A GREAT ESCAPE

Set in the 18th century, Moin Mir’s new novel spans both continents and philosophies

- Aman Nath

THE LOST FRAGRANCE OF INFINITY

Moin Mir

ROLI BOOKS

The book’s scenario begins with early 18th century Delhi. Qaraar and Abeerah meet and blossom. Then Nadir Shah sounds the death knell of the Mughal empire in 1739, taking 700 elephants, 4,000 camels, 12,000 horses and palanquins loaded with Delhi’s treasures and heads towards Persia/ Iran. Mughal Delhi lies slaughtered, sifted, siphoned and silenced. Its many-splendoured halo merges with a new darkness.

How does the brilliance of Moin Mir walk behind some 300 years of curtains, each darker than the one before it, and produce a book that seems like a living account? He not just wakes up a slice of sleeping time but also imbibes it with such delicate details, that moving silently at his own pace, he becomes the eighteenth century itself. Every other page touches the heart and makes it smile. There are some pages with windfalls where prose becomes poetry.

The book becomes a fascinating journey where the girih (tile) and