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{{short description|Pakistani writer}} {{Short description|Pakistani writer (1938–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] --> {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
|image = Bapsi sidhwa 2008.jpg<!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see ] --> | image = Bapsi sidhwa 2008.jpg<!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see ] -->
|imagesize = 150px | | imagesize = 150px|
| name = Bapsi Sidhwa<br/>{{lang|ur|بیپسی سدھوا}} | name = Bapsi Sidhwa<br/>{{lang|ur|بیپسی سدھوا}}
| caption = Bapsi Sidhwa at the 2008 Texas Book Festival. | caption = Bapsi Sidhwa at the 2008 Texas Book Festival.
| pseudonym = | pseudonym =
| birth_name = | birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1938|08|11}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1938|08|11}}
| birth_place = ], ], ] | birth_place = ], ], ]
| death_date = | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2024|12|25|1938|8|11}}
| death_place = | death_place = ], ], U.S.
| occupation = Author | occupation = Author
| nationality = Pakistani<ref name="bio">{{cite book |url=http://www.bapsisidhwa.com/about.html |title=Bio of Bapsi Sidhwa|publisher= |access-date=2021-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204231033/http://bapsisidhwa.com/about.html |archive-date=February 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> | nationality = Pakistani<ref name="bio">{{cite book |url=http://www.bapsisidhwa.com/about.html |title=Bio of Bapsi Sidhwa|publisher= |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204231033/http://bapsisidhwa.com/about.html |archive-date=4 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| notableworks = | notableworks = |<!-- ] -->
| awards = ] (Star of Excellence) Award by the ] (1991)
| <!-- ] -->
| awards = ] (Star of Excellence) Award by the ] (1991) | relatives = ] (brother) <br/> ] (nephew)
| children = 5
| relatives = ] (brother) <br/> ] (nephew)<br/>Mohur Sidhwa (daughter)
}} }}


'''Bapsi Sidhwa''' ({{langx|ur|بیپسی سدھوا}}; born 11 August 1938) is a ]<ref name="bio"/> novelist of ] ] ] descent<ref>{{cite web|title=Those Nights In Nairobi|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/those-nights-in-nairobi/290794|publisher=Outlook (India magazine)|date=2 June 2014|first=Pranay|last=Sharma|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref> who writes in English and is a resident in the United States. '''Bapsi Sidhwa''' ({{langx|ur|بیپسی سدھوا}}; 11 August 1938 – 25 December 2024) was a Pakistani<ref name="bio"/> novelist who wrote in English and was resident in the United States.


She is best known for her collaborative work with ] filmmaker ]: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel '']'' which served as the basis for Mehta's 1998 film '']'' as well as the 2006 novel '']'', on which Mehta's 2005 film '']'' is based''.'' A documentary about Sidhwa's life called "Bapsi: Silences of My Life" was released on the official YouTube channel of " The Citizens Archive of Pakistan" on 28 October 2022 with the title " First Generation -Stories of partition: Bapsi Sidhwa".<ref name="premio"/><ref name=Explore>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exploretheirstories.org/project/bapsi-sidhwa/|title=Bapsi Sidhwa (profile)|website=ExploreTheirStories.org website|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/06/books/life-with-electricaunt-and-slavesister.html |title=Life With Electric-aunt and Slavesister (A review of Bapsi Sidhwa's book)|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Shashi Tharoor|date=6 October 1991|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref> Sidhwa was best known for her collaborative work with ] filmmaker ]: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel '']'' which served as the basis for Mehta's 1998 film '']'' as well as the 2006 novel '']'', on which Mehta's 2005 film '']'' is based''.'' A documentary about Sidhwa's life called "Bapsi: Silences of My Life" was released on the official YouTube channel of " The Citizens Archive of Pakistan" on 28 October 2022 with the title " First Generation -Stories of partition: Bapsi Sidhwa".<ref name="premio"/><ref name=Explore>{{Cite web|url=https://www.exploretheirstories.org/project/bapsi-sidhwa/|title=Bapsi Sidhwa (profile)|website=ExploreTheirStories.org website|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/06/books/life-with-electricaunt-and-slavesister.html |title=Life With Electric-aunt and Slavesister (A review of Bapsi Sidhwa's book)|newspaper=The New York Times|author=Shashi Tharoor|date=6 October 1991|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>


==Background== ==Background==
Sidhwa was born to ] ] parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara in ], ]. Later, she moved with her family to ], ].<ref name=LE/><ref name="bio"/> She was two years old when she contracted ] (which has affected her throughout her life) and nine in 1947 at the time of ] (facts which would shape the character Lenny in her novel '']'' as well as the background for her novel).<ref name=LE>{{Cite web|url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5149|title=Bapsi Sidhwa profile|website=The Literary Encyclopedia website|language=en|date=18 July 2002|access-date=2021-11-03}}</ref> She received her BA from ] in ], Pakistan, in 1957.<ref name="bio"/><ref name=NYT/> Sidhwa was born to ] ] parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara in ], ].<ref name="LE">{{Cite web |date=18 July 2002 |title=Bapsi Sidhwa profile |url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5149 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=The Literary Encyclopedia website |language=en}}</ref><ref name="bio" /> She is of ] ] ] descent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Those Nights In Nairobi|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/those-nights-in-nairobi/290794|publisher=Outlook (India magazine)|date=2 June 2014|first=Pranay|last=Sharma|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>


Roughly three months after her birth, she moved with her family to ], ]. She was two years old when she contracted ], requiring severe surgeries as a young child and leaving an impact throughout her life.<ref name="LE" /><ref name=":0">Sidhwa, Bapsi interview by Melissa, Verne and Cao, Arthur. 28 June 2013. Houston Asian American Archives oral history interviews, MS 573, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. <nowiki>https://digitalcollections.rice.edu/documents/detail/bapsi-sidhwa-oral-history-interview/333174</nowiki></ref>
⚫ She married at the age of 19<ref name="bio"/> and moved to ] for five years before she divorced and remarried in ] with her present husband, Noshir, who is also a ]. She had three children before beginning her career as an author. One of her children is Mohur Sidhwa,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/worldly-lessons/Content?oid=1070209|title=Worldly Lessons|last=Allen|first=Howard|website=Tucson Weekly magazine|language=en|date=9 May 2002|access-date=2021-11-03}}</ref> who is a candidate for state representative in Arizona.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/07/11/meet-our-candidates-mohur-sidhwa-for-state-representative-ld-9/|title=Meet Our Candidates: Mohur Sidhwa for State Representative, LD 9|date=2012-07-11|work=Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona|access-date=2021-11-03|language=en-US}}</ref>


Sidhwa grew up having to live through distressing events during ], producing experiences that would shape her writing in the future. For example, a young Sidhwa was walking with her gardener a few months before Partition when they came across a ], which hid a young man's corpse inside. This experience in particular is mirrored in her novel ''],'' in addition to showing up in Mehta's ''].''<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/gb724cq8086 |title=Oral history with Bapsi Sidhwa, 2013 April 7 |date=7 April 2013 |last=Sidhwa |first=Bapsi |last2=Bhalla |first2=Guneeta Singh |place=Berkeley (Calif.) |access-date=5 December 2024 |via=Library Catalog (Blacklight)}}</ref> Sidhwa uses her experiences living through Partition as a background for the novel and creating the main character, Lenny.<ref name="LE" />
⚫ She currently resides in ] in the US. She describes herself as a "Punjabi-Parsi". Her first language is ], her second language is ], and her third language is ].<ref name=univ>{{cite book|title=Interviews with Writers of the Post-colonial World|url=https://archive.org/details/interviewswithwr0000juss|url-access=registration|page=|year=1992|first1=Feroza F.|last1=Jussawalla|first2=Reed Way|last2=Dasenbrock|publisher=]|isbn=9780878055722}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ethnic Angst: A Comparative Study of Bapsi Sidhwa & Rohinton Mistry|page=247|first=Ajay Sahebrao|last=Deshmukh|publisher=Partridge Publishing|date=2014|isbn=9781482841534|quote=Gujarati is the first language of Bapsi Sidhwa and most Parsis.}}</ref> She can read and write best in English, but she is more comfortable talking in Gujarati or Urdu, and often translates literally from Gujarati or Urdu to English.<ref name=univ></ref>

Sidhwa received her BA from ] in ], Pakistan, in 1957.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="NYT" /> Shortly after graduating, she got married at the age of 19 and moved to ], a change in scenery which she recalls as an initial shock which became easier to handle once she was able to engage with a community of other Zoroastrians.<ref name=":0" /> Sidhwa had a daughter and a son, though her marriage ended after five years, and she moved back to Lahore. Her son remained in Mumbai with his father's family, and Sidhwa was unable to see him for many years due to heightened border restrictions.<ref name=":1" />

⚫ Sidhwa eventually remarried in ] to her husband, Noshir, who is also a ]. She had three more children and began her career as an author. One of her children is Mohur Sidhwa,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Howard |date=9 May 2002 |title=Worldly Lessons |url=https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/worldly-lessons/Content?oid=1070209 |access-date=3 November 2021 |website=Tucson Weekly magazine |language=en}}</ref> who is a candidate for state representative in Arizona.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 July 2012 |title=Meet Our Candidates: Mohur Sidhwa for State Representative, LD 9 |url=http://blog.advocatesaz.org/2012/07/11/meet-our-candidates-mohur-sidhwa-for-state-representative-ld-9/ |access-date=3 November 2021 |work=Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona |language=en-US}}</ref>

⚫ She was residing in ] in the US. She described herself as a "Punjabi-Parsi". Her first language was ], her second language was ], and her third language was ].<ref name="univ">{{cite book |last1=Jussawalla |first1=Feroza F. |url=https://archive.org/details/interviewswithwr0000juss |title=Interviews with Writers of the Post-colonial World |last2=Dasenbrock |first2=Reed Way |publisher=] |year=1992 |isbn=9780878055722 |page= |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Deshmukh |first=Ajay Sahebrao |title=Ethnic Angst: A Comparative Study of Bapsi Sidhwa & Rohinton Mistry |date=2014 |publisher=Partridge Publishing |isbn=9781482841534 |page=247 |quote=Gujarati is the first language of Bapsi Sidhwa and most Parsis.}}</ref> She could read and write best in English, but she was more comfortable talking in Gujarati or Urdu and often translated literally from Gujarati or Urdu to English.<ref name="univ" />

Sidhwa died in ], ] on 25 December 2024, at the age of 86.<ref></ref>


==Teaching== ==Teaching==
After attending a fellowship at ], Sidhwa started her first teaching job at ].<ref name=":0" /> Teaching writing to graduate students, Sidhwa initially experienced difficulty in teaching due to lack of experience, frequently experiencing ] before her lectures.<ref name=":0" />
She has previously taught at the ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="bio"/>

Sidhwa left Columbia after one academic term and started living in ], teaching at the ] before eventually teaching at ]'s School of Continuing Studies.<ref name=":0" /> Sidhwa also taught at the ], ], and ].<ref name="bio" />


==Awards== ==Awards==
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*] (Star of Excellence) Award, (1991, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3106541.stm |date=29 July 2003|website=BBC News website|title=Sense of the City: Lahore|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="bio"/> *] (Star of Excellence) Award, (1991, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3106541.stm |date=29 July 2003|website=BBC News website|title=Sense of the City: Lahore|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="bio"/>
*Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award (1994)<ref name="bio"/> *Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award (1994)<ref name="bio"/>
* ] (Premio Mondello for Foreign Authors) for ''Water'' (2007)<ref name="bio"/><ref name="premio">{{cite web |title= Bapsi Sidhwa wins Italy's Premio Mondello |publisher= Milkweed.org website|url= http://www.milkweed.org/content/view/62/ |access-date= 2021-11-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174918/http://www.milkweed.org/content/view/62/ |archive-date= September 27, 2007 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref> * ] (Premio Mondello for Foreign Authors) for ''Water'' (2007)<ref name="bio"/><ref name="premio">{{cite web |title= Bapsi Sidhwa wins Italy's Premio Mondello |publisher= Milkweed.org website|url= http://www.milkweed.org/content/view/62/ |access-date= 3 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927174918/http://www.milkweed.org/content/view/62/ |archive-date= 27 September 2007 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}</ref>
* Inducted in the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame (2000)<ref name="bio"/> * Inducted in the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame (2000)<ref name="bio"/>


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Latest revision as of 03:28, 27 December 2024

Pakistani writer (1938–2024)

Bapsi Sidhwa
بیپسی سدھوا
Bapsi Sidhwa at the 2008 Texas Book Festival.Bapsi Sidhwa at the 2008 Texas Book Festival.
Born(1938-08-11)11 August 1938
Karachi, Sind Province, British India
Died25 December 2024(2024-12-25) (aged 86)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
OccupationAuthor
NationalityPakistani
Notable awardsSitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the Government of Pakistan (1991)
Children5
RelativesMinocher Bhandara (brother)
Isphanyar M. Bhandara (nephew)

Bapsi Sidhwa (Urdu: بیپسی سدھوا; 11 August 1938 – 25 December 2024) was a Pakistani novelist who wrote in English and was resident in the United States.

Sidhwa was best known for her collaborative work with Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel Ice Candy Man which served as the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth as well as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel, on which Mehta's 2005 film Water is based. A documentary about Sidhwa's life called "Bapsi: Silences of My Life" was released on the official YouTube channel of " The Citizens Archive of Pakistan" on 28 October 2022 with the title " First Generation -Stories of partition: Bapsi Sidhwa".

Background

Sidhwa was born to Parsi Zoroastrian parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara in Karachi, Bombay Presidency. She is of Gujarati Parsi Zoroastrian descent.

Roughly three months after her birth, she moved with her family to Lahore, Punjab Province. She was two years old when she contracted polio, requiring severe surgeries as a young child and leaving an impact throughout her life.

Sidhwa grew up having to live through distressing events during Partition, producing experiences that would shape her writing in the future. For example, a young Sidhwa was walking with her gardener a few months before Partition when they came across a gunny sack, which hid a young man's corpse inside. This experience in particular is mirrored in her novel Cracking India, in addition to showing up in Mehta's Earth. Sidhwa uses her experiences living through Partition as a background for the novel and creating the main character, Lenny.

Sidhwa received her BA from Kinnaird College for Women University in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1957. Shortly after graduating, she got married at the age of 19 and moved to Bombay, a change in scenery which she recalls as an initial shock which became easier to handle once she was able to engage with a community of other Zoroastrians. Sidhwa had a daughter and a son, though her marriage ended after five years, and she moved back to Lahore. Her son remained in Mumbai with his father's family, and Sidhwa was unable to see him for many years due to heightened border restrictions.

Sidhwa eventually remarried in Lahore to her husband, Noshir, who is also a Zoroastrian. She had three more children and began her career as an author. One of her children is Mohur Sidhwa, who is a candidate for state representative in Arizona.

She was residing in Houston in the US. She described herself as a "Punjabi-Parsi". Her first language was Gujarati, her second language was Urdu, and her third language was English. She could read and write best in English, but she was more comfortable talking in Gujarati or Urdu and often translated literally from Gujarati or Urdu to English.

Sidhwa died in Houston, Texas on 25 December 2024, at the age of 86.

Teaching

After attending a fellowship at Harvard University, Sidhwa started her first teaching job at Columbia University. Teaching writing to graduate students, Sidhwa initially experienced difficulty in teaching due to lack of experience, frequently experiencing panic attacks before her lectures.

Sidhwa left Columbia after one academic term and started living in Houston, teaching at the University of St. Thomas before eventually teaching at Rice University's School of Continuing Studies. Sidhwa also taught at the University of Houston, Mount Holyoke College, and Brandeis University.

Awards

  • Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe/Harvard (1986)
  • Visiting Scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation Center, Bellagio, Italy, (1991)
  • Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award, (1991, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts)
  • Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award (1994)
  • Mondello Prize (Premio Mondello for Foreign Authors) for Water (2007)
  • Inducted in the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame (2000)

Works

The city of Lahore, Pakistan, where she was brought up, is central to her four novels below:

  • Their Language of Love : published by Readings Lahore (2013, Pakistan.)
  • Jungle Wala Sahib (Translation) (Urdu) : Published by Readings Lahore (2012, Pakistan)
  • City of Sin and Splendour : Writings on Lahore (2006, US)
  • Water: A Novel (2006, US and Canada)
  • Bapsi Sidhwa Omnibus (2001, Pakistan)
  • An American Brat (1993, U.S.; 1995, India)
  • Cracking India (1991, U.S.; 1992, India; originally published as Ice Candy Man, 1988, England)
  • The Bride (1982, England; 1983;1984, India; published as The Pakistani Bride, 1990 US and 2008 US)
  • The Crow Eaters (1978, Pakistan; 1979 &1981, India; 1980, England; 1982, US)

References

  1. ^ Bio of Bapsi Sidhwa. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Bapsi Sidhwa wins Italy's Premio Mondello". Milkweed.org website. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  3. "Bapsi Sidhwa (profile)". ExploreTheirStories.org website. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. ^ Shashi Tharoor (6 October 1991). "Life With Electric-aunt and Slavesister (A review of Bapsi Sidhwa's book)". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Bapsi Sidhwa profile". The Literary Encyclopedia website. 18 July 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. Sharma, Pranay (2 June 2014). "Those Nights In Nairobi". Outlook (India magazine). Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  7. ^ Sidhwa, Bapsi interview by Melissa, Verne and Cao, Arthur. 28 June 2013. Houston Asian American Archives oral history interviews, MS 573, Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University. https://digitalcollections.rice.edu/documents/detail/bapsi-sidhwa-oral-history-interview/333174
  8. ^ Sidhwa, Bapsi; Bhalla, Guneeta Singh (7 April 2013). Oral history with Bapsi Sidhwa, 2013 April 7. Berkeley (Calif.). Retrieved 5 December 2024 – via Library Catalog (Blacklight).
  9. Allen, Howard (9 May 2002). "Worldly Lessons". Tucson Weekly magazine. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  10. "Meet Our Candidates: Mohur Sidhwa for State Representative, LD 9". Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  11. ^ Jussawalla, Feroza F.; Dasenbrock, Reed Way (1992). Interviews with Writers of the Post-colonial World. University Press of Mississippi. p. 214. ISBN 9780878055722.
  12. Deshmukh, Ajay Sahebrao (2014). Ethnic Angst: A Comparative Study of Bapsi Sidhwa & Rohinton Mistry. Partridge Publishing. p. 247. ISBN 9781482841534. Gujarati is the first language of Bapsi Sidhwa and most Parsis.
  13. Renowned author Bapsi Sidhwa is no more
  14. "Sense of the City: Lahore". BBC News website. 29 July 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  15. ^ Asif Farrukhi (14 July 2012). "Cover Story: Review of The Crow Eaters in Urdu (includes an interview with Bapsi Sidhwa)". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 3 November 2021.

External links

Recipients of the Mondello Prize
Single Prize for Literature
Special Jury Prize
First narrative work
First poetic work
Prize for foreign literature
Prize for foreign poetry
First work
Foreign author
Italian Author
"Five Continents" Award
"Palermo bridge for Europe" Award
Ignazio Buttitta Award
Supermondello
Special award of the President
Poetry prize
Translation Award
Identity and dialectal literatures award
Essays Prize
Mondello for Multiculturality Award
Mondello Youths Award
"Targa Archimede", Premio all'Intelligenza d'Impresa
Prize for Literary Criticism
Award for best motivation
Special award for travel literature
Special Award 40 Years of Mondello
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