From the heart of a well-known family of Hyderabad to life in a single room with the barest of necessities, Shaukat Kaifi's memoir of her life with the renowned poet Kaifi Azmi speaks of love and commitment. A marriage of over a half a century, a life steeped in poetry and progressive politics, continuing involvement with the Indian People's Theatre Association, the Progressive Writers Association, Prithvi Theatre... all of these and more inform this beautifully told tale of love. Shaukat Kaifi's writing details life in a communist commune, a long career in theatre and film and a life spent bringing up her two children, cinematographer Baba Azmi and actor Shabana Azmi. Nasreen Rehman's deft and fluent translation brings this luminous memoir alive with warmth and empathy. "To say that this is a lovely book would be an understatement. It is an enchanting recollection of the life of a hugely talented and sensitive human being, shared with a great poet." -- Amartya Sen. Published by Zubaan.

From the heart of a somewhat liberal, somewhat conservative elite family of Hyderabad, to life in a single room, with the barest of necessities, Shaukat Kaifis memoir of her life with the well-known poet Kaifi Azmi, speaks of love, and commitment. As young people, Shaukat and Kaifi fall desperately in love with each other, but are soon parted. For Shaukats family, a card-holding communist, a poet, with no source of income, is hardly the kind of person their daughter should be marrying. Yet, Shaukats father, a liberal man and a loving father, takes the bold step of putting his daughter's happiness before social opprobrium, and brings the two lovers together. A marriage of over half a century, a life steeped in poetry and progressive politics, continuing involvement with the Progressive Writers Association, ongoing links with the village to which Kaifi Azmi belonged... all of these and more inform this beautifully told tale of love. Shaukat Kaifi’s writing details life in a communist commune, a career in theatre and film, and years spent bringing up two children. Nasreen Rehman’s deft and fluent translation brings this luminous memoir alive with warmth and empathy.

Kaifi Azmi's literary legacy remains a bright star in the firmament of Urdu poetry. His poetic temperament-ranging from timeless lyrics in films like Kagaz Ke Phool to soaring revolutionary verses that denounced tyranny-seamlessly combined the radical and the progressive with the lyrical and the romantic. Love and romance, in fact, run like warp through the woof of politics and protest in Kaifi's poetry. This beautifully curated volume brings together poems and lyrics that reflect Kaifi's views on women and romance-from sweetly lyrical odes like 'The First Greeting' to the powerful, anthem-like 'Woman'; from the haunting 'Regret' to the mercurial 'She of Many Faces'. These stunning verses conjure a dynamic portrait of womanhood as seen through the eyes of an exquisitely gifted poet. This scintillating new translation is accompanied by an illuminating introduction by Rakhshanda Jalil on Kaifi Azmi's life and legacy, as well as a moving foreword by his daughter Shabana Azmi.

"Let a thousand verses bloom. Anthems of Resistance is about the iconoclastic tradition of poetry nurtured by Ali Sardar Jafri, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Javed Akhtar, Fehmida Riyaz and all those who have been part of the progressive writers' movement in the Indian subcontinent. It documents the rise of the Progressive Writers' Association, its period of ascendancy, its crucial role in the struggle for independence, and its unflagging spirit of resistance against injustice. In the process, the book highlights various aspects of the PWA's aesthetics and politics such as its internationalist ethos, its romance with modernity, its engagement with feminism, its relationship to Hindi cinema and film lyrics, and the vision of a radically new world which its members articulated with passion. Part history, part literary analysis, part poetic translation, and part unabashed celebration of the PWA era, this book is truly a unique resource. This is a lucidly written account of a glorious chapter in the history of Indian literature. The powerful verses of the PWA poets are wonderfully translated and, along with the highly accessible transliteration, offer the general reader a rare opportunity to appreciate the writings that helped shape a nation. Anthems of Resistance is truly an inspiring and pleasurable read." - Professor Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi "Such a gift from the Brothers Mir! Lyrical and thoughtful, this introduction to the vast swathe of progressive Urdu poetry belongs on all our shelves, and in all our hearts. It is a companion worthy of the poetry itself. A singular achievement." - Professor Vijay Prashad, Director of International Studies, Trinity College, Connecticut, US "Like the many poets they celebrate, the authors write with passion and conviction ... Their book makes for a joyous and exhilarating read." -Professor C.M. Naim, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago

Peppered with heartfelt accounts and charming anecdotes, Urdu film magazines were in great favour with the public from the 1930s through the 1990s – a considerable period of seven decades. Unfortunately, as Urdu got progressively marginalised in later years, these magazines were not archived, for the most part; leading to their inevitable disappearance from popular imagination. Tracking down these lost publications, Yasir Abbasi followed leads – some futile, some fruitful – to obscure towns and people's homes in a last-ditch effort to save valuable records of Indian cinema. As challenging as it was to locate faded issues and original texts, he managed to uncover and translate many fabulous memoirs covering a wide gamut of our favourite old artistes at their candid best. A gloom-laced piece on Meena Kumari by Nargis, a rollicking description by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan of an eventful evening with Manto (not to mention a mysterious woman and a house on fire), Jaidev writing about his chequered career, Balraj Sahni introspecting about the relevance of Hindi and Urdu in films – it's a rich mix of engrossing narratives brought back from oblivion.

In Morocco today, the idea of female laborers is generally frowned upon. Yet despite this, many women are beginning to find work in factories. Laetitia Cairoli spent a year in the ancient city of Fes; Girls of the Factory tells the story of what life is like for working women. Forced to find a factory job herself so that she could speak more intimately with working women, she was able to learn firsthand why they work, what working means to them, and how important earning a wage is to their sense of self. Cairoli conveys a general sense of the working life of women in Morocco by describing daily life inside a Moroccan sewing factory. She also reveals the additional work they face inside their homes. More than an ethnography, this volume is also for those who want to better understand what life is like for a new generation of young women just entering the workforce.