Bapsi Sidhwa (; 11 August 1938 – 25 December 2024) was a Pakistani
Background
Sidhwa was born to Parsi Zoroastrian parents Peshotan and Tehmina Bhandara in Karachi, Bombay Presidency.
Roughly three months after her birth, she moved with her family to Lahore, Punjab Province. She was two years old when she contracted polio, requiring severe surgeries as a young child and leaving an impact throughout her life.
Sidhwa grew up having to live through distressing events during Partition, producing experiences that would shape her writing in the future. For example, a young Sidhwa was walking with her gardener a few months before Partition when they came across a gunny sack, which hid a young man's corpse inside. This experience in particular is mirrored in her novel Cracking India, in addition to showing up in Mehta's Earth. Sidhwa uses her experiences living through Partition as a background for the novel and creating the main character, Lenny. stood in 2012 as a candidate for state representative in Arizona.
She described herself as a "Punjabi-Parsi". Her first language was Gujarati, her second language was Urdu, and her third language was English. She could read and write best in English, but she was more comfortable talking in Gujarati or Urdu and often translated literally from Gujarati or Urdu to English.
Teaching
After attending a fellowship at Harvard University, Sidhwa started her first teaching job at Columbia University.
- Inducted in the Zoroastrian Hall of Fame (2000)
- City of Sin and Splendour : Writings on Lahore (2006, US)