The novel explores the ‘queer’ plight of Kaustav who struggles with the instability of his sexual desire to map out the existence of his sexual identity
Sudeep Ghosh
Editor
Bangladeshi photojournalist, teacher and social activist Alam’s book Singed but not Burnt stands out as a universal allegory of post-modern times in resonating with contemporaneous concerns
The forward-looking vision of Amrita Pritam is a devotee’s compelling call for a sense of self against a world where imperviousness to religious pluralism is a pervasive reality, where human consciousness muddles through in futility, and where the eternal quest for the sublime is blighted by the empty rhetoric of bloated egoism.
Deb’s tongue-in-cheek humour in dedicating the novel to ‘all ghuspetiyas everywhere’ is an endearing intimacy with humanity that foregrounds India’s vision of inclusion. It is also a satire aiming at those forces that relentlessly push Indian democracy into a black hole of power wielded by the cultish faith in majoritarianism.
The collection of poem by Ra Sh is inescapably significant in initiating nuanced discussion of sexual violence, wellbeing and empathy.
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