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This Too Is a Story

This Too Is a Story

An honest and courageous life—a remarkable writer's autobiography

MANNU BHANDARI
,
Poonam Saxena
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A woman lost and found and lost again . . .

Born in a world that was unfair to women, Mannu Bhandari, grew up to be a sensitive, fiery and outspoken writer. Little did she realize though, that getting married to a man from her own field would prove to be the death of her own writing for the next decade.

In this very straightforward and open autobiography, Mannu Bhandari presents the other side of the household that she and Rajender Yadav occupied. She talks about how she drew her characters from her life and how difficult this seemingly simplicity of writing was.

Deeply hurt by her husband Mannu lays bare the fault lines of her very controversial marriage and her dilemmas and struggles—of being together and yet completely alone. With rare, candid ease and sentimentality, she takes the reader through her life, revealing her writing genius and claiming her rightful position as one of the best writers in Hindi literature.

Imprint: Ebury Press

Published: Dec/2025

ISBN: 9780143464891

Length : 280 Pages

MRP : ₹599.00

This Too Is a Story

An honest and courageous life—a remarkable writer's autobiography

MANNU BHANDARI
,
Poonam Saxena

A woman lost and found and lost again . . .

Born in a world that was unfair to women, Mannu Bhandari, grew up to be a sensitive, fiery and outspoken writer. Little did she realize though, that getting married to a man from her own field would prove to be the death of her own writing for the next decade.

In this very straightforward and open autobiography, Mannu Bhandari presents the other side of the household that she and Rajender Yadav occupied. She talks about how she drew her characters from her life and how difficult this seemingly simplicity of writing was.

Deeply hurt by her husband Mannu lays bare the fault lines of her very controversial marriage and her dilemmas and struggles—of being together and yet completely alone. With rare, candid ease and sentimentality, she takes the reader through her life, revealing her writing genius and claiming her rightful position as one of the best writers in Hindi literature.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

MANNU BHANDARI

Mannu Bhandari was a trail-blazing Hindi fiction writer whose engaging and thoughtful short stories and novels shone a light on middle-class life—especially women’s lives—in north India in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Bhanpura in Madhya Pradesh in 1931, she grew up in Ajmer before moving to Calcutta where she did her BA and MA in Hindi. She taught Hindi for several years in Calcutta. In 1959, she married writer Rajendra Yadav. She has published several acclaimed collections of short stories. Her story ‘Yehi Sach Hai’ was made into a film by Basu Chatterjee, Rajnigandha (1974). She wrote two novels, Aapka Bunty in 1971 and Mahabhoj in 1982. She co-wrote a novel with her husband, Rajendra Yadav, Ek Inch Muskaan. She died in 2021.

Poonam Saxena

Poonam Saxena is a journalist with Hindustan Times, where she is the editor of the Sunday magazine. She did her BA and MA in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and went on to do an MPhil from Delhi University. She has been a journalist for almost twenty years, first as a freelancer and then as features editor with newspapers such as the Asian Age. She wrote a popular TV review column in the Hindustan Times called Small Screen for almost ten years. Her translation of Gunahon ka Devta, acclaimed Hindi writer Dharamvir Bharati’s iconic 1949 novel into English (Chander & Sudha, Penguin Viking) received glowing reviews.

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