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A Chronicle of the Peacocks

Intizar Husain

Intizar Husain is widely regarded as the most important short story writer in Urdu since Sa’adat Hasan Manto. He was born in Dibai, a small town in Uttar Pradesh, in 1925. After Partition he migrated to Pakistan in late 1947 and settled in Lahore. His best known novel is Basti (1979). His stories are widely read and translated in India. Husain draws on the rich narratives of Buddhist and Hindu mythology to reflect upon tradition and modern life, power and violence and the failure of reason. Husain has often been quoted as saying that he wanders between Karbala and Ayodhya and the Shia in him sits beside the Hindu.

‘Morenama’ or ‘A Chronicle of the Peacocks’ was written in 1999. The essential experience ...

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