Sumit Sharma Sameer’s Wake Up Ali… Wake Up Now announced best debut novel at Kalinga Literary Festival 2022. In London, songwriter Aruna set to release her second single

She has co-written the song with her partner, Kamran Ramsden, bringing in influences of pop, country, rock and her training in Hindustani classical music.

Daughter of writer Amit Chaudhuri, Aruna, who has cited her inspirations to include Olivia Rodrigo, Kacey Musgraves, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, will also be releasing a music video for Confessions soon. Her previous video, for Selfish, featured clips sent in by her fans in which they mentioned instances where they prioritised their needs over others’.

Where is Home?

Kalinga Literary Festival’s award for 2022’s best debut novel has gone to Sumit Sharma Sameer’s Wake Up Ali… Wake Up Now (Rs 395, Vitasta), translated from Nepali by Sushrut Acharya. It tells the story of Ali, a middle-aged Pakistani engineer who migrates to Canada for better financial opportunities, and his turbulent marriage with Zara, who is a decade younger than him.

The book rells the story of Ali, a middle-aged Pakistani engineer who migrates to Canada for better financial opportunities, and his marriage with Zara, who is a decade younger than him.

The book explores the conflict felt by Ali, who can’t decide between spiritual duty to his family and the materialist desire to succeed in a money-driven society. Zara is dissatisfied with the marriage and has an affair, further straining the relationship. They encounter a Pakistani family in Canada which has assimilated into the country but lament their disconnect from their homeland.

Ali’s perceptions are challenged by William, a white Canadian colleague, who feels immigrants rob deserving nationals of jobs and suggests that Ali move back to Pakistan, echoing the modern-day resurgence of anti-immigration rhetoric worldwide. Ali’s supervisor, Ranjan, is a Nepali immigrant who is disillusioned with Canadian society but chooses to bury his sorrows for economic mobility.

The book also delves into the conflicts and aspirations of the younger generation, like Ayesha, Zara and Ali’s daughter, who is denied agency and the ability to make her own decisions all her life — a far cry from Baber, a Pakistani boy who has adjusted into this western country and does not relate to his parents’ sense of estrangement from a foreign land he has never seen. This intergenerational conflict is a major source of drama in the novel.

📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!