Tarang Sinha reviews Fifty Five Pillars, Red Walls by Usha Priyamvada published by Speaking Tiger, 2021 confessing how the ending left her with a sense of loss.
- Publisher: Speaking Tiger
- Genre: Drama/love story
- Pages: 200
- Price: INR 279 (on Amazon)
It’s been 28 years since ‘Pachpan Khambhe Laal Deewarein‘ aired on Doordarshan. And yet, if you ask me about my favourite television serials, I won’t forget to mention this one. It was an old fashioned serial, both in terms of story and the technique of serial making, of course. But there was something about it, I developed a fondness, and built a connection.
To be honest, I had no idea (or I should say I didn’t notice, as the serial mentions the author in the beginning) that it was based on the debut novel by Usha Priyamvada, first published as a Hindi novel in 1961. So when I got a chance to read the translation, I was beyond thrilled.
As I read this book, my mind could not resist rushing to 1993, when I used to watch this serial, mainly because I realised that the serial had followed the book very closely. Reading this book was a nostalgic experience.