by Pran Kishore
About the Author
Born in 1925, Pran Kishore is one of the pioneers who brought cultural renaissance in Kashmir during pre- and post-Independence period. A prolific dramatist and novelist, Pran Kishore brought modernism to the theatre of Jammu & Kashmir. His productions Jheel Bula Rahi Hai, Vitasta, Himala ke Chasme, Piya Baj Pyala, Tipu Sultan have been staged across the country. As the senior producer of All India Radio, he has produced more than two thousand plays and documentaries during his long tenure in Broadcasting. His productions of Aur Vitasta Bahti Rahi and Aab Ta Hayat received the Akashvani Annual Award for Drama and the Akashvani Annual Award for Features. The latter was All India Radio’s entry to Prix Italia. Credit of directing the first ever feature film Mainz-Raat in Kashmiri, which won the President’s Silver Medal as the best regional film in 1965, goes to him. He wrote, along with Balraj Sahni, the feature film Shair-e-Kashmir Mehjoor and directed its Kashmiri version. Pran Kishore received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Sheen Ta Vatapod. Recipient of the prestigious State Award for outstanding contribution to performing arts from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Pran Kishore has been bestowed with robes of honour from the J & K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages and the University of Kashmir (Urdu Department). He was nominated as International Jury Member for Prix Italia XXX and Jury Member for Indo–African Short Film Competition. He has scripted nearly a dozen very popular T.V. serials like Junoon, Ghuttan, Noor Jehan, Saye Deodar Ke, Manzil.
Poet, fiction writer, linguist, translator and literary critic Shafi Shauq has over forty-five books in Kashmiri, English, Urdu and Hindi to his credit. He has received several awards like the Best Book Award (1982), Sahitya Akademi Award in Creative writing (2006), Bharti Bhasha Saman Award (CIIL, 2007), Sahitya Akademi Translation Award (2007) and Ahad Zargar Award (2011). He is also associated with several national academic projects like Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature, Medieval Indian Literature, and Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre.
Praise for Gul Gulshan Gulfam
Gul Gulshan Gulfam (the rose, the rose garden, and the rose personified), the three houseboats owned by the protagonist Malla Khaliq, a character larger than life, his wife, his sons, their families and his neighbourhood living in the waters of this queen of the lakes are portrayed with such honesty that you love them, hate some, yet they remain there, in your mind, asking questions hard to answer. The characters, their definition spread over nearly a thousand pages is a glorious display and aroma of the saffron in the vast saffron fields of Pampore, the land that gave birth to the legendary poet Lalleshwari and the Romantic poet, Queen Habba Khatoon.
– Ghulam Nabi Gauhar, poet, novelist and critic
We the simple ‘hanjis’ of the Dal Lake [are] indebted to you, Pran Sahib, for writing such a true to life novel on our life, our struggles, and our aspirations with such honesty and sympathy.
– Abdul Samad Kotroo, former president, Houseboat Owners’ Association
Though adapting a novel for a film or television sitcoms takes away lot of the substance of the novel, and shrinks its canvas, Gul Gulshan Gulfam, that started with a whimper, caught the fancy of the nation to become a rage and a sitcom smash and gave the viewers an idea how fascinating this Kashmiri novel must be that has become a valuable contribution to indian literature.
– Sumit Rawal, film and TV critic
In these turbulent days when Kashmir is burning, this serial evokes hope and convinces us that the mornings of Kashmir still bloom into a smile and the evenings still hum the songs of love. How moving the original novel must be.
– Gopal Das, former dy. director general, Doordarshan
A devoted lover of Kashmir and a regular visitor to the heaven on earth, I had never got an insight into the life of boat dwellers of the lovely Dal Lake. The fact that my Kashmiri friends are emotionally moved as me, vouches for the authenticity of this serial.”
– Amita Mallik, film, radio and TV critic
A good film is always based on great literature and Gul Gulshan Gulfam was no exception. The script was brilliant and true to life. I had spent my childhood fathoming the waters of this lake along with my dad but had not imagined that i will have the honour of becoming one of its habitants and present their ups and downs in life so faithfully portrayed.
– Parikshit Sahni, who played Malla Khaliq for the TV serial
Gul Gulshan Gulfam is a brilliant adaptation of great piece of Indian literature. It portrays life as it. It is the story of every family. What a spontaneity! I just walked through the role.
– Radha Seth, who played Aziz Dyad for the TV serial
TALK TO US
Join the conversation on Twitter
http://twitter.com/HarperCollinsIN
Like us on Facebook to find and share posts about our books with your friends
http://www.facebook.com/HarperCollinsIndia
Follow our photo stories on Instagram
http://instagram.com/harpercollinsindia/
Get fun pictures, quotes and more about our books on Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/harpercollinsindia
First published in India in 2017 by Harper Perennial
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright © Pran Kishore 2017
Translation copyright © Shafi Shauq 2017
P.S. Section copyright © Pran Kishore, Shafi Shauq 2017
P-ISBN: 978-93-5177-777-9
Epub Edition © June 2017 ISBN: 978-93-5177-778-6
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Pran Kishore asserts the moral right
to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.
Cover design: Getty Images
Cover image: ©HarperCollins Publishers India
www.harpercollins.co.in
HarperCollins Publishers
A-75, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India
1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, United Kingdom
Hazelton Lanes, 55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900, Toronto, Ontario M5R 3L2
and 1995 Markham Road, Scarborough, Ontario M1B 5M8, Canada
25 Ryde Road, Pymble, Sydney, NSW 2073, Australia
195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA