Bride of the City

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Bride of the City

In the ancient republic of Vaishali, a childless couple discover an abandoned infant girl in a mango orchard. They name her Ambapali, one who sprouted from a mango. When she turns eighteen, Ambapali is forced to become a courtesan—the Bride of the City—under Vaishali’s laws which dictate that a woman as beautiful as her cannot be only one man’s wife. Ambapali bows before the iron law of her society, but does not allow herself to be crushed. She sets terms that make her residence, the Palace of Seven Worlds, a centre of power. While the richest and the most powerful men grovel before her, Ambapali bides her time even as she burns with revenge.

Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu was published in Hindi in 1948-49 and remains an acclaimed work of Hindi fiction.

Excerpt

Her lips quivered like rose petals caressed by a morning breeze. When she took a deep breath and spoke, her voice flowed like music. ‘Gentlemen,’ she said in a firm but dewy tone that sent ripples of pleasure around her, ‘I have considered your order. I will accept the abominable, cursed law of the Vajji union if this august assembly will be so kind as to accept my terms. Gentlemen, the chief minister will convey these terms.’

A shocked silence greeted her words, and then a murmur picked up in volume. A middle-aged councilman, who had his moustache between his teeth, let go of it and protested in a reedy voice, ‘What did you say? Abominable, cursed law? Take back what you said, Ambapali. It is an insult to this assembly!’

‘Yes, yes!’ more voices joined in. ‘Take back those words. You cannot use such words!’

Ambapali spoke with ease, without seeming to raise her voice, but in words that rang out loud and clear in the hall. ‘Not only will I not take back those words, but I state that I shall repeat them a thousand times. This cursed law of the Vajji union is a blot on the great name of the Republic of Vaishali. Gentlemen, what is my crime? It is that God gave me the beauty that seems unfathomable in your eyes. For this, my life from this day onwards becomes different from other women born on the same day as me. For this, I am to be deprived of the rights that every bride of a family has. I cannot give my body and heart to one man that I love. I must sell this affectionate heart and this body oozing with all that men desire to those men that bid for them. You force me to do this by law. Cursed is the law that these courtiers’ woman-loving sons burn to protect with their sharp swords and the points of their spears. Cursed is the law that these merchants’ sons are keen to protect with the influence their money buys.’ Her voice was louder now. ‘This law is fit to be cursed a million times.’ She stopped, her flushed face and trembling fingers betraying her agitation.

There was a deafening silence in the assembly hall.

‘Gentlemen,’ Ambapali continued in a sober tone, ‘I have said what I had to say. If this assembly accepts my conditions, I offer my purity, womanhood, honour, beauty, youth, body—all that I have— to the Republic in the name of this cursed law. If you do not accept them, I shall await my executioner in the Blue Lotus Palace.’

She veiled her body, took Mahanaman’s hand and said, ‘Let us go.’ He first clasped her hand and then, put his hand on her shoulder. Together, they walked towards the chariot, followed by the young man who had accompanied Mahanaman earlier.

The people of the Republic of Vaishali looked on as if they had been struck dumb.

Cernunnos Books, 2022

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATORS

Author: Acharya Chatursen

Acharya Chatursen (1891 – 1960) was one of Hindi’s most prolific writers. He studied at Jaipur Sanskrit College, where he obtained Shastri and Acharya degrees in Literature and Medicine. He started his professional career as a physician before devoting himself to writing. Over a writing career spanning four decades, he published more than eighty works spanning the genres of fiction, drama, politics, literary criticism, poetry and medicine. Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu (literally, The Bride of the City of Vaishali, of which this book is a translation), Somnath, Goli and Vayam Rakshamah are among his famous novels. His novel Dharamputra was adapted into a Bollywood film and won the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1961.

Translator: Pratibha Vinod Kumar

Pratibha Vinod Kumar (1941–2020) obtained a BA in English Literature, Philosophy and Sanskrit from Maharani College (Jaipur), MA in English Literature from Rajasthan University and BEd from Annamalai University. She won gold medals at the intermediate (senior school) and BA levels. She taught English at Banasthali Vidyapeeth (Rajasthan, 1961–1963), St. Michael’s School (Durgapur, 1963–1985) and Rotary Public School (Gurgaon, 1985– 1991). Her previous published work includes translations of two classics of Hindi literature – Jaishankar Prasad’s Kamayani and Bhagwati Charan Verma’s Chitralekha – and an anthology of new writing, Hindi Tales of Mystery and Imagination Vol. I into English. A.K. Kulshreshth is her son’s pen name.

Translator: A.K. Kulshreshth

A.K. Kulshreshth lives in Singapore. His short stories have appeared in lit mags in eight countries. He is a member of Cernunnos (www.cernunnosbooks.com), a fiction collective dedicated to taking lesser-known voices across borders. Cernunnos partnered with a Hindi Litmag, Kathadesh, to run a short story contest in Hindi. His first novel manuscript, Lying Eyes, was longlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2022. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering and a PhD in management. He has worked in various roles, including consulting and research.

Short Notes with A.K. Kulshreshth

What does "Mata Hati | 心眼 | Eye of the Heart | மனக்கண் வழியே" mean to you in writing?

I think it means reflecting deeply on what we choose to speak about, from among the many things that we see.

What does your writing process look like? Do you type or write? Are there multiple drafts, long pauses, or sudden bursts of activity?

My mother wrote the first draft in notebooks, and I typed in her manuscript while editing it, referring to the Hindi original and checking with her. Over a period of about four years, there were multiple drafts. My wife edited the final version. My mother's work was quite steady and orderly, but she paused for some very difficult passages. My progress followed hers, but was much more erratic.

What does your working space look like?

For my mother, who was frail and not very mobile, it was a light, movable aluminium table that my father got made for her which was her workstation. She worked in different parts of my parents' home in a suburb of Delhi; in winter she would sit near the kitchen garden, and in summer she would most often sit next to her bed. For me, it was usually my unremarkable work desk at home, in flats on Hume Avenue and in Tiong Bahru.

Make an elevator pitch for your shortlisted work in 30 words or less.

The legend of Ambapali, the courtesan who shaped the fates of empires.

Could you share a pivotal moment as you were writing this work?

The pivotal moment was my mother's passing away. I felt miserable that we had not finished the work while she lived. It took me a while to get back to work.

If you could give one advice to yourself when you were writing this book, what would it be?

Remember you're lucky to be doing this. Speed it up.

Bride of the City

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATORS

Author: Acharya Chatursen

Translator: Pratibha Vinod Kumar

Translator: A.K. Kulshreshth

Short Notes with A.K. Kulshreshth

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