Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Hamish Hamilton
600 pages, Rs.699
Poets and poetry occupy centre stage in this marvellous collection of stories by a celebrated master of Urdu prose. Historical figures such as Ghalib, Mirza Jan-e Janan, Budh Singh Qalandar, Amir Khan Anjam, Mir, Kishan Chand Ikhlas, Haidar Ali Atash and Mushafi compose remarkable poems, find patrons, make love, fight their enemies, and earn their sustenance. Faruqi has reimagined these figures as vital, breathing beings, alive in all their flawed magnificence.