Book Description

Vyangyam- The Satire: ‘Vyangya’ in Hindi means Satire, a word very close to my heart as I have been writing satires right from my college days first in Hindi and later in English. Often readers relate satire to humor but we as a satirist draw a line between the two. While humor is purely for laugh and entertainment, satire is a serious thought process sometimes laced with a touch of humor which makes the reader aware of the anomalies in the society, socially & politically. Going back in time during 70s & 80s, satires were published as filler or under humor section of any Hindi magazine without any regularity. To fill this void of a full-fledged satirical magazine in Hindi during those time, idea to start a magazine on satire was born. I along with my friends Ramesh Sharma ‘Nishikar’ & Mahesh Shukla with no financial backing and any experience in canvassing or marketing decided to go ahead with our plan because of our strong urge and passion. That was the time our country was undergoing a dark period of history called ‘Emergency’ in 1976. There was total censorship on media; right to express was oppressed, opposition leaders were either in jail or underground and those in power were crawling. Satire and humour was first casualty in emergency. Satirical and humorous English Magazine like ‘Shankar’s Weekly’ was forced to close down because it refused to kneel down. Under the clouds of emergency, our magazine was conceived and we brought out the first issue in January 1977 with 500 copies of the magazine called “Vyangyam” costing Rs.2/-.During its entire period of publication, we three friends were the editors, proof readers, layout designers, office boy, Chaiwallah, dispatchers and hawkers, all in one! During 77-78, eight issues of the quarterly magazine were regularly published. The magazine received good support from all the famous and not so famous writers by way of their free contribution of articles but in absence of sustained financial support from any quarter, the magazine started sign of fatigue and illness by the time we published its 10th issue. Despite its low cost, the magazine unfortunately could not pick up sales or subscription. To mobilize funds we also published two books and a novel but in vain and soon we were forced to discontinue the magazine in 1979.”Vyangyam” could not be revived again. In 2011, after 31 years I launched my own English blog, rededicating ‘Vyangyam’ by suffixing it to my blog title “Vyangyam- the Satire”. My first & only Hindi book titled “ Ek Bimar- Sau Anar” was published in 1985 and this first book in English, is a collection of English satires taken from my blog www.srayyangar.blogspot.com