HarperCollins Presents Radhika Iyengar’s ‘Fire on the Ganges’

5 July 2023

is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of

Fire on the Ganges

Life Among the Dead in Banaras

by Radhika Iyengar

A Fourth Estate book | Releasing September 2023

‘In the land of the dead, there is life all around.’

Releasing this September, in Fire on the Ganges, award-winning journalist Radhika Iyengar chronicles the everyday realities of the Doms of Banaras.

Hardback | Non-Fiction | History | 248 pp | Rs 599

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‘You might think of Manikarnika as a place for the dead. This fine book is a reminder that the burning ghats are a place for the living.’

– Amitava Kumar

‘With the narrative drive of a novel, this is a non-fiction book that illuminates a profession, a tradition and a society. An absolutely fascinating read!’

– Tabish Khair

‘A worthy illustration of show-don’t-tell, Fire on the Ganges leaves you both hopeful and anxious about the possibilities of breaking through the barriers imposed by the caste system, for those who are placed at its very bottom. The Dalit community of corpse burners in Varanasi, Doms, have featured in literature and film before, but Iyengar’s work stands out for its dogged curiosity and immersive storytelling.’ –

– Snigdha Poonam

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Banaras, Uttar Pradesh. A place where life and death co-exist in the most unimaginable way.

The Doms are a Dalit sub-caste in Banaras designated by tradition to perform the Hindu rite of cremation. They have ownership of the ‘sacred fire’ without which, it is believed, the Hindu soul will not achieve liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Despite this, the community is condemned to the lowest order in caste hierarchy, and its members continue to be treated as ‘untouchables’.

Fire on the Ganges is the first attempt to chronicle the everyday realities of the Doms. It plunges into Banaras’s historical past, while narrowing its lens on a few spirited characters from the Dom community. Through their tales of struggle and survival, loss and ambition, betrayal and love, it tells the at-times-heartbreaking, at-times-exhilarating story of a community struggling to find a place beyond that accorded to it by ancient tradition.

Author, Radhika Iyengar, says, ‘Fire on the Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras is a book that has been years in the making. Although my initial reporting began as a way to investigate the paradox of the Doms, who cremate caste Hindus but are treated as “untouchable” by them, I kept returning to the community which is so much more than the unidimensional identity it otherwise has in public consciousness. This is my first book and I am immensely proud of it. I am grateful to HarperCollins for seeing its potential and for giving it a place in the world.’

Executive Publisher, HarperCollins India, Udayan Mitra, says, ‘We know so little about the Dom community; performing the very essential service of corpse disposal, the Doms exist on the margins of society, their lives relegated to anonymity. Radhika Iyengar’s astounding first book brings us face-to-face in unforgettable ways with members of the Dom community in Banaras, the ancient and holy city where it is said to be auspicious for Hindus to die. Fire on the Ganges is one of the sharpest, most powerful works of non-fiction publishing this year: it is an unforgettable encounter with lives that have been shrouded in mystery, captured in chiselled prose. We at HarperCollins are thrilled to bring this exceptional book to readers under our prestigious Fourth Estate imprint.’

Associate Publisher, HarperCollins India, Swati Chopra, says, ‘In her remarkable first book, Radhika Iyengar brings us a deeply researched narrative about the Doms, a community that has for centuries been marginalised despite its central role in conducting Hinduism’s last rites. The strength of Radhika’s writing ensures that the characters and events in the book remain with us long after we have turned the last page. It is a delight to publish such an assured debut as part of our non-fiction list this year.’

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Radhika Iyengar is an award-winning journalist with a Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. In 2020, she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust fellowship at University of Kent, UK. She won the Red Ink award for Excellence in Indian Journalism (2018), and is a recipient of the Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellowship (2016-2017).

ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS INDIA

HarperCollins is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 and 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

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For reviews, excerpts, interviews, and more information, please contact Vandana Rathore at vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in