{"title":"Shashi Deshpande","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiscover the quietly powerful fiction of \u003cstrong\u003eShashi Deshpande\u003c\/strong\u003e, one of the most important voices in Indian writing in English and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. Deshpande writes with unflinching honesty about the inner lives of Indian women — their silences, their compromises, their suppressed desires, and their slow, painful journeys towards selfhood. Her landmark novel \u003cem\u003eThat Long Silence\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterpiece of Indian feminist fiction, exploring a middle-class woman's reckoning with her own identity after years of self-erasure within marriage. Her other essential works include \u003cem\u003eThe Dark Holds No Terrors\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA Matter of Time\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eSmall Remedies\u003c\/em\u003e. Writing of rare psychological depth and moral seriousness.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"acts-of-god","title":"Acts of God","description":"\u003cp\u003eNOMINATED FOR AMAZON POPULAR CHOICE BOOK AWARD, 2025 An audacious daredevil of a book.'--Raghu Karnad'A brilliantly self-aware and satirical debut.'--Anees Salim'A geeky, hilarious, thoroughly entertaining and richly imaginative work of fiction.'--Manu S. PillaiLOG - B:Vacuous detective P. Manjunath and his assistant, Heng, wrestle with an inscrutable mystery pickling their world, but their witless endeavours are pitted against the smartest person in the world--self-disgraced scientist Dr Krishna, who creates and destroys the universes the duo invariably inhabits. Luckily for them, they have no idea about this--or most other things.Now, as a cat-and-mouse game ensues between creator and created, the genius scientist is limited by the precarious nature of existence, and Manjunath is unlimited by his stupidity. If God plays dice with the universe, how does he handle losing?In Kanan Gill's wildly entertaining and moving debut novel, a sentient wall struggles with the limits of its artistic expression, a lapel pin's habit of always giving truthful advice results in utter chaos, a Danish police officer becomes the enlightened leader of a worldwide group of Science Haters and a pill is developed to cure the human condition. A delightful alchemy of humour, imaginativeness and philosophical provocation, Acts of God marks the evolution of one of India's finest comedic voices.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46036883439673,"sku":"9789356996823","price":359.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/81J3vGue15L._SL1500_cd4dd61e-ba23-470f-9b9a-72e889503160.jpg?v=1782816951"},{"product_id":"a-matter-of-time","title":"A matter of time","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn absorbing new novel from the author of 'That Long Silence' and 'Roots and Shadows' When Gopal walks out on her for reasons even he cannot articulate, Sumi returns with their three daughters, Aru, Charu, and Seema, to the shelter of the Big House, where her parents, Kalyani and Shripati, live in a strangely oppressive silence; they have not spoken to each other in the last thirty-five years. As the mystery of this long silence is unraveled, a horrifying story of loss and agony is laid bare, a story that seems to be repeating itself in Sumi's life... Set in present-day Karnataka, 'A Matter of Time' explores the intricate relationships within an extended family, encompassing three generations of men and women. At the heart of the novel is eighteen-year-old Aru, struggling to understand her father's 'desertion' and her mother's 'indifference', and in the course of a few turbulent months, forging entirely unexpected relationships that are destined to change the course of her life... Deeply unsettling, yet with moments of warmth and laughter, this is Shasi Deshpande at her poignant best.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46036972372025,"sku":"9780140263909","price":359.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/81tV7Py1nHL._SL1500_aeb20dc5-40c6-491b-9d8c-ebf24d826501.jpg?v=1782818015"},{"product_id":"moving-on","title":"Moving On","description":"\u003cp\u003eShashi Deshpande’s novel is about the secret lives of men and women who love, hate, plot and debate with an intensity that will absorb every reader. It is a story that begins, conventionally enough, with a woman’s discovery of her father’s diary. As Manjari unlocks the past through its pages, rescuing old memories and recasting events and responses, the present makes its own demands: a rebellious daughter, devious property sharks and a lover who threatens to throw her life out of gear again. The ensuing struggle to reconcile nostalgia with reality and the fire of the body with the desire for companionship races to an unexpected resolution, twisting and turning through complex emotional landscapes. In Moving On Shashi Deshpande explodes the stereotypes of familial bonds with an uncanny insight into the nature of human relationships and an equally unerring eye for detail.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037196865593,"sku":"9780143064251","price":359.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/41OpjYVdrbL_cb7950fa-d147-476e-931e-b07ad04a8ef6.jpg?v=1782819491"},{"product_id":"home-remedies","title":"Home Remedies- Handbook of Herbal Cures for Common Ailments","description":"\u003cp\u003eEven before Charaka compiled the Samhita, his treatise on Ayurveda, in the second century B.C., women and men were using herbs from their kitchens, fields and forests to alleviate pain and cure sickness. But with the coming of Western medicine, such indigenous practices were condemned out of court as 'unscientific'. This book, the outcome of over three decades of journeying and interactions with barely recognized vaids, ohjas and small community physicians, attempts to document these practices, while presenting also the findings of Western science that has only recently begun to acknowledge and legitimize them. Forty of the most common herbs in every Indian kitchen, including well-loved familiars such as garlic, ginger and pudina and the more special saffron, almonds and figs, are described here as known in local, specialized healing traditions. The botanical profile of each herb is followed by an extensive record of its medicinal uses in particular ailments, with detailed notes on the preparation and dosage of each remedy and an extensive bibliography of research articles. Comprehensive and separate glossaries of English and non-English technical terms and unfamiliar herbs, a multi-language index of plant names, and detailed illustrations make Home Remedies a unique reference guide to rediscovering a host of remedies for the most commonly encountered ailments.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037201846329,"sku":"9780140277098","price":359.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/615idYBQXlL._SL1400_86a2eac0-6791-4a27-a736-21531172a923.jpg?v=1782819499"},{"product_id":"home-remedies-vol-3","title":"Home Remedies","description":"\u003cp\u003eA comprehensive bibliography of scientific articles, separate glossaries of English and non-English technical terms, a multi-language index of plant names and detailed illustrations make this volume an illuminating rediscovery of herbs that have come into their own as purveyors of a health and happiness increasingly hard to come by.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037202403385,"sku":"9780140298987","price":359.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/71c5si_R4KL._SL1400_9dbcb5b6-0654-4a98-a549-6146bb61dc9b.jpg?v=1782819500"},{"product_id":"collected-stories-vol-1","title":"Collected stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eNot many readers of Shashi Deshpande may be aware that her first experiments in writing fiction started with the short story. Over the years, she has published about a hundred stories in literary journals, magazines and newspapers, in between writing her immensely popular novels which are now read all over the world, and taught in universities wherever Indian writing has an audience. In this collection we find Shashi Deshpande at her best, writing with subtlety and a rare sensitivity about men and women trapped in relationships and situations often not of their making. The wife of a successful politician who must look to a long-lost past in order to keep up the pretense of contentment; a little girl who cannot comprehend why the very fact of her being born is a curse; a young man whose fantasy of love drives him to murder; a newly-wed couple with dramatically differing views on what it means to get to know each other—every one of the characters here is delineated with lucidity and compassion. Written over the past three decades, the stories in this volume provide an insight into often forgotten aspects of human feelings and relationships, weaving a magical web of emotions that is testimony to the unusual depth and range of Shashi Deshpande’s writing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037204959289,"sku":"9780143029526","price":315.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/61Db40eZGWL._SL1400_9073fa62-321c-4b3f-a6bc-148f679672e4.jpg?v=1782819503"},{"product_id":"in-times-of-siege","title":"In Times of Siege","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat makes a fanatic? A fundamentalist? What makes communities that have lived together for years suddenly discover a hatred for each other? New Delhi, in the year 2000. Staff meetings, lesson modules, a half-hearted little affair with a colleague-this is the bland but comfortable life of Shiv Murthy, a history teacher in an open university. But disruption and change are on their way-an outspoken young woman with a broken knee comes into his life and turns it upside-down; then Hindu zealots attack his writings on Basava, the reformer-poet. When fundamentalism lands on his own doorstep, Shiv discovers that the ideas he has inherited-about history, nations and patriots-are liable to shrink day by day. The time of siege is not exclusively Indian-prejudice speaks different languages but has the same destructive message: 'Only trust those of your kind.' With love, lust and a perverted nationalism at his heels, Shiv is forced to confront the demands of his times and choose a direction for the future. But first, he must come to terms with his own incomplete past, his fears, and his obsession with a woman who will give him the strength he seeks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037254930489,"sku":"9780143066217","price":269.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/61wu2HRAhWL._SL1400_cc14ed1f-a02c-4687-833b-de3b13e75a6a.jpg?v=1782819580"},{"product_id":"the-binding-vine","title":"Binding Vine","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe new novel from the bestselling author of That Long Silence The narrator in The Binding Vine is the clever, sharp-tongued Urmi, grieving over the death of her baby daughter and surrounded by, but rebuffing, the care of her mother and her childhood friend, Vanaa. Instead, she becomes caught up in the discovery of her long-dead mother-in-law's poetry, written when she was a young woman subjected to rape in her marriage; and in Kalpana, a young woman hanging between life and death in a hospital ward, also the victim of rape. Yet, in this web of loss and despair are the glimmerings of hope. Shashi Deshpande explores with acuity and compassion the redemptive powers of love.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037553610809,"sku":"9780140233360","price":269.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/81GB_xo4rDL._SL1500_382df307-2f5e-4d78-b4fd-176886505358.jpg?v=1782820660"},{"product_id":"dark-holds-no-terrors","title":"The dark holds no terrors","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Why are you still alive-why didn't you die?' Years on, Sarita still remembers her mother's bitter words uttered when as a little girl she was unable to save her younger brother from drowning. Now, her mother is dead and Sarita returns to the family home, ostensibly to take care of her father, but in reality to escape the nightmarish brutality her husband inflicts on her every night. In the quiet of her old father's company Sarita reflects on the events of her life: her stultifying small town childhood, her domineering mother, her marriage to the charismatic young poet Mahohar.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46037553643577,"sku":"9780140145984","price":269.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/71QPqB75UAL._SL1500_7ad569c8-e3b7-4069-82a3-e21f97fe8506.jpg?v=1782820660"},{"product_id":"that-long-silence","title":"That long silence","description":"\u003cp\u003eJay's life comes apart at the seams when her husband is asked to leave his job while allegations of business malpractice against him are investigated. Her familiar existence disrupted her husband's reputation in question and their future as a family in jeopardy, Jaya, a failed writer, is haunted by memories of the past. Differences with her husband, frustrations in their seventeen-year-old marriage, disappointment in her two teenage children, the claustrophobia of her childhood and mdash; all begin to surface. In her small suburban Bombay flat, Jaya grapples with these and other truths about herself and mdash; among them her failure at writing and her fear of anger. Shashi Deshpande gives us an exceptionally accomplished portrayal of a woman trying to erase a 'long silence' begun in childhood and rooted in her and in the constraints of her life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dusky's Shrine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46039410769977,"sku":"9780140127232","price":269.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/files\/81-7rvh85jL._SL1500_467aa9b9-713a-4dd6-b644-56e4d7452e29.jpg?v=1782824314"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0795\/3367\/0457\/collections\/image_480b376e-4d06-4fef-ae49-21d713ca1578.png?v=1782610077","url":"https:\/\/duskysshrine.com\/collections\/shashi-deshpande.oembed","provider":"Dusky's Shrine","version":"1.0","type":"link"}