Masooma

About the Book: Masooma Translated from the original Urdu by TAHIRA NAQVI Masooma published in 1962 may well be regarded as a work that celebrates all of Ismat Chughtais talents as a writer. Perhaps her darkest novel a narrative of lost hope and endless cycles of corruption and injustice it traces the journey of Masooma a young woman from a respectable Muslim family who becomes embroiled in a game of exploitation and treachery and becomes Nilofar a commodity that can be easily bought and sold. Once again in telling Masoomas story Chughtai cuts open the underbelly of Indias political landscape and the underpinnings of the Bombay film world to reveal their shadowy and unsavoury side. About the Author: Ismat Chughtai Ismat Chughtai was born in 1915 in Badayun and was the first Muslim woman in India to acquire both a BA degree and a degree in teaching. She is counted among the earliest and foremost women Urdu writers. She focused on womens issues with a directness and intensity unparalleled in Urdu literature among writers of her generation. Author of several collections of short stories three novellas a novel Terhi Lakir (The Crooked Line) and Kaghazi Hai Perahan (The Paper-thin Garment) a memoir. With her husband Shahid Latif a film director whom she married against her familys wishes in 1942 she produced and co-directed six films and produced a further six independently after his death.