Major literary works of Indian Muslims

A gentleman, Rao Sahab, has asked me about literary works of Indian Muslims that can give him a peek into the culture, thought process, fears, anxieties, hopes and aspirations of Indian Muslims.

Yes there are some books which are a must read for not only Muslims but non-Muslims in this country as well. I thought I should share with you. I recommend these books to everybody.

In Urdu:
1. Qurratul Ain Haider's (or Hyder) Aag ka Darya translated as River of Fire, one of the greatest novels ever written in any language. The characters of Gautam Nilambar, Kamaal and Champa appear in different eras.

2. Abdus Samad's 'Do Gaz Zameen' that deals with psyche of Muslims until Bangladesh's creation and after. It has been translated in almost a dozen languages.

3. Salahuddin Parvez' ShinaKhtnaama or Identity Card, a landmark work in the backdrop of Ayodhya Movement.

4. Rahi Masoom Raza's 'Topi Shukla', a must-read for all Indians, a small novel originally in Hindi which I am sure can change the thinking of fanatic Hindus and Muslims and force them to introspect.

The boy who was dark complexioned, not loved by parents, hated Muslims in his young age and took admission in AMU to see these 'anti-nationals' later lives a bohemian life, befriends Muslims, falls in love with Muslim girl and has a rather tragic end.

Raza who wrote script of Mahabharat is a master and his command over the dialects of UP and understanding of human psychology, belief in secularism and communal harmony is unparalleled.

5. Raza's Adha Gaon or a Village Divided (recently translated in English marvelloulsy) is another beautiful novel about the Shia Muslims in country side (Ghazipur's rural and qasbah life).

6. In Hindi, Manzoor Ahtesham's Sukha Bargad translated as 'A Dying Banyan'.

7. Another interesting one is Asghar Vajahat (or Wajahat's) 'Saat Aasmaan'.

8. Abdul Bismillah's 'Jhini Bini Chadaria' is considered a good novel as it deals with weavers of Benares though I was not impressed much with it. The fact that novel deals about poor Muslims and not Nawabs, Upper Class or Aristocrats is noteworthy.

9. A unique novel is Kala Jal by Gulsher Khan Shani, one of the first Muslim writers to take up Hindi instead of Urdu. The setting is in remote Bastar, the heart of tribal territory. A television serial on the novel with Pallavi Joshi as lead character was quite a hit in the mid-80s.

10. Ilyas Ahmad Gaddi's brilliant work 'Fire Area' is about the miners in coal fields of Bihar. Gaddi's novel has been acclaimed one of the best works in Urdu fiction in India in the last decade or so. Unfortunately I haven't read it.

1. Musharraf Alam Zauqi's 'bayaan' is a major novel. It deals with the insecurities and frustration that gripped Muslims after demolition of Babri Masjid and the riots in Mumbai, Surat etc.

I have not read Syed Mohammad Ashraf's 'Nambardaar ka Neela' that got great reviews.There are other good Muslim authors who have written good novels but firsthand I remember these and all of them are a must-read. Amongst the slightly earlier works is Hayatullah Ansari's voluminous Lahoo ke Phool, which I unfortunately couldn't red.

The query is about Muslim writers otherwise I was reading Ravindra Kalia's famous 'Khuda Salaamat Hai' and was enchanted by it. The story set in a mohalla of a North Indian town that has an equal population of Hindus and Muslims, inhabited by shopkeepers, mullahs, pundits, tawaifs and all sorts of people depicts the strength of our common heritage and ganga-jamuni culture.

Besides, Khushwant Singh's 'Delhi' is one of my favourites. No matter what people say about the 'vulgarity' in the novel, it remains the best work on Delhi along with Ahmad Ali's 'Twilight in Delhi' which is now considered a legendary work. Among short stories I rank Hindi writer Nasira Sharma and her 'Patthar Gali' quite highly.