Tales From Birehra is a novel written in linked stories set in a village in India during the '40s. During the Second World War, the movement to gain freedom from the British gains momentum in India. The British get out of the country in a hurry, leaving a trail of blood and devastation behind them.
With profoundly vivid storytelling that delves into the symbiotic Hindu-Muslim relationship shared across the Indian sub-continent before the ending of the British Raj, Tales from Birehra is a unique and truly compelling narrative.
Birehra is a fictional microcosm of the country
and times-a tiny village, shared peacefully by people of different faiths, and
shaped by four hundred years of life lived close to the land and guided by the
rhythms of the seasons. Could it all be washed away by the looming tide of an
evolving political climate, so far removed from their time-honoured yet straightforward
existence? Could such a thing even be possible when Birehra's roots run so
deep, anchoring it to the land and the heart of a people?
With vivid scenery and characters who seem to
breathe with colourful life, Rafi Mustafa draws his readers into the culture he
describes, making them treasure its simple joys and dread its looming
devastation.
