Bøker av Ajeet Cour

'He is just a boy, frightened, wounded and bleeding, in need of food andshelter. It would be inhuman to hand him over to the cops,' thinks the narratorin the story 'Dead-end'. Unless...could he be the terrorist who killed herbrother Kewal? And if so, does he not deserve the same end?'The opening story in this collection by a doyenne of Punjabi literature jolts thereader into facing uncomfortable questions-and each story that follows holds usin a similar grip. In 'Walking a Tightrope', the narrator is shocked to find she has asecond maternal uncle. Why had his existence been kept hidden for so long-andwho was more to blame-the uncle, or his tyrannical father, Bhaiyaji?After the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her uncle, Mansukhaniin 'Unsought Passion' forever thinks of men as 'devils and pigs'-but does herchildhood trauma give her the right to force her attentions on Raaj? And inthe eponymous 'Life Was Here Somewhere', the narrator finds many lessonsabout life and human nature in a pile of garbage in front of her home.In these fourteen short stories, which blur the lines between fiction andmemoir, Ajeet Cour paints rich vignettes of life in Delhi, Chandigarh and thevillages of Punjab. Effortlessly translated from the original Punjabi by the author,these are unforgettable stories-searing, moving and always deeply human.

Heartwarming and candid, this is the story of one of our foremost literary voices, told in her own words-a life beset by tragedy which yet carries a message of courage, hope and happiness.Growing up in pre-Partition Lahore, Ajeet Cour spent a childhood wrapped in warm and enticing experiences, despite her disciplinarian father. From such a beginning, her life moves on to a first, true love that is lost on account of a misunderstanding; a violent, bitter marriage that leaves her with two young children to support; the death of a beloved child, and the loss, again, of love when at last she seems to have found it. But despite the tragedy that always seems to follow her, Ajeet Cour's story is one of courage, hope and a sort of happiness, as she finds her eventual refuge in herself.