''Barsa'' is a 2007

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

novel written by

Khadija Mumtaz Khadeeja Mumthas (born 1955) is a Malayalam author from Kerala state, India. She is a medical doctor by profession and is probably best known in the Kerala literary circles for her second novel '' Barsa'' which won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi A ...

. The story deals with the haunting and agonising questions of Sabida, a devout and educated Muslim lady, a doctor, who spent six years in a hospital in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. It won critical acclaim for its forceful but humorous presentation of the restrictions under which Muslim women are forced to live and was hailed a milestone in

Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six Classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a S ...

. It won many awards including the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1958, by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), to Malayalam writers for their outstanding books of literary merit. The awards are given in various categories.

(2010),

Cherukad Award Cherukad Award is an annual award given for literary works in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1978 by Cherukad Smaraka Trust at Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India. It is named after Malayalam playwright, poet, novelist, and political activist ...

(2010) and K. V. Surendranath Literary Award (2008). A

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

translation of ''Barsa'' was released by the Karavali Lekhakiyara Vachakiyara Sangha in February 2012."People cannot forget their roots: Khadija Mumtaz"
''The Hindu''. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

External links

''Barsa''
at

DC Books DC Books is a publisher in Kerala publisher of books in Malayalam, and one of the publishers in India . It also operates one of the largest book store chains in India, with a network of over 45 bookshops under the DC Books and Current Books b ...

official website
Review of the book by K. Kunhikrishnan
(''The Hindu'')

References

{{Malayalam Literature , state=collapsed 2007 Indian novels Malayalam novels Novels set in Saudi Arabia Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award-winning works DC Books books Literature by women