Asma Husain

A Small Window in the Iron Gate Asma Husain

Publisher Marketing: On the crest of the harrowing divide of the Indian subcontinent, amid a climate of ferocious genocide, two girls abscond from the riot struck and smoldering city of Delhi. The family migrates to Pakistan, helplessly forsaking two of their daughters. Laleh Bukhari the older of the two reunites with her lover a person of Hindu faith. The young 15 year old Pareesa Bukhari, tricked by the older sibling, is taken to Bombay to live with a man whom she is bound only by a marriage contract. The story revolves around the obsession of the famed painter, Akbar Waziri, with his muse and the challenges of his young wife, Pareesa, to the diverse conflicts in her life. The famous film star Moneta Sen Gupta reveals the fears of a psychotic mind beneath the glitz and glamour of stardom. It also tells the story of secrecy and intrigue that surround Khairi Aztar Hekim bashi, born during the dwindling phase of the Ottoman Empire. From the brothels of Calcutta to the elite of Bombay the narrative traverses through India and cuts across realms. From India to Pakistan and Turkey to Morocco the narrative surpasses cultures, creeds and races to bind the commonality of oppression and abuse and tells a sensitive tale.