Neelum Saran Gour (b.1955)

Indian writer whose fiction embodies a humane vision that encompasses the absurdities as well as tragedies of life. She remarks that her mixed parentage of Bengali mother and Hindiphone father had a crucial impact on her upbringing. Further, her father, a great influence in her life, was 'Hindu in persuasion and Islamic in culture' and a classical musician, philosopher, and mathematician. This eclectic heritage was broadened by the education that Gour received in a Catholic school run by German nuns. Gour is an academic and teaches at Allahabad University. Her doctoral thesis was on another Indian English writer, Raja Rao.

Gour's fiction draws upon her multiple heritages. She attempts to capture the rhythms of Indian languages in her English and delineates the lives, loves, and other occupations of small town India. Her work should be seen in the broad spectrum of Indian fiction, going beyond the confines of metropolitan Indian English writing. Her writings depict provincial bazaars, villages, various small towns, and depict the lives of ordinary people from varied walks of life. Perhaps, Gour's writing should be seen as a signal contribution to a nascent regional fiction in English, to 'mofussil' or provincial literature. Her writings thus bridge the divide between Indian English and 'Bhasa' (Indian language) literatures. Her Indian language happens to be English.

Gour records the residual spark of human feeling that survives even the ravages of wars and riots. Her works are finely nuanced and try to enunciate the patterns that inform and give significance to all events. Gour's vision of life is essentially comic, and humour plays a major role in her writing even when the intent is patently serious. Gour's writing gains from both her location in provincial India and her training and profession as an academic. She displays a sure sense of the past as well as the present. While she may be at the moment a one - woman force, she could be usefully read along with a writer like Shashi Deshpande who too can capture the rhythms of life of small town Indian even if without the same sense of the comic.

Gour's published work includes two collections of short stories - Grey Pigeon and Other Stories (1993) and Winter Companions and Other Stories (1997) - and two novels, Speaking of ' 62 (1995) and Virtual Realities (2002).

GJV Prasad

The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English (edited by Lorna Sage)

Neelum Saran Gour is a writer of astonishing talent and maturity. Her clear and steady gaze alights on life's derelicts, the flotsam and jetsam of whimsical and arbitrary circumstance, only to sympathetically, almost lovingly, retrieve them from their solitariness, and the silence of oblivion... . Each story in this collection illuminates a particular universe, completely authentic in texture and detail, giving us writing that is not only pleasurable, but finely - crafted as well.

Ritu Menon in The Indian Review of Books, (Oct 1993, about "Grey Pigeon and other Stories")

Her writing has some great strengths and her imagination is both inventive and realistic... . Her ideas are often well thought out and original. Her sense of place is firmly based on observation and her characters are presented through the humorous eyes of  a true raconteur.

Subhadra Sen Gupta in Biblio, (Sep - Oct 1997, on "Winter Companions")

Gour writes with unusual insight and depth... . Whatever form Gour decides to take... the colours are vivid, the message delivered in no uncertain terms. Gour's power lies in her ability to shape her ideas into statements without sounding didactic... . Quintessentially Indian, each story is wrapped in a certain magic that communicates a culture. In it Gour laughs, grieves and rejoices. Just the kind of book you should carry on a long journey.

Vinita Rajan in The Week, (Nov 1997, on "Winter Companions")

It is such a relief to read the simple, yet elegant turns of phrase, the singular twists given to seemingly conventional stories, and the tenderness evoked in stories that do not have a beginning or an end. Nowhere do the words jar or the prose become stilted, and this perhaps is the most remarkable feature of the work. As one goes through the nineteen short stories that comprise the present volume, what strikes one most is the atmosphere Gour has so successfully evoked in each tale, and the sympathy she shows for her characters. Gour neither ridicules nor rebukes human foibles and frailties, she understands them... . All in all, Gour is a talented writer and her future works will be well worth watching.

Sandhya Jain in Sunday Mail, (Aug 1993, on "Grey Pigeon and other Stories")

Neelum Saran Gour's touch is right, her awareness of India, past and present, quite complete.

Shyamala Narain in The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, (Vol. XXIX, No.- 3, 1994)

Neelum Saran Gour's first novel, Speaking of '62 emerges almost like a phoenix from the morass of English writing splattered all over the country today... . This novel establishes her as a gifted author with a warm 'feel' for the language... which is both evocative and vivid in detail.

Kanika Luthra in The Pioneer, (Nov 1995 about "Speaking of '62")

She seems to be a decidedly serious artist, with a wide range of sympathies for her characters... . She conveys human sufferings as they arise in social and cultural contexts in a simple but refreshing and alluring style.

Fuzail Jafferey in Metropolis, (Sep 1993 about "Grey Pigeon and other Stories")

An exquisite collection of short stories written with delicacy and humour. The author uses the language of restraint to devastating effect, whether it is to make a point, elaborate a character's trait or describe a situation... Written with wit, wisdom and understanding of human vulnerabilities, Grey Pigeon and other Stories is recommended for those who value good reading.

Gentleman, (Aug 1993)

Her roots are strong, genuine. Her remembrance of things past is radiantly realized; her English plain and straightforward without being heavy and dull. Speaking of '62 affectionately analyses the irresponsible fantasies of childhood in the background of the Chinese invasion of India in 1962... . Plenty of frolic here and plenty of thought - provoking asides presented by unforgettable characters through Neelum's inspired, bubbly humour. Neelum can prick the bubbles of pride and pomposity with finesse... . India (has) need of such novelists who present a realistic apprehension of its variegated life. For despite the iridescent humour in Neelum's pen, she knows when to stop and enter the adult world... . The war 'remains like a coin dropped long ago in the backwaters of the mind'. Now this brilliant retrieval.

Prema NandaKumar in Deccan Herald, (Jan 1996)

Neelum Saran Gour... is an excellent writer with a wonderfully perceptive mind... . Most of her stories give a rare insight into human relationships... . Each of the stories is a surprise and a pleasure to read.

The Statesman, (Jan 1998 about "Winter Companions")

The tale is told in elegant language with poetic descriptions.

Saag Aggarwal in Femina, (March 1996 on "Speaking of '62")

A writer who has rendered the delicate sparring and reciprocal courtesies of Lucknavi poets so gracefully in English deserves at least a couple of couplets in her praise. Here instead is my poor, prosaic applause.

Latha Anantharaman in The Indian Review of Books, (Jan 1998 about "Winter Companions")

Neelum Saran Gour is undeservedly unsung, her previous collection of short stories and her novel... showcased a sensitive writer with a light touch. With Virtual Realities she's attempted to strike out in a completely different direction.

Nilanjana S. Roy in Man's World, (Feb 2002)

A wry and readable novel.

The Telegraph, (Jan 2002 about "Virtual Realities")

A book to read and enjoy at leisure as it is not only well written, it shows that the writer has a keen eye in observing minute details as well as people's responses to animated literary conservation. A book that delves into the hollow vanity of psendo - intellectuals and puts the common man's wisdom over everything.

Manju Ramanan in The Times of India (from www.indiatimes.com Mar 2002 about Virtual Realities)

Gour does succeed in conjuring a certain magic... tempering rhetoric with humour and nostalgia.

New Delhi (Nov 1993)

My interest in Gour arose as I heard her unselfconscious narrative voice and saw her ability to hold a story together without recourse to stylish pyrotechnics... . Virtually anyone who has read the new fiction in English that is emerging out of India has commented on its sameness. Set in the metropolitan towns of a brave new India, they have a cast of characters that is now shop - soiled from over - handling. In their personal agendas - gender justice, Partition, dalithood - written in the politically correct rhetoric of the present, there is little place for stories. In playing clever games with the Engllish language they often forget to write with passion or emotional engagement. This is why I find Gour's oeuvre so refreshing. Her stories evoke towns with strong  personalities of their own.

Ira Pande in The Pioneer, (Oct 1997 about "Winter Companions")

Gour is a composed writer with a sure sense of the language and a keen understanding of the human mind.

Biswadeep Ghosh in The Economic Times, (Jun 1994 about "Grey Pigeon and other Stories")