In A Tilt in Time, Qurratulain Hyder brings her singular vision to a restless, formative decade in Pakistan, shaped by Partition and its aftermath. Drawn from Parts 12–15 of her monumental Kar-e Jahan Daraz Hai, this volume recounts her experiences in Delhi, Lahore, Karachi, Dhaka, and London.

Hyder described this sweeping work as a "biographical non-fiction novel", offering a unique and intimate social history of Pakistan in the 1950s, before the advent of martial law, peppered with her characteristic wit and wry observations.

Writer, observer, traveller—Hyder stands at the centre of her own story, at once witness and participant, mapping a life shaped by migration, work, and the shifting cultural worlds of mid-century South Asia. As memory folds into narrative, the personal and political become inseparable, illuminating a world in transition.

What emerges is a profound meditation on belonging—on the impossibility, yet necessity, of return.

About the Author

Qurratulain Hyder is among the preeminent writers of Urdu in India. Her published work includes four collections of short stories, five novels—including the classics River of Fire and Fireflies in the Mist—and several novellas.

She worked as a journalist, scriptwriter, editor with The Illustrated Weekly of India, broadcaster with the BBC, Producer Emeritus at All India Radio, and a copywriter for an advertising agency.

Her many honors include:

• Padma Shri
• Sahitya Akademi Award
• Bharatiya Jnanpith Award
• Padma Bhushan