Bahadur Sahiba

Bahadur Sahiba is a luminous novel that asks: what does trust mean between men and women in a world shaped by betrayal, patriarchy, and silence?

It follows Sanjana, a widowed artist, who finds unexpected love with Brigadier Asif Bakhtiyar-even as past wounds and his silences threaten to undo them. Drawn into his life and family, she meets the people shaped by him and Bahadur Sahiba, his late sister and his anchor and strength: Kainaat, a fiery Kashmiri singer; Gulabo, a sharp-tongued restaurateur in Coonoor; and Firdaus, a disgraced singer.

Set in contemporary Delhi and Coonoor, Bahadur Sahiba unfolds through layered relationships-between mothers and sons, lovers and friends, mentors and misfits. Through betrayal, grief, and unexpected tenderness, it charts how power shifts when we truly begin to see each other.

Tender, wry, and piercing, this is a story of how we begin to trust again.