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The Loneliness of Hira Barua
The Loneliness of Hira Barua | Arupa Patangia Kalita
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An extraordinary, ever-relevant collection of stories from one of Assam’s greatest living writers. Hira Barua, an ageing widow living in a conflict-ridden region of Assam with her beloved Tibetan spaniel fears she is beginning to resemble a lonely Englishwoman from her past. A vicious sexual assault by the invading military drives a group of women into a shelter home. On a fateful night, a group of prostitutes make an extraordinary sacrifice for the safety of their companions. In these, and thirteen other piercing, intimate portraits, women navigate family, violence, trauma, ambition and domesticity with caution, grace and quiet resilience. Originally published as Mariam Austin othoba Hira Barua, this remarkable collection by one of Assam’s finest living writers won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014. In this brilliant English translation, Arupa Patangia Kalita’s powerful voice is brought to fresh and vivid life. Written in a variety of styles, from gritty social realism, folklore to magical realism, The Loneliness of Hira Barua is a modern classic of Indian literature. ‘Patangia’s fiction, over the last two decades, has repeatedly knocked on the doors of [our] conscience’ — Open
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truthinfiction
The Loneliness of Hira Barua | Arupa Patangia Kalita
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One of my new year's resolutions is to read a short story a day. So, I compiled all my short story collections together and was surprised to see that only two out of ten were written by English speaking authors and all the rest were either Indian authors writing in English or their works translated in English. I decided to begin with "the loneliness of hira barua". The cover is absolutely stunning and it got a lot of buzz last year.

truthinfiction 1) It won the Sahitya Akademi Award. The first story that I read was "the call girls in the shelter home". And, it was definitely good. You can't just move over to the next page after reading it. It forces you to sit still and digest what just happened. Short story writing is tricky. Sometimes, short story writers become more concerned with world building and I think that's the easiest way to f**k up a short story. 2y
truthinfiction 2) Instead, Arupa Patangia Kalita makes the story sparse and impactful. So much so that you forget to question the setting. It makes you think about the barbarity and monstrosity of soldiers on a rampage but also how a certain sect I.e. call girls is treated less than by the society. I am really excited to get to the rest of short stories. But, going by the first story, I already recommend you to read it. 2y
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