Afsar’s deceptively simple stories negotiate complexities of urban and mofussil life in Andhra, Telangana, and Hindu–Muslim interactions amidst rising religious fanaticism, to bring out the human element in people regardless of their faith, language, culture, caste and gender.
The eleven stories in this volume portray the everyday challenges confronting Indian Muslims today. The title story, ‘Sahil Will Come’, is a realistic portrayal of our uncertain times when anyone can be branded a terrorist and vanish overnight. Others tell of the loved and revered teacher who is reduced to penury by religious fanaticism; how religion separates two inseparable little girls who refuse to distinguish between each other’s gods; and a couple’s conflict, where the wife seeks security among people of her own faith and the husband questions such ‘security’ and seclusion.
Afsar also gives voice to the artist who hopes to rekindle a friendship with his estranged wife; the boy who leaves home to find work and returns only to find that his small nomadic family has moved on without him; the Madiga who shares a bond of affection and trust with a Muslim, despite social censure; the small-town Indian girl struggling to find herself in big-city America. He gives us windows into their battles with questions of identity, love and belonging, in a universe where the agency of ordinary people is forever receding.
Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar bring to life Afsar’s fictional worlds with as much fidelity to his craft as a nuanced understanding of his pluralistic worldview. This volume is a must-read for everyone unfamiliar with the lyrical and universal humanism of Afsar—an evocative, powerful and global voice among Indian writers today.
The Author
AFSAR (Mohammad) is a bilingual poet, writer, literary critic and scholar working on Hindu-Muslim interactions in India, especially Andhra and Telangana, Muslim writing and Telugu culture. Recognised as an important, trend-setting contemporary poet, he has published five volumes of poetry in Telugu, a collection of Telugu short stories, and critical essays. Afsar has won several awards for his writings in Telugu and English. His published works in English include The Festival of Pirs: Popular Islam and Shared Devotion in South India (2013); Evening with a Sufi (2022), a selection of his poems translated by Afsar with Shamala Gallagher; and Remaking History: 1948 Police Action and the Muslims of Hyderabad (2023). Afsar teaches South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
The Translators
ALLADI UMA and M. SRIDHAR, former professors of English at the University of Hyderabad, have been working collaboratively in translation between Telugu and English for three decades now. Their work has been widely published; recent translations include Sorajjem by Akkineni Kutumbarao (2016); How are You Veg? Dalit Stories from Telugu by Joopaka Subhadra (2021); Asprishya Ganga and Other Stories by Kolakaluri Enoch (2021); and Telugu: The Best Stories of Our Times edited by Volga (2022). Their sensitive translations, with a focus on caste and gender, have won numerous awards, including the Jyeshtha Literary Award (1993), Rentala Memorial Award (2006), and Malathi Pramada Sahithi Puraskaram (2018). They are currently involved with the Alladi Memorial Trust that works with the education, health, and legal needs of the underprivileged.
