Portrait of Love

Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' was among the maverick writers who shaped modern Hindi literature. In his prose writings--fearless provocative and startlingly original much like his poetry--Nirala regards the world with the eyes of a compulsive satirist committed to laying bare its hypocrisies. A Portrait of Love is an ode to Nirala's genius drawing attention to his long-ignored legacy in prose. From his poignant yet humorous sketch of rural India in <i>Billesur Bakriha</i> to the sophisticated urbanity of Lucknow in 'Portrait of a Lady-Love'; from questioning the ideals of marriage and love in 'Sukul's Wife' to celebrating the nexus between writers and courtesans in colonial Calcutta in 'What I Saw'; from hailing agency among the oppressed castes in 'Chaturi Chamar' to shining a light on an uneasy relationship between education and progress in 'Jyotirmayee'--this collection sparkles with wit atmosphere and an unmistakable autobiographical streak taking readers to the heart of India and introducing them to the colourful cosmos of Hindi literature.