknes around and holds it separate existence.
Apart from light the author has also made use of sound for the setting of the story. The author depicts sound as ever active, ever present force which destructs the body of silence.
The text says,
## "silence of the jungle in voiceless", and
## "Sounds and voices like dreams in deep sleep flutter the light gossamer curtain of never stillness..."
Another point which is important in the text is the cadence and symmetry of the birds' motion, which suggest a sense of conjunction, a motion inward and a point of rest from where the energy in impelled outward.
Latika, the dominant figure of the story, also wants to feel this point of motionlessness, in spite of her roosting in the past.
She wants to feel the point where body and mind, time and space congregate and gives a feeling of the present.
In the entire story we are given instance where in Latika wants to touch this center of stillness.
As an answer to Latika's question Mukherjee tells her that life is ever flowing and one can look into the past, one can remember the past but one should, must not preoccupy with it. In spite of his share of memories, he has not fixated himself with past.
Latika goes back to her room, and here she is not that burdened with the need to cling to the past. We can see the sense of unknown, the future, a time free of the past in her mood swings.
The two important points which must be noted while reading this story are:
1) There is a representation of female mind and psychology by a male author, which give the whole story a strong feminine, but not a feminist touch.
2) The author constructs his story by keeping a female character at the centre, and develops it with the help of bottled-up memories, inhibited desires, and unstated thoughts. These things for women give a more emotional touch, then that of the men.
We can see this in the story as well. The dealing of Hubert and Dr. Mukherjee with their emotions and memories are different from that of the Latika.
The author of the story is always detached from the characters and is a neutral observer of the events. Throughout we hear a third person's voice, which impersonal but still able to evoke the inner feeling of the characters.
There is a sense of apology in Hubert's voice when he asks Latika to return the letter he had written to him.
"Please consider it unwritten", he says.
Throughout the story we hear the voice of Latika which is clearly enunciated. Sometime not complete but we get the sense. Apart from the human voices there are the voices of trees, stream, and wind, which combine the moods and the setting of the story.
The motive of third person narrative has been very well executed by the author. The voice of author is not biased to such an extent that it becomes impossible for us to decide that whose perspective he is holding.
Verma has not made any of his characters in negative light. There is no bad boy in the story.
In a way the third person narrative of the story asserts the view that there is a higher force which governs the life of human being.
November 14, 2012
Collection of 7 stories.
Not my first time, but first extensive reading of Nirmal Verma.
One of the writers who have looked captivating and mysterious to me from times unknown, the introduction was a pleasant one. He is all the things I expected him to be. The amazing fluidity of his language, avoiding both pedantic language and Urdu inclinations, wafts lightly over the mountain clouds. His language has that elusive dreamy quality. You hear his words, as if in a half-remembered dream of yours, in a winter's night, hanging listlessly between a long-forgotten pain and the sweet fragrance of once-young love.
His voice beckons to the mountains, to the places where I desire to go the most, the places which stand transfixed in time, forever embedded in his memory as the world he saw it then and created it.
There are a few hiccups to this ascending stairway to heaven, at least the once I experienced in my amateurish folly. Surrounded by depressive, consumptive protagonists, living in desolate places, his monologue sometimes go too far from humanity, or the 'more' human part of the consciousness, wandering into the half-unknown alleys and backyards of the mind, which are far too many, and often meaningless in their complexity. His protagonists, if they were real, would have gone insane by now, either from loneliness or complete absence of speech. The narrative, vivid and strong as it is, weakens the protagonists from within.
Enough said. He and Ruskin Bond have something in common: Mountains. And I love anyone who loves mountains. Yet to discover him fully, more beauty lies hidden.
Not my first time, but first extensive reading of Nirmal Verma.
One of the writers who have looked captivating and mysterious to me from times unknown, the introduction was a pleasant one. He is all the things I expected him to be. The amazing fluidity of his language, avoiding both pedantic language and Urdu inclinations, wafts lightly over the mountain clouds. His language has that elusive dreamy quality. You hear his words, as if in a half-remembered dream of yours, in a winter's night, hanging listlessly between a long-forgotten pain and the sweet fragrance of once-young love.
His voice beckons to the mountains, to the places where I desire to go the most, the places which stand transfixed in time, forever embedded in his memory as the world he saw it then and created it.
There are a few hiccups to this ascending stairway to heaven, at least the once I experienced in my amateurish folly. Surrounded by depressive, consumptive protagonists, living in desolate places, his monologue sometimes go too far from humanity, or the 'more' human part of the consciousness, wandering into the half-unknown alleys and backyards of the mind, which are far too many, and often meaningless in their complexity. His protagonists, if they were real, would have gone insane by now, either from loneliness or complete absence of speech. The narrative, vivid and strong as it is, weakens the protagonists from within.
Enough said. He and Ruskin Bond have something in common: Mountains. And I love anyone who loves mountains. Yet to discover him fully, more beauty lies hidden.
January 6, 2021
निर्मल वर्मा को पढ़ने की प्रेरणा मुझे मानव कौल से मिली जो निर्मल वर्मा से अत्यधिक प्रेरित हैं। उनकी लिखी हर एक किताब में निर्मल वर्मा का ज़िक्र बड़ी मुरीदगी से किया गया है। और वो निस्संदेह ही निर्मल जी के बहुत बड़े प्रशंसक हैं क्यों कि किताब पढ़ते पढ़ते, एक जगह मुझे लगा जैसे मैं निर्मल की नहीं बल्कि मानव की किताब पढ़ रही हूँ।
निर्मल वर्मा जी की ये किताब ६ छोटी कहानियों का एक संग्रह है। लेकिन उनका लिखा इतना गाढ़ा है कि ये कहानियां छोटी बिलकुल भी नहीं लगती बल्कि ऐसा लगता है उनमें ना जाने कितनी उम्रों और अनुभवों को गूंथ कर रख दिया गया है। इसके बावजूद उनकी कहानियां में पूर्णता नहीं है, किसी कहानी का अंत तो किसी की शुरुआत में ही उसकी पूरी जान निहित है। और शायद यही अंदाज़ उन्हें बहुत संजीदा और प्रभावशाली बनाता है। उनकी कहानियों ने मेरे मन को इतना व्याकुल करके छोड़ा कि मेरे लिए ये बताना मुश्किल है कि वो मुझे अच्छी लगीं या नहीं और अच्छी लगीं तो कितनी अच्छी लगीं।
बचपन के किस्से, पहले प्यार की पीड़ा, अपने आप की अनंत खोज, ये कुछ विषय हैं जो निर्मल की कहानियों का केंद्रबिंदु हैं। मन के कठिन भावों को वो बहुत ही विस्तार से उल्लेखित करने की क्षमता रखते हैं। कहानी से अधिक, वाक्यों और छोटी छोटी बातों को अपनी पूरी भावनाओं के साथ कह देना उनके लेखन की विशेषता है। उनका लिखा मेरे मन में इतना फ़ैल गया है कि मुझे उनकी कोई दूसरी किताब पढ़ने से पहले कुछ समय चाहिए होगा। उनकी शीर्षक कहानी परिंदे को मैं सबसे ज़्यादा सराह पायी, ऐसा शायद इसलिए है क्यों कि उसमें पूर्णता है और मेरा नादान मन अधूरी कहानियों को समझ पाने के बावजूद उन्हें अभी पूरी तरह से स्वीकृति देने से डरता है।
निर्मल वर्मा जी की ये किताब ६ छोटी कहानियों का एक संग्रह है। लेकिन उनका लिखा इतना गाढ़ा है कि ये कहानियां छोटी बिलकुल भी नहीं लगती बल्कि ऐसा लगता है उनमें ना जाने कितनी उम्रों और अनुभवों को गूंथ कर रख दिया गया है। इसके बावजूद उनकी कहानियां में पूर्णता नहीं है, किसी कहानी का अंत तो किसी की शुरुआत में ही उसकी पूरी जान निहित है। और शायद यही अंदाज़ उन्हें बहुत संजीदा और प्रभावशाली बनाता है। उनकी कहानियों ने मेरे मन को इतना व्याकुल करके छोड़ा कि मेरे लिए ये बताना मुश्किल है कि वो मुझे अच्छी लगीं या नहीं और अच्छी लगीं तो कितनी अच्छी लगीं।
बचपन के किस्से, पहले प्यार की पीड़ा, अपने आप की अनंत खोज, ये कुछ विषय हैं जो निर्मल की कहानियों का केंद्रबिंदु हैं। मन के कठिन भावों को वो बहुत ही विस्तार से उल्लेखित करने की क्षमता रखते हैं। कहानी से अधिक, वाक्यों और छोटी छोटी बातों को अपनी पूरी भावनाओं के साथ कह देना उनके लेखन की विशेषता है। उनका लिखा मेरे मन में इतना फ़ैल गया है कि मुझे उनकी कोई दूसरी किताब पढ़ने से पहले कुछ समय चाहिए होगा। उनकी शीर्षक कहानी परिंदे को मैं सबसे ज़्यादा सराह पायी, ऐसा शायद इसलिए है क्यों कि उसमें पूर्णता है और मेरा नादान मन अधूरी कहानियों को समझ पाने के बावजूद उन्हें अभी पूरी तरह से स्वीकृति देने से डरता है।
January 23, 2023
“अतीत समय के संग जुड़ा है, इसलिए चेतना नहीं देता, केवल कुछ क्षणों के लिए सेंटीमेंटल बनाता है। जो चेतना देता है वह कालातीत है...”
हिन्दी साहित्य में ‘नयी कहानी’ विधा के शिल्पकार निर्मल वर्मा की “परिंदे”; इस विधा की प्रतिनिधि रचना है- सात(७) ख़ूबसूरत कहानियों का संग्रह- पढ़नी ही चाहिए💐🙏
* निर्मल वर्मा जी की ये किताब ६ छोटी कहानियों का एक संग्रह है। लेकिन उनका लिखा इतना गाढ़ा है कि ये कहानियां छोटी बिलकुल भी ना लगती बल्कि ऐसा लगता है उनमें ना जाने कितनी उम्रों और अनुभवों को गूंथ कर रख दिया गया है। इसके बावजूद उनकी कहानियां में पूर्णता नहीं है, किसी कहानी का अंत तो किसी की शुरुआत में ही उसकी पूरी जान निहित है। और शायद यही अंदाज़ उन्हें बहुत संजीदा और प्रभावशाली बनाता है। उनकी कहानियों ने मेरे मन को इतना व्याकुल करके छोड़ा कि मेरे लिए ये बताना मुश्किल है कि वो मुझे अच्छी लगीं या नहीं और अच्छी लगीं तो कितनी अच्छी लगीं।
* बचपन के किस्से, पहले प्यार की पीड़ा, अपने आप की अनंत खोज, ये कुछ विषय हैं जो निर्मल की कहानियों का केंद्रबिंदु हैं। मन के कठिन भावों को वो बहुत ही विस्तार से उल्लेखित करने की क्षमता रखते हैं। कहानी से अधिक, वाक्यों और छोटी छोटी बातों को अपनी पूरी भावनाओं के साथ कह देना इस किताब की विशेषता है।
हिन्दी साहित्य में ‘नयी कहानी’ विधा के शिल्पकार निर्मल वर्मा की “परिंदे”; इस विधा की प्रतिनिधि रचना है- सात(७) ख़ूबसूरत कहानियों का संग्रह- पढ़नी ही चाहिए💐🙏
* निर्मल वर्मा जी की ये किताब ६ छोटी कहानियों का एक संग्रह है। लेकिन उनका लिखा इतना गाढ़ा है कि ये कहानियां छोटी बिलकुल भी ना लगती बल्कि ऐसा लगता है उनमें ना जाने कितनी उम्रों और अनुभवों को गूंथ कर रख दिया गया है। इसके बावजूद उनकी कहानियां में पूर्णता नहीं है, किसी कहानी का अंत तो किसी की शुरुआत में ही उसकी पूरी जान निहित है। और शायद यही अंदाज़ उन्हें बहुत संजीदा और प्रभावशाली बनाता है। उनकी कहानियों ने मेरे मन को इतना व्याकुल करके छोड़ा कि मेरे लिए ये बताना मुश्किल है कि वो मुझे अच्छी लगीं या नहीं और अच्छी लगीं तो कितनी अच्छी लगीं।
* बचपन के किस्से, पहले प्यार की पीड़ा, अपने आप की अनंत खोज, ये कुछ विषय हैं जो निर्मल की कहानियों का केंद्रबिंदु हैं। मन के कठिन भावों को वो बहुत ही विस्तार से उल्लेखित करने की क्षमता रखते हैं। कहानी से अधिक, वाक्यों और छोटी छोटी बातों को अपनी पूरी भावनाओं के साथ कह देना इस किताब की विशेषता है।
April 24, 2020
चेकोस्लोवाकिया प्रवास से पहले लिखी गयी , निर्मल वर्मा के आरम्भिक दौर की कहानियों का संग्रह
October 21, 2018
धुंध मे छुपे कुछ पहाड़ है, खामोश जंगल लिए
जहाँ से परिंदो के झुण्ड अनजान देशो की ओर उड़ जाते है।
कुछ दिल भी खड़े है घाव लिए,
ये घाव अब घर जैसे हो गए है,
कुछ नाज़ुक लम्हे क़ैद है कि कहीं खो न जाए अनजान प्रांतो की गहराईयों मे,
अपनापन है तो उस अकेलेपन मे जहाँ इन लम्हो के घावों को कुरेद कर ज़िंदा रखा जाता है,
क्या इन्ही से हमारी पहचान है?
या हम चिरन्तर ख़ामोशी से उपजे वो "पियानो कि नोट" है जो मर तो जाते है पर मिट नहीं पाते?
तो फिर क्या आगे बढ़ने मे अतीत की मृत्यु है?
अंधकार मे झूल जाने मे कैसा सुख है?
और भी कुछ सवाल है इस उपन्यास मे जिनके जवाब तो शायद नहीं मिलेंगे लेकिन उनको ढूंढने का सुख ज़रूर मिलेगा। Well isn't that what the human struggle is all about?
जहाँ से परिंदो के झुण्ड अनजान देशो की ओर उड़ जाते है।
कुछ दिल भी खड़े है घाव लिए,
ये घाव अब घर जैसे हो गए है,
कुछ नाज़ुक लम्हे क़ैद है कि कहीं खो न जाए अनजान प्रांतो की गहराईयों मे,
अपनापन है तो उस अकेलेपन मे जहाँ इन लम्हो के घावों को कुरेद कर ज़िंदा रखा जाता है,
क्या इन्ही से हमारी पहचान है?
या हम चिरन्तर ख़ामोशी से उपजे वो "पियानो कि नोट" है जो मर तो जाते है पर मिट नहीं पाते?
तो फिर क्या आगे बढ़ने मे अतीत की मृत्यु है?
अंधकार मे झूल जाने मे कैसा सुख है?
और भी कुछ सवाल है इस उपन्यास मे जिनके जवाब तो शायद नहीं मिलेंगे लेकिन उनको ढूंढने का सुख ज़रूर मिलेगा। Well isn't that what the human struggle is all about?
December 19, 2021
3.5 stars for content & expression.
1.5 for writing it 60 years ago.
Often credited with Nayi Kahani movement, one can easily see what Nirmal Verma brought to the fore in late 1950s. Sure, the 'slice of life' stories mostly have a depressive streak, but the works do not seem out of place even today.
1.5 for writing it 60 years ago.
Often credited with Nayi Kahani movement, one can easily see what Nirmal Verma brought to the fore in late 1950s. Sure, the 'slice of life' stories mostly have a depressive streak, but the works do not seem out of place even today.
May 24, 2021
“ अतीत समय के संग जुड़ा है, इसलिए चेतना नहीं देता, केवल कुछ क्षणों के लिए सेंटीमेंटल बनाता है। जो चेतना देता है वह कालातीत है...”
हिन्दी साहित्य में ‘नयी कहानी’ विधा के शिल्पकार निर्मल वर्मा की “परिंदे”; इस विधा की प्रतिनिधि रचना है- सात(७) ख़ूबसूरत कहानियों का संग्रह- पढ़नी ही चाहिए💐🙏
हिन्दी साहित्य में ‘नयी कहानी’ विधा के शिल्पकार निर्मल वर्मा की “परिंदे”; इस विधा की प्रतिनिधि रचना है- सात(७) ख़ूबसूरत कहानियों का संग्रह- पढ़नी ही चाहिए💐🙏
September 27, 2021
Wonderful collection of seven stories.
Diary ka khel
maya ka marm
teesra gawah
andhere mein
picture postcard
September ki ek shaam
parindey.
my favourite one is andhere mein.
I love author's observation about the non living surroundings. it acts like they have a life in it.
beautiful.
Diary ka khel
maya ka marm
teesra gawah
andhere mein
picture postcard
September ki ek shaam
parindey.
my favourite one is andhere mein.
I love author's observation about the non living surroundings. it acts like they have a life in it.
beautiful.
September 22, 2022
From the way, he described trees to the stream of the canal, the immense sleepy state that felt my own, to the human emotion one experiences every day. He made me like himself, creative in the lazy breeze of Uttarkhand.
June 23, 2025
"जो वह याद करती है, वही भूलना भी चाहती है, लेकिन जब सचमुच भूलने लगती है, तब उसे भय लगता है कि जैसे कोई उसकी किसी चीज़ को उसके हाथों से छीने लिए जा रहा है, ऐसा कुछ, जो सदा के लिए खो जाएगा।"
Parinde, my introduction to Nirmal Verma— a short novel delicate to its touch.
Parinde, my introduction to Nirmal Verma— a short novel delicate to its touch.
September 12, 2017
spellbound.
November 13, 2021
The grip, the meaning, the subtlety - you are the master Sir
January 1, 2026
The best at his best.
November 11, 2015
best novel
February 23, 2016
निर्मल वर्मा की अद्भुद शैली है कहानियों की. ये संग्रह उत्तम एवं संकलनीय है.
January 30, 2014
a great book.
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