Most of the stories in this book are joyful, staunch and uplifting reaching for the softer corners of the reader’s heart. From the paraplegic who found love in the whispers of the gulmohar tree; to the young widow torn between the drums of tradition and the sweet, hopeful beat of maternal love and compassion; to the woman who regularly traverses the full glimmering sweep of her inner world; to the case of the cheating spouse that will make Hercule Poirot untwirl his moustache in awe; to one of the good days of a man in the curiously tender grasp of dementia, One Flew Over The Bulbul’s Nest will take you down poignant and memorable lanes of love, loss and triumph. Some of the other stories are raw and defiant dealing with the thorny themes of devoutness, tradition and empowerment. From the girl who falls pregnant in the home where she grew up; to a faithful’s soul-searching dialogue with the devil; to the flashback account of a childhood cut short by the trusted family retainer. The Glimmer was longlisted in the 2023 Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Competition for women. Ravaged has been selected as part of an American academic publication, Sing, Slivered Tongue: An Anthology of South Asian Women’s Poetry of Trauma.
