I look upon Dr. Dalip Kaur Tiwana, a cherished colleague, as Jane Austin of Punjabi letters. Like Austin she weaves the pride and prejudices of the social fabric of the Punjabi society today with unparalleled excellence. Maybe, we in the Punjab, are still lingering where England was in the eighteenth century.
The two novellas presented in this volume are most typical of Dr. Tiwana's literary output. Complementing each other, they present the picture fully.
Mark of the Nose-Ring (It should have been called Symbol of the Nose-Ring) is the story of a formidable Punjabi maiden, married to a soldier who is killed not long after her wedding. She refuses to adopt herself to the life of a widow, breaking her colourful matrimonial glass bracelets. Not only this, she continues to wear her diamond nose-ring. Her pride of a youthful bride, she defies the society, but not for long. Ultimately she succumbs to the prejudices of her people around and disappears.
Twilight is another piece depicting the hold of matrimony in the Indian society. A married senior officer flutters in its cage, but succeeds not to break it and take a flight. All her life she plays with the idea of romance but cannot taste it.
Dr. Tiwana is particularly happy in her translators Narinder Kaur and Jai Ratan. While Narinder Kaur is a new-comer, the late Jai Ratan was a master of the art of translation, having rendered into English many a writer in Hindi including as eminent names as Bhisham Sahni.
Dr. Tiwana is the winner of the coveted Saraswati Award along with several others for her fiction. I feel privileged to write a few words by way of foreword to her publications in English by the National Book Trust, India. She has the same status in Punjabi fiction which the late Amrita Pritam enjoyed in Punjabi poetry.
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