Literary icon Bapsi Sidhwa dies in Houston at 86

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

Internationally acclaimed author Bapsi Sidhwa has died at the age of 86. Sidhwa, one of the best authors to have emerged from Pakistan, breathed her last in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, December 25.

A Parsi by faith, Sidhwa’s death marks a profound loss for the Zoroastrian community worldwide, apart from being a sad day for the literary world, Pakistan, and India.

Born on August 11, 1938, in Karachi — now in Pakistan — to a prominent Parsi family, Sidhwa moved to Lahore shortly after her birth. She grew up there and spent much of her life in the city.

As per reports citing her brother Feroze Bhandara, Sidhwa’s last rites will take place in Houston. The memorial ceremonies would be held over three days.

Regarded by many as one of the pioneers of South Asian literature, Sidhwa will be remembered for her novel Ice Candy Man, which was later adapted into the critically acclaimed movie Earth by Indian-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta.

She also wrote Water: A Novel (2006), which served as the foundation for Mehta’s Academy Award-nominated film Water (2005), as per Dawn News.

“A documentary about her life, Bapsi: Silences of My Life, was released in Oct 2022 by the Citizens Archive of Pakistan. It offers a glimpse into her journey as a writer and her experiences during the partition of India, which profoundly shaped her literary vision. Born to Zoroastrian (Parsi) parents in Karachi, Bapsi Sidhwa spent her early years in Lahore. She contracted polio at the age of two, a challenge that shaped her resilience and outlook on life,” the Pakistan-based news outlet reported.

(Photo courtesy: x.com/AsadRahim)