Love across the Salt Desert

The iconic title story of this collection narrates how Najab defies his father; the international border between India and Pakistan and the hostile salt desert of the Rann of Kutch for Fatimah. In ‘When Gandhi Came to Gorakhpur’ Shadilal; a small-time lawyer; dithers over giving up his profession and joining the freedom struggle until his mind is made up for him. And when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni stints on a few silver coins for the poet Abul Qasim; he is visited by terrible nightmares in ‘Of Abul Qasim’. Love across the Salt Desert; which brings together a selection of Keki Daruwalla’s best-received short fiction; presents thematic variety and stunning breadth of vision. His prose is witty; precise and shot through with a unique poetic sensibility. These stories establish Daruwalla; one of India’s best-known poets; as a daring and gifted practitioner of short fiction.