Unisa Press
Looking for Lakshmi
| Author: | Mr Rajan Soni |
|---|---|
| Published: | March 15, 2015 |
| ISBN: | 978-1-86888-794-1 |
| Number of pages: | 191 |
| Contact: |
Contact UNISA Press to buy the book on +27 (0) 12 429 3515/3448 |
| How to buy: |
To buy the book contact UNISA Press on +27 (0) 12 429 3515/3448 |
| This book is also available in electronic format | |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 978186888-8542 |
| How to buy: |
Book is not available in e-book format, for more information please contact UNISA Press to buy the book on +27 (0) 12 429 3515/3448 |
About the book
THE STORY BEGINS at high seas on a 12-day voyage across the Indian Ocean in the bowels of the SS Karanja bound for Bombay. It is February 1972 and the author has £200, stitched into the inside pocket of his trousers by an Indian tailor in Mombasa ‘wise to the embraces of Indian pickpockets’. The 1 000-mile journey to his ancestral home in North Punjab lies ahead.
Rajan Soni weaves together aspects of both his African and Indian inheritance to fashion the tale of his search for his anonymous Indian grandmother, Bibiji, whose legacy is shrouded in silence. The political and spiritual entwine, as the writer traces the shadow of Bibiji through generations of his family dispersed across continents. His is a search for meaning that conjures universal themes, which will resonate for readers who see their own migratory histories etched on familiar canvases of social turmoil, latent lines of fate, family and political history shaping personal destiny. This evocative narrative straddles the emerging discipline of Indian Ocean Studies and the popular genre of life writing. By turns restless, sardonic, lyrical, reflexive – always quietly compassionate – Looking for Lakshmi is an engaging new contribution to diasporic writing.
‘Rajan Soni’s gentle lyricism gives content to the abstractions of
provenance and becoming. While we are all aware of the constitutive
intersection of the roots and routes of identity, Looking for Lakshmi
maps vividly the various journeys that ushered the author into being.
Its portraits – of different times, contexts and people – transform
cultural history into lived reality. As readers, we are blessed by Soni’s
invitation to travel with him.’
Michael Titlestad,
Professor of Literature, University of the Witwatersrand
Table of content
Unisa Flame Series Foreword
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Glossary
About the Author
About the Unisa Flame Series Editors