Till Death Do Us Part

Five elderly women. And the men in their lives: husbands, lovers, sons, and friends. All living in the margins of society, ageing, enduring, struggling to make ends meet.

These touching tales, with their humour, delicacy and warmth, are each centred on a woman: There is Kuli, in the story ‘Talaq’, who finds herself unexpectedly divorced in the heat of a quarrel, but decides to defy societal taboos. Mohini, in ‘The Saga of Kagaboga’, lonely after her sons leave home, vows that since her husband objects to her verbosity, she will henceforth talk only to the crows and cranes. Kamal, in ‘The Poet's Wife’, discovers how harsh the indifference of today's world can be. Anandi, in ‘He Said, Pani’ mourns the sudden loss of her only friend and the simple pleasures of their companionship, even as insensitive forces question her links with the old man. Finally, there is the ageing actress of ‘Love Story’—Kusum, who, after a lifetime of devotion to her lover, finds herself alone, and questioning what it was all about.

Mahasweta Devi is widely known for her satiric prose and biting indictment of societal inequities. But the stories in Till Death Do Us Part, spanning over three decades of writing, shows an unusually tender side to her, and will delight readers both familiar and unfamiliar with her work.