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GATHERING THE ASHES
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About the book
Most discussions on the sepoy mutiny of 1857 have centred on the roles played in it by the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, Begum Hazrat Mahal and other sundry members of mostly urban nobility. What remained missing was a comprehensive ground-zero account of how people in the countryside experienced this unorganized rebellion and reacted to it.
In 1957, a hundred years after the mutiny, eminent Hindi writer Amritlal Nagar set out to correct this. He travelled to villages and towns that witnessed the uprising and painstakingly gathered reminiscences and popular ballads about the revolt, its celebrated and unsung heroes, its survivors and martyrs, and also engrossing episodes about where and how various battles were fought. Ageing courtesans, bedridden octogenarians, nameless singers poured their heart out to him. The slim volume Nagar finally put together, Ghadar Ke Phool, was testimony to the fact that nothing can stop the spread of a revolution whose time has come.
Translated from Hindi for the first time, Gathering The Ashes is a stirring look back at an extraordinary time in Indian history, peppered with tales of outstanding acts of heroism and of shameful cowardice, of cunning alliances and heart-warming collaborations beyond religious divides. Importantly, it remains a topical book for a country that speaks anew of revolutions through dharnas, protest marches and candlelight vigils.
Pages: 208
Available in: Paperback
Language: English
Amritlal Nagar
Amritlal Nagar (1916-1990) was one of the most prominent Hindi writers of the twentieth century. Often cited as the true literary heir of Premchand, he penned over fourteen novels, thirteen short-story collections, in addition to numerous plays, screenplays for Hindi films, and books for children. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 for his novel Amrit aur Vish, and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981.
Mrinal Pande is an Indian television personality, and author and former editor of the Hindi Daily, Hindustan. She was chairperson of Prasar Bharati from 2010-2014 (April), the apex body of official Indian Broadcast Media. She has authored several books viz. Devi: Tales of the Goddess in our Time, Daughter’s Daughter, That Which Ram Hath Ordained, The Subject is Woman, My Own Witness, The Other Country and 1857: The Real Story of the Great Uprising.