Böcker av Mitra Phukan

When Mihika, 56 and a widow, gets drawn into a relationship with Zuhayr, a60-year-old divorcee who was her late husbandAditya's friend, it doesn't seem toher like an event that should cause more than a raised eyebrow or two. Not in thetwenty-first century, and not when their grown-up children are happy that theirparents have found a second chance at happiness.But inTinigaon-a small town inAssam-it is just not done for a woman ofMihika's age to have a romantic relationship-that, too, with a man from theOther Religion: a Muslim.Tinigaon's Old Guard is scandalized as Mihika andZuhayr are seen together in restaurants and cinema halls,'flaunting' their affair.And a nosy neighbour, Ranjana, keeps the moral brigade busy with juicy details ofZuhayr's late-night comings and goings from Mihika's house.Mihika decides to ignore the gossipmongering and slander and remain true to herrelationship with Zuhayr, who has filled a void in her life afterAditya's death fiveyears ago.As long as her four closest friends,Tara,Triveni, Shagufta and Pallavi,stand by her, she doesn't care if others turn away. But when the gossip turnsinto something more sinister that could threaten her daughterVeda's happiness,Mihika is forced to take a call-should she give up the man she loves for herdaughter's sake, or is there an alternative that could give them both what theywant?Writing with great sensitivity and gentle humour, Mitra Phukan proves onceagain that she is an extraordinary chronicler of the human heart. Rooted, like allher fiction, in the culture and sensibilities ofAssam, What Will People Say? speaksto all of us, wherever we are, whoever we are.

The Greatest Assamese Stories Ever Told spans more than a century of work by some of the finest writers of short fiction in the language. The storytellers range from literary masters such as Lakhminath Bezbaroa, Mamoni Raisom Goswami, Saurav Kumar Chaliha, Birendra Kumar Bhattacharyya, and Homen Borgohain to contemporary writers like Harekrishna Deka, Debabrata Das, and Kuladhar Saikia. Among the gems to be found in this selection are Lakhminath Bezbaroa's 'Patmugi' which is a searing portrayal of the injustices of society, especially towards women; Mamoni Raisom Goswami's 'Values', an unforgettable depiction of a destitute woman, for whom her Brahmin ancestry is the only thing that she can take pride in; Harekrishna Deka's 'The Captive', a poignant account of the relationship between a kidnapper and his victim; Homen Borgohain's well-known story 'Looking for Ismael Sheikh', which deals with the effects of religious violence on a community; and Sheelabhadra's 'Sweet Acacia', a romance as evocative as the delicate fragrance of the flower that permeates it. Selected and edited by Mitra Phukan, these and the other stories in this volume offer a fascinating glimpse of a culture and a people that will resonate with readers everywhere.

A bright young student, a globetrotting star, and a highly respected married couple--each deeply immersed in the tradition of Hindustani classical music. A Monsoon of Music tells the story of these four musicians whose lives intersect in the small mofussil town of Tamulbari on the banks of the Brahmaputra. Against the backdrop of musical heritage and haunting ragas, Mitra Phukan sweeps us into the lives of her characters: the ambitious sitarist, Kaushik Kashyap, who tours the world with his beautiful Italian student; Nomita, the shy small-town vocalist whom Kaushik's parents have chosen for him; the beautifully serene Sandhya Senapati and her husband, the handsome Tridib Barua, who seems to be hiding dark secrets; and the well-known industrialist Deepak Rathod. As the eventful monsoon months give way to autumn, they each come to deeper understandings of themselves even as their lives change dramatically. By turns serious, deeply moving, and utterly irreverent, Phukan's eye for detail, her immense knowledge of Hindustani classical music, and her profound understanding of human nature come together in this remarkable novel.