A SOCIO- CULTURAL STUDY OF ANNIE ZAIDI'S FICTION 'GULAB'

Annie Zaidi caught attention towards herself when she won Nine Dots Award in May 2019 for addressing contemporary issue of the world. She herself admits- “What really appealed to me about the Nine Dots Prize was the way it encourages entrants to think without borders or restraints. … The Prize will allow me to dedicate time to the examination of this question, which is of critical importance in the modern world.” Annie Zaidi's Gulab is a ‘weird love story. Annie Zaidi stretches the love to encompass different cultures and religions. Arguably the inter-faith love relationship appears to be difficult to maintain but not impossible to imagine. Gulab showcases the trials and tribulations and also bliss of inter-religion relationship. Zaidi perceives love crossing the boundary of even life. Written in English, Zaidi doesn't hold back mixing in Hindi and Urdu words and phrases like ‘Saira's Bahraich-wali khala', ‘such a tamasha', and ‘all sorts of dhaandli.' These words provide linguistic and cultural richness to Gulab. This paper aims to record the cultural landscape of Gulab along with the dynamics of inter-faith relationship. The landscape of Gulab is one that is recognizable easily to a wide audience. In short, we may say that the novel is brilliant not only because it is 'about culturalism and Inter-faith relationship, about love and possession' but also because of its great lucidity originating in the simple and casual mix of language to explore live affair spanning two worlds. The paper also attempts to examine the rational for a great bond between the author and the reader.