Ma is Scared
Translated from Hindi by Kavita Bhanot.
- £9.99
- Available
- Paperback published on 15/06/2023
- Page count: 192 pages
- ISBN: 9781912697663
Quick take
Ma is Scared is the long-overdue debut of Anjali Kajal in English, representing the best of her short fiction, written and published over the last twenty years.
Synopsis
An anxious mother waits for her daughter to return from work, while deflecting comments from judgmental neighbours...
A chance encounter with an old college friend triggers the memory of a cruel trap once set for a young student, just because of her caste...
In the middle of a lecture on the legacies of sexual abuse, a woman feels the weight of a whole lifetime suddenly pressing down on her...
The stories in Anjali Kajal’s debut collection draw us into the lives of ordinary women in Northern India, making us realise quite how rarely we witness these experiences from Dalit points of view. Whether combating the caste-based disdain of colleagues at work or in the classroom or enduring the new blows that the pandemic landed on Dalit communities, Anjali’s characters find a resilience and a dignity that we can all learn from.
About the author
Born in 1978, Anjali Kajal is a short-story writer from Ludhiana, Punjab. Her stories have been published in various literary magazines and publications, including the renowned Hindi monthly magazine Hans. In 2003, she was honoured by Jallandhar for her contribution to Hindi literature.
Translated by Kavita Bhanot
Kavita Bhanot is editor of The Book of Birmingham and Too Asian, Not Asian Enough. Her work has been published, performed and broadcast widely, including the landmark essay ‘Decolonise not Diversify’.
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Comma Press are a not-for-profit publisher and development agency specialising in short fiction from the UK and beyond. They champion world-class short fiction, and develp cutting-edge, often marginalised voices, both domestically and in...
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