Author R Raj Rao's latest book, 'Mahmud And Ayaz', is set to be launched tomorrow (Friday, April 5) at the Crossword Bookstores in Pune's Aundh. The author will engage in a conversation with Gaurav Kadam, The Free Press Journal's Pune Bureau Chief, during the launch event, scheduled for 6:30pm.
Described as funny, subversive, provocative, and wonderfully rude, 'Mahmud And Ayaz' takes inspiration from the legendary love story of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and his Turkish slave-cum-lover Ayaz.
According to the book's description, the novel follows the journey of Mahmud Fakhar, a young, casually radicalised Muslim man who, after failing to qualify for the IAS, finds a temporary teaching job in a second-rate college. Bereaved after his entire family dies in the 2015 Hajj stampede, Mahmud's life takes an unexpected turn when he encounters a homeless Hindu lad, the illegitimate son of a tamasha dancer. Mahmud hires him as his domestic servant, converts him to Islam, renames him Ayaz, and begins an affair with him.
Their unconventional life together leads to a series of journeys, including visits to Somnath in the footsteps of the great Sultan, and later to Kashmir, where they become embroiled in a life of petty and not-so-petty crime, and almost militancy. The narrative comes full circle as their wayward journey culminates in Mumbai, in the neighbourhood of Mahmud's birth, even as one of them is afflicted by AIDS, the description adds.
