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19 selected science fiction stories from Marathi, Bangla, Hindi, etc., translated into English.

Second Einstein by Laxman Londhe

tr. Arundhati Deosthale

[Pathbreaking scientist Srinivasan is dying of lung cancer. The doctors at AIIMS have contrived to keep his brain alive. ]

	The day arrived for performing the historical surgery. 

	Dr. Srinivasan's brain was taken out successfully.  It
    was fitted with aritificial blood vessels to supply the
    brain with fresh blood of a similar blood group.  Special
    arrangements were made to pump out the impure blood.
    Through the blood, he was supplied food and fresh air.
    In the memory bank of his brain as well as in his other
    centres of sensations, special electroedw were fitted to
    impart the feeling of pleasure.  His centre of speech was
    linked to an artificial voice-box.  Dr. Srinivasan's
    brain was kept afloat in the fluid as a human brain does
    inside the skull.  Special care was taken to ensure its
    sterilisation by placing it under a circular glass dome.
    Through temperature regulation, Dr. Srinivasan's
    existence was kept alive in the form of his brain. p.50



 

Contents

      1.  Jayant V. Narlikar :        The ice age cometh
      2.  Bal Phondke :               The imposter
      3.  Laxman Londhe :             Einstein the second
      4.  Subodh Jawadekar :          A journey into darkness
      5.  Niranjan S. Ghate :         The man
      6.  Arun Mande :                Ruby
      7.  Shubhada Gogate :           Birthright
      8.  Anish Deb :                 Catastrophe in blue
      9.  Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay :    Time
      10. Niranjan Sinha :            The elevation
      11. Sujatha :                   Dilemma
      12. Rajashekar Bhoosnurmath :   Venus is watching
      13. Sanjay Havanur :            The lift
      14. Debabrata Dash :            An encounter with God
      15. Mukul Sharma :              Twice upto a time
      16. R.N. Sharma :               The second coming
      17. Kenneth Doyle :             Rain
      18. Devendra Mewari :           Goodbye, Mr. Khanna
      19. Arvind Mishra :             The adopted son

Take a trip across the galaxy, the Marathi way

 Article on Indian Science Fiction by R. Krishna, DNA Apr 2008

A couple belonging to a higher caste go in for artificial insemination.
However, the sperm donor belongs to a lower caste. To what caste will the
child born belong?

This question is raised in one of Bal Phondke's recent science fiction
stories. The interesting thing is that this science fiction story, is
written in Marathi.

From Mumbai to Sangli, science fiction in Marathi has many fans. And thanks
to the a growing interest in science among the youngsters, the fan-base is
expanding. Apart from books, hundreds of sci-fi stories are printed in the
special annual Diwali magazine of Marathi publishing houses.

Marathi sci-fi stories started appearing regularly during the 1950s --
most of them adaptations of classics by Jules Verne and HG Wells.
The genre took off in the seventies. According to Bal Phondke, former
director of National Institute of Science Communication and a popular
science fiction writer, there were two reasons behind this "meteoric rise":
Marathi Vidnyan Parishad (MVP) and Jayant Narlikar.

In 1970, the MVP, a body that promotes science among the masses in
Maharashtra, started a science fiction writing competition, which was kept
open to participants of all ages. AP Deshpande, secretary, MVP, informed
that the idea then was to present science in a palatable form to the masses.

Most of the leading exponents of Marathi science fiction today had never
attempted to write a science fiction story until they decided to participate
in this competition, which is held every year to this day. "I used to write
family-based fiction until then. When I won the competition, it gave me the
boost to write science fiction," said Laxman Londhe, whose story, Einstien
the Second, was the lone Indian entry in The Road to Science Fiction --
Around the World, a collection of sci-fi stories written all over the world.
Londhe was a lawyer by profession.

The 63-year-old was always interested in science. "I took up law after my
graduation only to fulfil familial responsibilities. However, I kept in
touch with science and followed all scientific developments keenly. When I
heard of MVP's competition, I decided to try my hand at science fiction," he
said.

In 1974, MVP received an entry by Narayan Vinayak Jagtap, who won the
competition that year. It turned out that Jagtap, in fact, was Jayant
Narlikar, who wrote under a pseudo name since he didn't want to influence
the judges' decision in his favour (he was famous then already as the
co-developer of the Hoyle-Narlikar theory on cosmology. Sir Fred Hoyle,
Narlikar's mentor at Cambridge University, and a science fiction writer
himself, encouraged his student to try his hand at the genre. Narlikar,
however, wanted to write in his own language.

He finally started work on his first story after returning to India, during
a conference in Ahmedabad. "The lecture was really boring. I took a piece of
paper and started writing my story -- I completed about one-thirds of it
during the lecture," said Narlikar. The story was mentioned by Durga
Bhagwat, president of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (Marathi Literary Meet)
in 1974 during her special address where she said that it looked like a new
beginning in science fiction.

It was indeed a new beginning because it was from that point on, that
Marathi publications started carrying sci-fi stories in larger
numbers. While Narlikar downplays his role in popularising the genre, his
work continues to attract more Maharashtrians to science fiction --
especially the youth.

"I just happened to see a book by Narlikar, who I knew was a renowned
scientist. Out of curiosity I picked up this book called Virus and found it
really good. So I started reading his other books," said Aditya Panse, a
22-year-old CA from Pune, who is now a fan of Marathi sci-fi.

"The tastes of our readers have been changing since the last 10 years. Apart
from science fiction we are publishing many science columns, which too are
growing in popularity," said Vilas Adhyapak, chief coordinator, supplements
of Belgaum-based newspaper Tarun Bharat.

"Formulas and theories are unattractive and even frightening, but in the
story medium you convey the essence in an agreeable form," said
Narlikar. Moreover, as Londhe puts it, "Man's life is moulded by
science. Questions like 'What is life?' and 'Who am I?' are no longer purely
philosophical, but also scientific." Science fiction may not provide the
answers, but it can sure make us think about science in an entirely
different way.r_krishna@dnaindia.net

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