Jump to content

Madhulika Liddle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tarun73 (talk | contribs) at 06:03, 8 November 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Madhulika Liddle (8 January 1973 -) is an Indian writer who writes in English. She is best known for her books featuring the 17th century Mughal detective Muzaffar Jang, although she is also a prolific writer of short fiction, travel writing, and writing related to classic cinema.

Madhulika Liddle

Background and Personal Life

Madhulika was born, the second of two daughters, in Haflong (Assam, India) to Andrew Verity Liddle and Muriel Liddle. The first twelve years of her life were spent in various parts of India, since her father was an officer in the Indian Police Service (IPS) and was transferred frequently from one town to another. In 1985, Mr.Liddle was transferred to New Delhi, and Madhulika finished her schooling in the city, where she went on to study at the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition (IHMCN) in New Delhi.

Career

Madhulika worked from 1994 to 2008 in a series of organisations, in varied industries. Her first stint was as a Management Trainee and then an Assistant Manager in Food & Beverage Controls with Habitat World, at the then-newly established India Habitat Centre in Delhi. This was followed by three years with an advertising agency; two years with a travel portal; and finally, four years as an Instructional Designer at NIIT Limited. In 2000, Madhulika married Tarun Bhandari, an ex-collegemate from IHMCN and an ex-colleague at Habitat World.

Madhulika’s elder sister, Swapna Liddle, is an eminent historian whose PhD is on 19th century Delhi, and who has been conducting heritage walks in Delhi for more than a decade now. Their father, Mr. A.V.Liddle, after his retirement from the IPS, pursued his hobby of numismatics and is today concerned one of the world’s leading authorities on Mughal coins.

Writings

Madhulika had been writing since childhood, but her first work to be published was a short story named Silent Fear, which won the Femina Thriller Contest in June 2001. She has since written a wide variety of short stories, travel articles, humorous articles, and a novel, The Englishman’s Cameo. In addition, Madhulika maintains a blog on classic cinema.

The Muzaffar Jang Series

Madhulika’s best-known series of works are historical whodunnits featuring the 17th century Mughal detective, Muzaffar Jang. Muzaffar Jang first appeared in print in a short story, Murk of Art, in the anthology, 21 Under 40[1], published by Zubaan Books in 2007. Liddle had already begun work on a full-length Muzaffar Jang novel, which was published by Hachette India in 2009 as The Englishman’s Cameo. Till now, two books in the series have been published:

  • The Englishman’s Cameo (2009)[2]
  • The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries [3](2011)

The Englishman’s Cameo (2009)

The Englishman’s Cameo introduces Muzaffar Jang, a twenty-five year old Mughal nobleman living in the Delhi of 1656 AD. Muzaffar ends up investigating a murder of which his friend, a jeweller’s assistant, is accused. The book became a bestseller in India, and was published in French by Editions Philippe Picquier, as Le Camée Anglais[4].

Both editions received numerous favourable reviews, with Pradeep Sebastian of Business World[5] writing: “Its intimate picture of life in Emperor Shahjahan’s Dilli resembles a delicate Mughal miniature…” and Zac O’Yeah of Deccan Herald[6] describing the book’s “originality and freshness” as its strongest point. Gargi Gupta, for the Hindustan Times[7], wrote: “The Englishman’s Cameo is a fast-paced yarn written in snappy prose. It also succeeds in evoking the Mughal era through its manners, fashions, jewels and architecture. There’s blood, dead bodies every 50 pages or so, and even a love interest to keep readers hooked.”

The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries (2011)

The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries is a collection of ten short mystery stories set in the latter half of 1656 AD, following Muzaffar Jang’s successful solving of the case of The Englishman’s Cameo. These stories are set against varying backdrops, including the Imperial Atelier, a traditional Mughal garden, the sarai built by the Princess Jahanara in Delhi, and the Royal Elephant Stables. Included in the collection was the first Muzaffar Jang short story (Murk of Art), reprinted in this collection as The Hand of an Artist.
Madhulika has already written a sequel, in the form of a novel, to The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries. The book is expected to be published by Hachette India in 2012. A further sequel – a collection of short stories similar to The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries – is in the process of being written.

Short stories

Madhulika calls herself “primarily a short story writer”. Her first work to be published, in 2001, was a short story (a supernatural thriller called Silent Fear). Since then, she has written a range of short stories in different genres, including black humour, humour, crime and detection, and social awareness. Several of these have won awards (including the prestigious Commonwealth Broadcasting Association’s[8] Short Story Competition, for A Morning Swim, in 2003) or have been selected for anthologies. A collection of Madhulika Liddle’s black humour short stories, My Lawfully Wedded Husband and Other Stories, is due to be published by Westland-Tranquebar Press in 2012.

Miscellaneous Writings

Madhulika’s non-fiction writing includes travel writing, humour, and writing on classic cinema.

  • Travel writing: Madhulika first began travel writing as part of her job at a travel portal, www.journeymart.com, where she worked as an Assistant Editor for two years. During this period, she also became a member of the Rough Guides-IgoUgo travel community, writing travel reviews under the pseudonym phileasfogg. Since then, some of her travel writings – on destinations including Salzburg, Palampur, Pondicherry and Beijing – have been published in Indian newspapers such as Lounge (the weekend edition of Mint) and Eye (the weekend edition of Indian Express).
  • Humour: For several years, Madhulika has written and recorded humorous articles for broadcast on All India Radio’s ‘In a Lighter Vein’ English-language programme. Most of these articles take a tongue-in-cheek look at contemporary India’s many foibles, fads and idiosyncrasies.
  • Classic cinema: Madhulika maintains a blog on classic cinema, www.dustedoff.wordpress.com. The blog is devoted to reviews, reflections, ‘favourite lists’ and similar posts on cinema prior to the 1970s. Although the blog prominently focusses on Hindi cinema, Liddle also frequently discusses classic cinema from around the world. Madhulika’s essay, Villains and Vamps and All Things Camp, on the suspense thriller genre in classic Hindi cinema, was published in the anthology The Popcorn Essayists: What Movies do to Writers[9], published by Westland-Tranquebar in 2011.

Awards and Recognition

  • Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Competition – Honourable Mention (2002) for Love and the Papaya Man
  • Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Competition – Overall Winner (2003) for A Morning Swim[8]
  • Winner of the Oxfordbookstore e-Author version 4.0[10] for a set of five short stories: Woman to Woman, The Mango Tree, The Tale of a Summer Vacation, The Marble Princess, and The Sari Satyagraha.

References

  1. ^ 21 under 40 (2007). 21 under 40. Zubaan Books. ISBN 9788189884034. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ The Englishman’s Cameo (2009). The Englishman’s Cameo (2009). India: Hachette India. ISBN 9788190617338.
  3. ^ The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries (2011). The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries. India: Hachette India. ISBN 9789350092750.
  4. ^ Le Camée Anglais (2009). Le Camée Anglais. France: Editions Philippe Picquier. ISBN 2-8097-0164-7. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
  5. ^ Pradeep Sebastian : Business world. [: http://businessworldindia.com/bw/2009_10_13_Mysterious_Attempts.html "Pradeep Sebastian"]. Business world magazine. BusinessWorld Publishing. Retrieved 31 October 2011. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); Check |url= value (help)
  6. ^ Zac O’Yeah: Deccan Herald. "Zac O'Yeah". Deccan Herald. Deccan Herald.
  7. ^ Gargi Gupta: Hindustan Times. "Gargi Gupta: Hindustan Times". Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  8. ^ a b Common wealth Broadcasting Association Awards. "Common wealth Broadcasting Association Awards". Common wealth Broadcasting Association Awards. Common wealth Broadcasting Association Awards. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  9. ^ The Popcorn Essayists : What Movies Do To Writers (2011). The Popcorn Essayists : What Movies Do To Writers. India: Westland Tranquebar Press. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/9380658353, 9789380658353 , 978-9380658353|9380658353, 9789380658353 , 978-9380658353]]. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); horizontal tab character in |isbn= at position 13 (help)
  10. ^ Oxford Bookstore e author 4.0. "Oxford Bookstore e author 4.0". Oxford Bookstore e author 4.0. Oxford book store. Retrieved 31 October 2011. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madhulika_Liddle&oldid=459586641"