My Poems Are Not for Your Ad Campaign
Description:... In a recently liberated economy characterized by speed, the commodification of women's bodies, and consumerist culture, Bhashwati is an increasingly disillusioned misfit who has, ironically, just started working in an advertising firm. But her life changes one day when she finds out about the mysterious Mohua Roy - a former copywriter of the company, whose desk Bhashwati now uses. The company employees remain tight-lipped about Mohua - who left abruptly for reasons unknown. Upon finding a poem written by Mohua, Bhashwati decides to search for her. This takes Bhashwati to Calcutta's lanes where she meets people who sacrificed immensely for the same values that she finds eroded in a developing India. Who is Mohua Roy and why is there a net of silence around her very existence? Will Bhashwati find Mohua? Will she leave her job, just like Mohua? First published in 1997 in Assamese, Hriday Ek Bigyapan, was an instant bestseller, selling thirty-two reprints in the next ten years. By taking a close look at the newly globalized India of the nineties from a feminist lens, it poses questions about modern urban life that few Indian novels have been able to, questions that are still relevant today. Aruni Kashyap's seamless translation from the Assamese makes this a must read.
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