AND QUIET FLOWS THE GOMTI
mother he wants to marry an educated girl from the working class. His mother chooses Chandni Begum. However, when Bela, the Panchgani-educated daughter of a “mirasi-bhand couple” comes along, he marries her. And thereon begin his own string of troubles. Across the Gomti river, following Qambar’s rejection, Safia Sultan rejects proposals that come her way. To take her mind off the activities at Red Rose, she decides to open a “convent school” and names it St Sophia. When the highly-educated Chandni Begum shows up at Red Rose to seek Qambar’s help, Bela suggests she teach at St Sophia’s and dumps her at Teen Katori House. There is no vacancy in St Sophia’s, so Chandni Begum ends up sewing clothes and living in the servants area. Years later, Red Rose House is a disputed estate. There are fights over what came up first there - the mosque or the temple. Hyder wrote this tale of love and loss, of people and land, a few years before the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground in Ayodhya in 1992, almost predicting the future course of events, of an India that would become increasingly intolerant.
Translations are never an easy task, but Saleem Kidwai has done justice here. Hyder’s intricately crafted story isn’t a breezy read. This book needs several sittings to understand the rapid socio-cultural changes that have impacted India. It’s wise to see the world from Hyder’s eyes. A couple of evenings – is all it takes.