The One Who Did Not Ask (Dastak Naa Do)

For rash, awkward Gaythi, there is always something amiss. Daughter of an extensive and wealthy Muslim upper-class family in pre-Partition India, she’s expected to be demure, have poise and grow willingly into the roles of mother and wife. Gaythi does not know what she wants but she’s certainly not keen to settle for less than what she believes in. A series of tragic and unexpected events suddenly threaten to split her home as well as her country. Exile follows and Gaythi is forced to assume responsibility for her haughty and powerful mother. Touchingly and with carefully-crafted detail, Altaf Fatima describes the impact of change on the lives of an entire people. A parallel narrative runs through the novel, the relationship of Gaythi and Safdar Liu Chu, a Chinese immigrant who was forced to come to the subcontinent in search of livelihood. The brutal, stony divide of the Himalayas which partitioned two ancient cultures, although both Gaythi and Safdar Liu Chu share the same religion, has been dealt with delicately and realistically.

About the Author and Translator

ALTAF FATIMA was born in Lucknow in 1929 to a family who had moved there around 1857 from Khairabad in Patiala. She completed her education in Lahore after Partition obtaining her MA and B.Ed degrees from the Punjab University. She taught Urdu Literature at Islamia College for Women in Lahore for several years. After that she moved to APWA Girls College, Lahore, as a professor of Urdu. The following novels of Altaf Fatima have been published: Nishaan-i-Mehfil (1975), Dastak Naa Do (The One Who Did Not Ask) (1964), Chalta Musafir (1981) and Khwabgar (2008). Besides her novels, Altaf Fatima has authored a collection of short stories which include Woh jisay chaha gaya, Jab diwaaren girya kurti hain and Taar-i-unkaboot. She has also translated Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and a collection of political essays by eminent personalities titled, Barrey aadmi aur unke nazariyat from English to Urdu. Of all Altaf Fatima’s work, her novel Dastak Naa Do has enjoyed the most sustained success in Pakistan. An adaptation of the novel was aired on Pakistan television and an abridged version of it was published in the English monthly, Herald. Altaf Fatima passed away in 2018.

About the Translator

Rukhsana Ahmad has written and adapted several plays for the stage and the BBC achieving distinction in both. River on Fire was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn International Award; Wide Sargasso Sea was a runner-up for the Writers’ Guild Award for Best Radio adaptation. Her other plays include: Mistaken: Annie Besant in India, Homing Birds and Queen of Hearts. Rukhsana’s fiction include The Hope Chest and The Gatekeeper’s Wife and other stories. She has compiled, edited and translated We Sinful Women–Contemporary Urdu feminist poetry (The Women’s Press 1991) and The One Who Did Not Ask, a novel by Altaf Fatima which was first published by Heinemann UK in 1995. Besides, Rukhsana Ahmad co-founded the Kali Theatre Company, is the founding chair of SADAA and was a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Queen Mary, University of London. She is a patron of the Ruth Hayman Trust.

Binding: Paperback · Pages: 387 · Published: 2023 · Publisher: Lightstone Publishers

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