Bapsi Sidhwa
Encyclopedia
Bapsi Sidhwa is an author
of Pakistani origin who writes in English
. She is perhaps best known for her collaborative work with filmmaker Deepa Mehta
: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel Ice Candy Man which is the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth
as well as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel
which is based upon Mehta's 2005 film, Water.
, Pakistan
and later moved with her family to Lahore
. She was two when she contracted polio (which has affected her throughout her life) and nine at the time of the partition of the subcontinent (1947)(facts which would shape the character of "Lenny" as well as the background for her novel Ice Candy Man. She received her B.A. from Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore in 1957.
She married at the age of 19 and moved to Mumbai
, India
for five years before she divorced and remarried in Lahore
, Pakistan
with her present husband Noshir who is also Zoroastrian. She had three children in Pakistan
before beginning her career as an author. She currently resides in Houston
, USA. She describes herself as "Punjabi-Parsi-Pakistani".
, Rice University
, Columbia University
, Mount Holyoke College
, and Brandeis University
.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of Pakistani origin who writes in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. She is perhaps best known for her collaborative work with filmmaker Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
: Sidhwa wrote both the 1991 novel Ice Candy Man which is the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth
Earth (1998 film)
Earth is a 1998 film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India, . Earth is the second part of Mehta's Elements trilogy...
as well as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel
Water (novel)
Water, , U.S., 2006, India; is a novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa.-Plot summary:Water is set in 1938, when India was still under the colonial rule of the British, and when the marriage of children to older men was commonplace...
which is based upon Mehta's 2005 film, Water.
Background
Sidhwa was born to Zoroastrian parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara in KarachiKarachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and later moved with her family to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. She was two when she contracted polio (which has affected her throughout her life) and nine at the time of the partition of the subcontinent (1947)(facts which would shape the character of "Lenny" as well as the background for her novel Ice Candy Man. She received her B.A. from Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore in 1957.
She married at the age of 19 and moved to Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
for five years before she divorced and remarried in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
with her present husband Noshir who is also Zoroastrian. She had three children in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
before beginning her career as an author. She currently resides in Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, USA. She describes herself as "Punjabi-Parsi-Pakistani".
Teaching
She has previously taught at the University of HoustonUniversity of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
, Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, and Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
.
Awards
- Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe/Harvard (1986)
- Visiting Scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation Center, Bellagio, Italy, (1991)
- Sitara-i-ImtiazSitara-i-ImtiazThe Sitara-i-Imtiaz , is the third highest honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes the individuals who made an "especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of Pakistan, world peace, cultural or other significant public endeavors"...
, (1991, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts) - Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award (1994)
- Premio Mondello for Foreign Authors for Water (2007)
- Inducted in the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame (2000)
Works
- City of Sin and Splendour : Writings on Lahore (2006, U.S.)
- Water: A NovelWater (novel)Water, , U.S., 2006, India; is a novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa.-Plot summary:Water is set in 1938, when India was still under the colonial rule of the British, and when the marriage of children to older men was commonplace...
(2006, U.S. and Canada) - Bapsi Sidhwa Omnibus (2001, Pakistan)
- An American Brat (1993, U.S.; 1995, India)
- Cracking IndiaCracking IndiaCracking India, is a novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa.Sidhwa's novel deals with the partition of India and its aftermaths. This is the first novel by a female novelist from Pakistan which describes the fate of people in Lahore...
(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 U.S. and 2008 U.S.)
- The Crow Eaters (1978, Pakistan; 1979 &1981, India; 1980, England; 1982, U.S.)
External links
- Official website
- Literary Encyclopedia
- Voices from the Gaps
- SAWNET
- Biography
- Profile of Bapsi Sidhwa
- Sense of the City: Lahore (BBC Online article by Bapsi Sidhwa
- Displacing Androcracy: Cosmopolitan Partnerships in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Water http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/2293/0