Set across four Indian cities between the 1870s and 1970s, Birds Never Die is a creative critical intervention told through the story of its protagonist, Tejas, who is stirred to pen the story of the unsung feminine labors, sorrows, and sacrifices across six generations that made her husband, Vilas Shankar, a famed Hindustani writer and national hero in the 1960s. Exploring the intricate social and cultural layers of gender, class, caste, and region, this methodological and epistemic intervention in feminist transnational and translational studies brings to life largely neglected stories of women and family over a century-long period. Beginning as a translation of an incomplete memoir by the late Pratibha Nagar, the authors’ grandmother and great grandmother, it also draws upon memoirs in Hindi by the late Sharad Nagar that were posthumously edited by his daughter, Richa. Transforming into an historical romance novel, this taps into an archive of inherited stories, lived memories, and transgenerational traumas to journey across times and places, languages and accents, dreams and nightmares.
