| |
 |
MY
TEMPLES, TOO
Qurratulain Hyder
Rs. 250 Hb 2004
81-88965-13-8
(Pakistani rights sold. All others available.)
|
|
‘Why
do we all find ourselves present in this particular
context, in this particular place? How have these
pictures assembled here in this jigsaw puzzle? Soon,
something will happen, pieces will scatter and become
part of a newer patter … this time will pass…’
Partition, independence, democracy.
My Temples, Too tell the tale of the birth
of two new nations, experienced in the lives and
deaths of its young citizens. Set in Lucknow of
the 1940s, Qurratulain Hyder’s masterly early
novel is a story of kinship, intimate friendships
and love in a context of political upheaval. Rakshanda,
Peechu, Kiran, Salim, Christabel the youthful protagonists
are idealistic and enthusiastic, fighting for a
brave new world. With the turbulence of partition
and independence, the quiet rhythms of domesticity
are brutally disrupted. New animosities replace
old loyalties, and the merry 'Gang' of Lucknow is
torn apart as the old order begins to fragment.
My Temples, Too
is a cry from the heart for the faded charm of Lucknow,
for the essence of India, for what the author calls
its ‘ganga-jumni’ culture—composite,
harmonious, gracious.
|
|
QURRATULAIN
HYDER
is a leading writer of Urdu fiction in India.
Her books have been translated into all Indian
languages, and she was awarded the Bharatiya
Jnanpith, India’s highest literary award,
in 1989. She has been a Fellow of the Sahitya
Akademi, and is widely acclaimed for pioneering
novelties of technique in Urdu fiction. She
has travelled widely, and has worked as a
journalist and broadcaster. Her novel, Aag
ka Darya (published in 1959, and transcreated
by her in English as The
River of Fire) has achieved epic status
in fiction about the subcontinent. |
|
|
