The Shehnai Virtuoso

“Dhumketu is a wonderfully gripping storyteller, and translator Jenny Bhatt has certainly done him justice in this excellent selection.” —Jennifer Croft, translator of The Books of Jacob

The tragic love story of a village drummer and his dancer lover . . .

A long-awaited letter that arrives too late . . .

A teahouse near Darjeeling, run by a mysterious queen . . .

The Shehnai Virtuoso brings together the first substantial collection of Dhumketu’s work to be available in English. A legend of Gujarati literature, Dhumketu revolutionized the short story in India. Characterized by a fine sensitivity, deep humanism, perceptive observation, and an intimate knowledge of both rural and urban life, his fiction has provided entertainment and edification to generations of Gujarati readers and speakers.

Beautifully translated for a wide new audience by Jenny Bhatt, these much-loved stories—like the finest literature—remain remarkable and relevant even today.

Author Biography

Dhumketu was the pen name of Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi (1892–1965), one of the foremost writers in Gujarati and a pioneer of the short story form. He published twenty-four short story collections and thirty-two novels on social and historical subjects, as well as plays, biographies, memoirs, translations, travelogues, and literary criticism. Contemporary with Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, and Saadat Hasan Manto, Dhumketu’s contributions to Indian literature are just as wide-ranging and groundbreaking.

Jenny Bhatt is a writer, translator, and book reviewer. Her short story collection, Each of Us Killers, won a 2020 Foreword INDIES award in the short stories category and was a finalist in the multicultural adult fiction category. Her writing has appeared in venues like the Atlantic, NPR, BBC Culture, the Washington Post, Literary Hub, Longreads, the Millions, and Electric Literature. Born in Gujarat, India, and raised in Bombay, India, she now lives in Dallas, Texas. Find her at https://jennybhattwriter.com.