Forsaking Paradise
These are not stories as much as vignettes of ordinary life as lived in Ladakh. They are biographical sketches of housewives, bureaucrats, tour guides and other ordinary folk. The writing is more anthropological than literary and Ravina Aggarwal the editor of the volume an anthropologist states that the purpose of the volume is to show "how local writing reflects the dilemmas of development." Her introduction provides a background in terms of history of Ladakhi language and political contestations of the area. Originally written in Urdu, the stories offer a window into Ladakhi life from the perspective of a self-taught Ladakhi Muslim Intellectual.
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Contents:
Introduction.
1. A true portrait.
2. Abhiley.
3. The wind.
4. Name.
5. Two nations, one story.
6. Tales of an adventurous traveller.
7. Coward, madman, fool.
7. The locked trunk.
8. The smile. 9. Hopes and desires.
10. A forsaken paradise.
11. A man of influence. |
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Abdul Ghani Sheikh wrote his first story while he was a veterinarian stock assistant in Srinagar. He has worked as a schoolteacher, screenplay writer and journalist. Changes wrought by development are recurrent themes in his writings. With psychological intuition, his stories probe the social problems of common people coping with a world in which justice is not always the outcome of action and are pragmatic, ironic and tinged with realism. Recognized as one of the foremost scholars of Ladakh, Abdul Ghani Sheikh has, apart from creative fiction, written on varied subjects - literature, history, philosophy and comparative religion. Among his books are two collections of short stories, a biography on the famous Ladakhi pioneer, Sonam Norbu, a historical novel Woh Zamana and a romantic novel Dil Hi To Hai, which won the Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy's Best Book Award. |
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