Send us a textThis week I bring you the work of an outstanding Indian novelist and short story-writer Qurratulain Hyder or simply “Ainee Aapa” to many of her fans. To her literary admirers, she was the Grande Dame of Urdu literature. She was born in Aligarh in 1927 where her parents were established literary figures. Educated in Delhi and Lucknow, she moved to Pakistan in 1947 where she published her Magnum Opus Aag Ka Dariya or The River of Fire. This work is often compared with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. She soon realized that the religious climate in Pakistan was not suitable for her literary taste and she returned to India in 1960. She was associated with the Illustrated Weekly of India as a member of the editorial staff. She received Sahitya Akademi Award for the collection of stories Patjhar Ki Aawaaz in 1967, the Jnanpith Award for Aakhre Shab Ke Hamsafar in 1989, and the Padma Bhushan in 2005. Ms. Hyder translated most of her works into English. She passed away in 2007.

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