A Portrait of Love

Book excerpt: Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’ was among the maverick writers who shaped modern Hindi literature. In his prose writings—fearless, provocative and startlingly original, much like his poetry—Nirala regards the world with the eyes of a compulsive satirist, committed to laying bare its hypocrisies. A Portrait of Love is an ode to Nirala’s genius, drawing attention to his long-ignored legacy in prose. From his poignant yet humorous sketch of rural India in Billesur Bakriha to the sophisticated urbanity of Lucknow in ‘Portrait of a Lady-Love’; from questioning the ideals of marriage and love in ‘Sukul’s Wife’ to celebrating the nexus between writers and courtesans in colonial Calcutta in ‘What I Saw’; from hailing agency among the oppressed castes in ‘Chaturi Chamar’ to shining a light on an uneasy relationship between education and progress in ‘Jyotirmayee’—this collection sparkles with wit, atmosphere and an unmistakable autobiographical streak, taking readers to the heart of India and introducing them to the colourful cosmos of Hindi literature.