The Weary Generations

Published in 1963, Abdullah Hussein’s The Weary Generations (Udaas Naslein) was an instant bestseller in Urdu. Now beyond its fortieth edition, it has never been out of print. Hussein leads you into a story of love and marriage between two people from starkly different social backgrounds, which also mirrors the uneasy ‘marriage’ between the British and their empire – both ultimately ending in estrangement. Naim, the son of a peasant, marries Azra, the daughter of a rich landowner, and their union is doomed from the start. Fighting for the British during the First World War, he loses an arm. Invalided home, he becomes angered at the subjugation of his countrymen under the Raj and aligns himself with the opposition. His ideals are swept away after Independence in 1947 when he realizes that, as Muslims, his family is no longer safe in their home and that they must migrate to the newly created Pakistan.