Solan, January 9
The prolific writer, educator, Fulbright scholar, and internationally acclaimed author of nearly two dozen academic and fiction books, Dr. Manju Jaidka’s latest collection of short stories was released on Monday..
Chancellor and Vice Chancellor of Shoolini University, Dr P.K. Khosla and Prof. Atul Khosla, noted author and ex-IAS officer Vivek Atray, Col. D.S.Cheema, Librarian of State Library Dr. Neeza Singh, along with many noted writers and lovers of literature were present on the occasion.
Prof. Manju Jaidka in conversation with senior journalist, columnist, political analyst and Director, School of Journalism and New Media, Shoolini University, Solan, Vipin Pubby brought out the inspirations and the triggers that made her right such engaging and human interest stories with most of them inspired by true life events.
The anthology contains twelve short stories that capture shades of human emotions and life’s realities that led her to pen down into engaging narratives.
Mr. Vipin Pubby brought to the fore the story of a senior police officer who molested a young girl and did his best to bury the crime through pressure tactics and harassment of girl’s family and got away with a mere six months imprisonment.
These are the moments of catharsis for a writer, Manju said, when you find yourself helpless in the face of social injustice, the writer has the responsibility to unveil such stories of human deprivation and injustice.
There are stories inspired by real-life incidents like that of 12 migrant labourers losing their lives just a few distances away from their home village, as also some light-hearted ones like the title story of a dog named Cato, “When Cato Played Cupid”.
Prof. Jaidka shared that her next book is a novel on the Shoolini University campus, where she heads the Department of Liberal Arts. “I have lots of stories simmering within me that emerge out of my daily busy work schedules and interactions, and at some stage, they precipitate into a poem, play, a short story, or a novel,” she remarked.
