Ghalib at Dusk

Set in cities resonant with the subcontinent's history - Karachi, Allahabad, Ahmedabad - Nighat Gandhi's stories are about alternative lives. They are vignettes peopled by ordinary people with extraordinary sensitivities, surprising us with their outer normalcy maintained despite the idiosyncrasies of their fate. In today's context, this is a rare set of stories that in their delicate nuances and unspoken drama, reveal the quiet courage that infuses the spirit of the men and women of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.