Author Priya Hajela brought her novel Ladies’ Tailor to Mumbai with an intimate literary evening at White Crow, BKC this Saturday, attended by around 30 guests.

The highlight of the evening was a dramatized excerpt reading from the book, presented in collaboration with Studio Tamaasha. The performance drew audiences into the world of Gurdev, a Partition refugee who travels east from Pakistan to rebuild his life, stitch by stitch, as a tailor of women’s garments.

The reading set the mood for a warm and wide-ranging conversation with Priya Hajela, which soon opened into the room as audience members shared their own family histories of displacement, resilience and new beginnings. The discussion reflected the emotional and historical themes that lie at the heart of Ladies’ Tailor, creating a space for personal stories and collective remembrance.

Ladies’ Tailor is a story of falling apart and coming together, of love found and lost, and of one man’s iron will to not just survive but to thrive. The evening served as a testament to how deeply the history of Partition continues to live in people’s memories and experiences, and to Hajela’s ongoing literary engagement with that past.

Priya Hajela is currently working on two forthcoming books. The first is a historical fiction title set during the British period, to be published by Speaking Tiger. The second is a non-fiction account of the Sikh Gurus, forthcoming from HarperCollins India. Both projects continue her exploration of history through the lives of those who lived it.