Tears of the Begums - Book Review

Tears of the Begums - Stories of Survivors of the Uprising of 1857 

 

On the 11th of May, when the mob from Meerut entered daily, nobody would have thought it to be the end of the Mughal Empire. The fire of passion spread across North India, and with it, the stature of the Mughal Crown burned to ashes. Many writers have written about the events of Ghadar, but few writers have presented first-hand accounts of the whole event. Khwaja Hasan Nizami has written 12 books on the Ghadar of 1857. In these books, he has given a detailed account of how the events unfolded during and after the Ghadar. In his book, Begumaat ke Ansoo, translated as Tears of the Begums by Rana Safvi, he interviews various Mughal Princes and Princess who narrate the tales of their suffering.

Even though the title suggests that the book might focus solely on the royal womenfolk, there are a handful of first-hand narratives of many princes as well. Nonetheless, no matter who narrates their sufferings, the reader cannot help but feel sorry for them. One theme that is heavily present is that of 'helplessness'. In a matter of hours, everything was taken away from them. The ones who ruled the entire nation at one point were now beaten, abused, left to beg. The subjects of the Mughal court, in a matter of hours, changed their loyalties and turned their backs onto the royal blood. The book is a magnificent, heart-wrenching and moving collection which depicts the repercussions of the Ghadar and the cruel  vengeance that was meted out towards the people who had nothing to do with it. 

Rana Safvi's translation, Tears of the Begums (published by Hachette India), beautifully captures the essence of their plights and mishaps. She has retained a few original words that helps the reader to connect better. Her book is an attempt for the non-Urdu readers to reconnect with the past and understand how history has largely forgotten the members of the Mughal family.

-Sudipta Agarwal

Phd Scholar, Department of English
JMI
New Delhi

You can order the book here - https://bit.ly/3a7obdW

Hope On - Book Review by Nandita Basu

 Hope on is a pleasant collection of short stories in full colour, where writers and illustrators from different backgrounds have collaborated.  Short story collection, narrated in the comic form is not very common in the Indian space of comic writing. Hope on plugs itself in that space, and it is a rather pleasant exploration of very personal experiences and stories.

Because of the varied backgrounds of the illustrators and writers, each story has a distinct narrative and art style.

 

Short stories can be hard to deliver and especially in the graphic narrative form. The stories in Hope on manage to put across both the emotion and graphic content smoothly. The stories are an easy read, each story has a different art style. However the difference in consistency  with the art styles might bother some readers.

 But that also helps the book draw up it’s own flavour.  Almost like a bouquet of flowers. So it can come across as a bit of a mash up with the art styles but as you read on you will start enjoying it.

This book is a quick refreshing read. Often with lighter reads there is always the danger of losing out on the emotive content. Hope hits the bulls eye there. Even if the stories are short and breezy, make no mistake it is loaded with a lot of emotions that make you feel, think some cases smile. And the best part is like the name of the book suggests the stories all of a ray of hope shining through.

 Each story feels like you are sitting over a nice cup of coffee and having a conversation with both the writer and the illustrator. It does provide that sense of intimacy with the reader.

 Any good book is always about how it connects with a reader. And finally it all boils down to that.

- Nandita Basu, graphic artist and author of The Piano

Shop for the book here -https://t.co/cIkbzrzLLr