Akra koti gallon pani (अकरा कोटी गँलन पाणी) by Anil Barve

Akra koti gallon pani (अकरा कोटी गँलन पाणी)", by Anil Barve. This Marathi book is published by Urja prakashan and has 134 pages.

This book is a collection of two long stories. First story is called Akra koti gallon pani (110 million water) and second story is called Studfarm.

Bhadrapur is a coal rich area. Seth Jamnadas Mehta is the owner of a mine called 'Shaitani Khadan (Devil's pit)'. Swami is the brilliant mine engineer who has succeeded extracting coal from Shaitani Khadan. Upon greedy Seth Jamnadas' instructions, when coal was removed, instead of filling the pillar by a mixture of sand and water, it's filled by only water and subsidy is obtained for sand. Due to carbon monoxide and methane in the mine, 11 crore gallon water has become poisonous. To hide this misdeed, the mine was set on fire and sealed off. Wrong maps were prepared to show smaller size of excavation than actual.

Now mines are nationalized and Swami has retired. A new coaleary is dug close to Shaitani Khadan. Swami is terrified by the thought of coleary connecting to Shaitani khadan due to wrong maps and 11 crore gallon poisonous water entering mine and killing everyone instantaneously. This terrible disaster is a distinct possibility.

What will Swami do? If he speaks, he may be arrested. Will his good sense prevail? Who will he approach? Seth Jamnadas? Union leaders? Politicians? Newspapers? Manager of coaleary? Will he get any help? Can he avoid the disaster?

Gyaniseth has a number of businesses. However his real hobby and passion is his stud farm. Horses are his life. He thinks about horses, dreams about horses and does not spare any expense on horses. His stud farm is considered the best in India. He spots a pony (Chanda) on the beach of Karnala that is used to ferry children. Gyaniseth's expert eyes recognize the potential future winner. He buys the pony and employs it's owner, Yesu, as the caretaker of horse. He wants to create a history by making a winner out of a pony without pedigree. Chanda is trained by an expert trainer. He is renamed Grand Galloper. Three people love Chanda like a family member. His former owner and now caretaker, Gyani seth and his small daughter. Chanda loves them too.

Racing season begins. No body wants to bet on Chanda. He is called horse good for drawing carriage. Chanda wins first race in a photo finish. No one can believe this. Then Chanda goes on to win every race of the season, setting record on the way. The grand finale will be the race where the award will be given by the queen of England.

The plane carrying Chanda develops engine fault and one of its tyre bursts. Can the plane land? Will Chanda survive? Who does Gyani Seth care for, Chanda or staff on the plane? Will Chanda run the race of his life? Will he win?

Anil Barve is known to present various social issues through his novels and stories. He has a knack of blending the issue with story to create a homogenous tale. He has shown his command in demonstrating various human emotions like love, hate, empathy, ruthlessness without sacrificing the story line. Both the stories are compact and crisp.

I would have preferred the first story to be about ten pages longer. This would have allowed author to create the background and climax better. Since the book is small even those who are not avid readers can read it.

A very good book. Recommend reading.