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The Stench

The Stench

(Penguin Petit)

Gulzar
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The Stench paints a poignant portrait of Mumbai’s characteristic slums in the masterful prose of Gulzar. Delicately woven stories all come together – from the bitter-gourd vine separating two shanty huts, to the camaraderie of men who’d gather together on charpoys outside their homes in the evening light. Life in the slum was hard and grim, but it was theirs. But one morning, the shanty towns are razed and the people are given neat, sterile rooms to be packed in away from sight. Where will the precious goats and chickens grow on the third floor? The concrete gathers no moss, but no green blooms within these four unyielding walls. The question remains – is a life you don’t know a life you will ever want? Gulzar draws the loneliness and chaos of the urban life with astute brilliance in this beautifully detailed insight into Mumbai slums.

Imprint: Penguin

Published: Jan/2017

Length : 10 Pages

MRP : ₹15.00

The Stench

(Penguin Petit)

Gulzar

The Stench paints a poignant portrait of Mumbai’s characteristic slums in the masterful prose of Gulzar. Delicately woven stories all come together – from the bitter-gourd vine separating two shanty huts, to the camaraderie of men who’d gather together on charpoys outside their homes in the evening light. Life in the slum was hard and grim, but it was theirs. But one morning, the shanty towns are razed and the people are given neat, sterile rooms to be packed in away from sight. Where will the precious goats and chickens grow on the third floor? The concrete gathers no moss, but no green blooms within these four unyielding walls. The question remains – is a life you don’t know a life you will ever want? Gulzar draws the loneliness and chaos of the urban life with astute brilliance in this beautifully detailed insight into Mumbai slums.

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Gulzar

Gulzar, one of India's great towering poets, is also an acclaimed screenwriter, film director and lyricist. He has penned verses for songs in Indian films for several decades and has won awards such as the Academy Award, Grammy Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, numerous National Film Awards, and the Padma Bhushan, among others. He lives and works in Mumbai.

About the Translator
Neha R. Krishna is a poet and translator from Mumbai. She is the author of No Urgency to Be Home, a collection of Haiku and Tanka. Neha's poems have been featured in Under the Basho, Presence, Frogpond, Haiku Master, Failed Haiku and elsewhere.

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