Today's Pasts

Rawalpindi in the first few decades of the twentieth century is a prosperous bustling town witnessing the first stirrings of the freedom movement. It is in this place and time that a delicate child grows into adolescence at the heart of an unusual family. Adulthood and the horrific business of Partition drive the young man to Bombay then Ambala and finally Delhi. As he gathers life experience and hones his talent at writing his politics are formed. We observe the making of one of the icons of modern Hindi literature: Bhisham Sahni. In addition to being the story of Sahni’s life and art Today’s Pasts also chronicles the great cultural highpoints of modern India: the IPTA the Progressive Writer’s Association the Nayi Kahani movement. The stars of Hindi and Urdu literature enter and exit the text as friends and familiars. In Bhisham Sahni’s hands a life story is transformed into a history of our present: one life bears witness to the tale of a nation. Review His literary merits sharp wit gentle irony all-pervasive humour penetrating insight into character mastery as raconteur and profound grasp of the yearnings of the human heart --Outlook About the Author Bhisham Sahni (1915-2003) was an iconic writer who transformed the landscape of Hindi literature. His oeuvre encompassed novels plays short stories and essays. Tamas his best known novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1975 and was subsequently adapted into a National Award-winning film by Govind Nihalani. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1998 and the Shlaka Award the Delhi government’s highest literary prize in 1999.