Delhi: A Novel
Historical novel | |
| Published | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Penguin Books India Ltd |
| Publication place | India |
Delhi: A Novel is a historical novel by Indian writer Khushwant Singh published in 1990.[1] The novel was a bestseller in India when first published but received little critical attention compared to Amitav Ghosh's novel The Shadow Lines that also covered the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.[2][3]
Text
The book moves backwards and forwards in time through the history of Delhi. It has as its backdrop the story of a journalist fallen on bad times and his relationship with a hijra named Bhagmati.
This vast, erotic, irreverent
Writing
Singh claims it took him almost twenty-five years to complete this novel.[4] He dedicates it to his son Rahul Singh and Niloufer Billimoria. 'History provided me a skeleton', he jokes, 'I covered it with flesh and injected blood and a lot of seminal fluid into it'.
Some parts of the novel were also published in the Evergreen Review and The Illustrated Weekly of India.
Urdu translation
This novel was Urdu translated by Irfan Ahmad Khan, Lahore, Pakistan. Singh himself allowed Khan to recover royalty of his unauthorised publications from the publishers of Pakistan. The Urdu translation publications were in October 1998, April 1999, January 2000, May 2000, February 2005.
References
- ISSN 2391-6737.
- ^ Bagchi, Amitabha (4 February 2022). "The Ghosts Of Khushwant Singh's Delhi". Outlook. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ISSN 0021-9894.
- ISSN 2229-6557.