South Indian Urdu novelist Sulekha Hussain passed away at her residence at Vaduthala, near here, on Tuesday. She was 85. She is survived by a daughter.
Born in an affluent Katchi Memon family at Mattancherry in 1930, she lost her parents at a very young age and was brought up by her grandfather, Jani Sait, an Urdu poet. She did her primary education at the Mattancherry Asia Bahi madrasa and studied Urdu and Arabic.
It was with her husband’s patronage that she began writing. Sulekha penned 27 novels and many short stories, all in Urdu. Some of her novels, Rah Akeli , Dishvar Huva Jeena , Ek Khyab Hakhikhath, and Marla he Kali were widely read in several North Indian cities such as Lucknow, Allahabad, New Delhi and Pakistan. Her most famous novel, Tharikhion Ke Baad, was translated into Malayalam by K. Ravi Varma in the 1980s.
Considering her contributions to Urdu literature, she was nominated to the committee awarding fellowships in Urdu language by the Union Cultural Affairs Ministry in 2012. Her son, Faraqu, passed away in 2010.
