Memories of No Consequence

This book is a collection of writings, which include a play and several poems written for the family. Umrao Mary Jaan (based on the Urdu novel written in 1899 by Mohammad Hadi Mirza) is the tragic story of a talented, beautiful, courtesan from the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in Lucknow. The story is told through the eyes of a Victorian woman ,Mary Jane (Mary jaan) ,whose life runs in parallel and is inexorably inter-linked with Umrao Jaans life and shared tragedy. The story unites the different strands of human, social and political events - the rise of British imperialism and Raj, turbulent late nineteenth century India, devastation of war, the exploitation of women both in Mughal India and Victorian England, and the heroic story of two exceptional women who rise above this maelstrom to form a unique bond as a beacon of humanity. The book then follows with a collection of poems written for family occasions. Sometimes trivial and often sentimental vividly reliving mundane day-to-day events. The verses aptly qualify for the title of the book, Memories of No Consequence, tempered by the alchemy of persistence eternal.