Book: "Maps for Lost Lovers"; Written by
Nadeem Aslam; Published by Random
House; Price: Rs.375
Set in a nameless British town that its Pakistaniborn
immigrants have renamed Dasht-e-Tanhaii, the
Desert of Solitude, Maps for Lost Lovers is an exploration
of cultural tension and religious bigotry played
out in the personal breakdown of a single family. As
the book begins, Jugnu and Chanda, whose love is
both passionate and illicit, have disappeared from
their home. Rumours about their disappearance
abound, but five months pass before anything certain
is known. Finally, on a snow-covered January morning,
Chanda's brothers are arrested for the murder of
their sister and Jugnu. Maps for Lost Lovers traces the
year following the disappearance of Jugnu and
Chanda. Seen principally through the eyes of Jugnu's
brother Shamas, the cultured, poetic director of the
local Community Relations Council and Commission
for Racial Equality, and his wife Kaukab, mother of
three increasingly estranged children and devout
daughter of a Muslim cleric, the event marks the beginning
of the unravelling of all that is sacred to them.
It fills Shamas's own house and life with grief and, in
exploring the lovers' disappearance and its aftermath,
the author paints an intimate portrait of a community
searingly damaged by traditions.