Qurratulain Hyder was a pioneer of Urdu literature. If she didn’t actually introduce the literary form of the novel to writers and readers of this language, long devoted to poetry, then at least she was instrumental in setting it on a sound footing. She wrote five novels herself, along with several novellas and four collections of short stories — of which this is one. Hyder, who worked for the BBC as a journalist, also translated much of her own work into English to reach a wider audience.
The title story starts with a memorable scene, set in the courtyard of Pir Handey Shah’s mazar in Lucknow. The name means Saint of the Gas Lamp, and in the story nobody is quite sure who the saint was or how he came to be venerated. In the evening they sit around the mazar’s petromax lantern, listen to Bhoorey Qawwal and Party sing, and relate their own lives and circumstances to the words of the qawwalis. It is an astonishing collection of characters yet utterly credible, because after all the strangest and most ordinary people are attracted to religious places.
The tale continues through a number of set pieces, conversations and stories narrated by several characters. More than a single story it is a multitude of story-threads — and somehow that seems to be a very effective way to capture the life of a city in time.
STREET SINGERS OF LUCKNOW AND OTHER STORIES
Qurratulain Hyder
Women Unlimited
xvi + 228 pages
Rs 350
