Literary Jukebox: Design Thinking from Short Fiction
  1. Literary Jukebox: In Short, the World
  2. Czechia - Milan Kundera
  • Literary Jukebox: In Short, the World
    • Italy - Dino Buzzati
    • France - Guy de Maupassant
    • Japan - Hisaye Yamamoto
    • Peru - Ventura Garcia Calderon
    • Russia - Maxim Gorky
    • Egypt - Alifa Rifaat
    • Brazil - Clarice Lispector
    • England - V S Pritchett
    • Russia - Ivan Bunin
    • Czechia - Milan Kundera
    • Sweden - Lars Gustaffsson
    • Canada - John Cheever
    • Ireland - William Trevor
    • USA - Raymond Carver
    • Italy - Primo Levi
    • India - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
    • USA - Carson McCullers
    • Zimbabwe - Petina Gappah
    • India - Bharati Mukherjee
    • USA - Lucia Berlin
    • USA - Grace Paley
    • England - Angela Carter
    • USA - Kurt Vonnegut
    • Spain-Merce Rodoreda
    • Israel - Ruth Calderon
    • Israel - Etgar Keret

On this page

  • Milan Kundera
  • Story
  • Themes
  • Notes and References
    • Additional Material
  • Song for the Story
  • Writing Prompts
  1. Literary Jukebox: In Short, the World
  2. Czechia - Milan Kundera

Czechia - Milan Kundera

The Hitchhiking Game

Published

December 28, 2021

Milan Kundera

Story

We will read this terrifying story by this great Writer. The Hitchhiking Game

Themes

  • Young Love
  • Games and Teasing
  • Ego and Pain
  • Rules in the Game
  • Consent

Notes and References

Additional Material

Song for the Story

Song: Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se
Album: Gumrah
Year: 1963

Artist: Mahendra Kapoor
Director: B.R.Chopra
Star Cast: Sunil Dutt, Mala Sinha, Ashok Kumar, Shashikala, Nirupa Roy, Nana Plasekar
Music Director: Ravi
Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi

Chalo ek baar phirse
Hindi (and quite some Urdu!) Lyrics English Translation
chalo ek baar phir se, ajnabii ban jaayein ham donon(2) Come, let us become strangers once again
—– —–
na main tumse koi ummiid rakhuun dil-navaazii kii I shall no longer maintain hopes of compassion from you
na tum merii taraf dekho ghalat andaaz nazaron se Nor shall you gaze at me with your deceptive glances.
na mere dil ki dhaDkan laDkhaDaaye merii baaton mein My heart shall no longer tremble when I speak,
na zaahir ho tumhaari kashm-kash ka raaz nazaron se. Nor shall your glances reveal the secret of your torment.
—- —-
tumhein bhii koii uljhan roktii hai pesh-qadmii se Complications prevent you from advancing further,
mujhe bhii log kahte hain ki yeh jalve paraaye hain I too am told that I wear disguises.
mere hamraah bhi rusvaayiaan hain mere maazii kii The disgraces of my past are now my companions,
tumhaare saath bhii guzrii huii raaton ke saaye hain while the shadows of bygone nights are with you too.
—– —–
taarruf rog ho jaaye to usko bhuulnaa bahtar Should knowing one another become a disease, then it is best to forget it.
taalluq bojh ban jaaye to usko toDnaa achhaa Should a relationship become a burden, then it is best to end it.
voh afsaana jise anjaam tak laanaa na ho mumkin For that tale which cannot culminate in a conclusion,
use ek khuubsuurat moD de kar chhoDna achhaa it is best to give it a beautiful turn and leave it be.
—– —–
chalo ek baar phir se, ajnabii ban jaayein ham donon Come, let us become strangers once again.

Writing Prompts

  1. Being a conservatively brought up young person at a bar
  2. On a deep desire to commit an act of violence and how you would resist it, or not
  3. On finding hidden depths of personality on your best friend ( and how you found out)
Back to top
Russia - Ivan Bunin
Sweden - Lars Gustaffsson

License: CC BY-SA 2.0

Website made with ❤️ and Quarto, by Arvind V.

Hosted by Netlify .