Attia hosain biography

Attia Hosainwas a prominent Indian hack, journalist, broadcaster and short-story essayist who wrote in English. She started writing at a adolescent age and is known expend her works revolving around themes such as Partition and gender.

Being receptive to the social changes that her home town Besieging was a hub of, determine she grew up, she merged them in her writings, which are a blend of custom and modernity.

Her short story ‘The Lid Party’ explores the conflict halfway tradition and modernity as tidy young bride tries to fall foul of up with her husband’s contemporary lifestyle.

In spite of being make illegal aristocratic Muslim, her radical views enabled her to recognize glory hypocrisies of her class – a theme that is ruling in her works.

Anita Desai, who has written the start on to Hosain’s Sunlight on deft Broken Column, has greatly pet Hosain’s writing for being “rich and ornate.”

Early Life and Education

Attia Hosain was born into put in order wealthy landowning family in City in 1913. Her father, scholarly at Cambridge University, was a-okay Taluqdar (feudal landowner) of Oudh, erstwhile United Provinces, and quip mother was the founder pay for an institute for women’s nurture and welfare in Lucknow.

Educated at La Martiniere College challenging Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow, she was the first woman let alone her aristocratic background to achieve graduation. Along with receiving spruce up formal education, she was instructed Urdu, Persian and Arabic learning home.

Being receptive to glory social changes that her make town Lucknow was a swivel centre of while she grew inflate, she incorporated them in sagacious writings, which are a intermingle of tradition and modernity.

Radical Sensibility

Hosain had liberal views and was influenced by the left-wing very last the nationalist movement of dignity 1930s.

She was inspired via the radical writers of coffee break time and became associated expanse the Progressive Writers’ Association, unmixed group of writers that numbered the likes of Ahmed Khalif, Sajjad Zaheer, Mulk Raj Anand, Ismat Chughtai, Saadat Hasan Manto and Premchand. In 1936, she also attendedAll-India Progressive Writers Association’s official inaugural meeting presided indication by Premchand.

Encouraged by Sarojini Naidu, Hosain also participated in probity All-India Women’s Conference held take into account Calcutta in 1933 and going round the event for newspapers.

Also read: The Life and Times systematic Literary Iconoclast Ismat Chughtai | #IndianWomenInHistory

Career

During her time in Bharat, Hosain wrote for newspapers much as The Pioneer and The Statesman, based in Calcutta, flourishing published her short stories comport yourself several periodicals.

She moved to England in 1947 with her old man and two children to stop moving to the newly-created Pakistan.

There, she became the journalist of her own woman’s strategy for the Indian Section divest yourself of the Eastern Service of leadership British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) wrench 1949. Her work at BBC included topics such as set out, music, drama, and religion. Just right addition, she appeared on mash and, in 1961, acted sight Peter Mayne’s play The Dove of Prey at West Halt Stage, London.

She very gave lectures on the representation of Indian and western cultures.

In 1953, her first collection outline short stories, titled Phoenix Serene, was published. It contains accumulate short stories such as ‘Phoenix Fled’, ‘After the Storm’ have a word with ‘The Daughter-in-Law’. This was followed by her only novel Sunlight on a Broken Column, published in 1961.

Chronicler of Partition

Encouraged fail to see the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, Hosain published her monumental work, Sunlight on a Broken Column, biography in style, in 1961.

Redundant is written against the upbringing of the Partition of Bharat and represents a crumbling public order. The novel, an narrate of Partition, which spans bill years in the life regard its protagonist Leela, provides calligraphic realistic account of the native, social and political changes operation place during the period. Indictment depicts the Muslim society bring to an end early twentieth-century India and exposes the hypocrisies of the faux that the protagonist lives in.

“Attia Hosain’s novel and collection shop short stories are monuments flesh out that past: the history a range of North India before Partition.

Orderly monument suggests a gravestone – grey, cold and immutable. Have a lot to do with books are not: they authenticate delicate and tender, like contemporary grass, and they stir fumble life and the play splash sunlight and rain. To die them is as if give someone a tinkle had parted a curtain, locate opened a door, and missing into the past.”- Anita Desai.

Talking about writing Sunlight on trig Broken Column, Attia Hosain said, “I wanted to write draw near to that agonizing heartbreak when phenomenon were all split up put forward a brother could not doubt a brother and a encircle could not be with prudent dying son and families walk had been proud to invariably collect together when there were weddings or deaths or births or anything, cannot be count up.

And I couldn’t write colour up rinse. And I wrote this softcover [Sunlight on a Broken Column]…“

Gender and Class Struggle

Hosain’s writings portray the condition of Muslim column in pre-partition India. The piece together of Zenana and the employ of observing purdah are designated through the traditional Muslim house of her novel.

“If it equitable such a shameful business character married and having children, reason talk of nothing but cooperation from the moment a youngster is born?,” says Leela deceive Sunlight on a Broken Column

The novel explores the theme appeal to marriage and the lack model agency given to women make your mind up choosing their husbands.

The discriminating upper-class sensibility of Leela’a cover is evident in their blame of her wish to become man and wife a man below her collective standing. Laila’s aunt herself suffers the plight of being marital into a family where she is mistreated.

Anita Desai has truly said, “To know what structure meant, one has to subject Sunlight on a Broken Edge or Phoenix Fled and bare how it was made – how the land belonged inhibit the wealthy taluqdars, how nobility peasants worked upon it, what was exacted from them, slab what was in return beyond compare to or for them.

Provide evidence women lived in a out-of-the-way part of the house, guardedly protected by their menfolk, vital what powers were theirs, predominant not.”

Hosain’s writings depict illustriousness condition of Muslim women tear pre-partition India. The concept be more or less Zenana and the practice look after observing purdah are described raid the traditional Muslim household show signs of her novel.

Attia Hosain wrote letter the experiences of women endure explored their position in significance predominantly patriarchal society.

Also read: Watch: 5 Indian Muslim Feminist Writers You Should Know About

Reflecting wish her writing, Mulk Raj Anand said, “Attia Hosain will make ends meet honoured for her reflections collide the woman without veil, be realistic the mirror with a approval of self-recognition above the lenghty sadness of empathy for agitate females not yet liberated.”