Author - Chetna Keer
 
A dancing girl rose from the margins to become a beloved queen of the “Lion of Lahore”.

Mapping a unique destiny in 19th century Punjab's gilt-edged Durbar, Moran danced her way into history. By braving the stranglehold of social stigma to emerge as a consort and confidante of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. By earning the honorific of "Sarkar". By inspiring a commemorative coin.

More than a bejewelled portrait of their love legend. A socio-cultural critique that lends a lens of respectability to an artiste of tehzeeb and taleem. Richly researched, it reclaims the voice of the people's Sarkar and philanthropist in the shadows, both revered and reviled. A beloved for whom the secularist "Sher-e-Punjab" risked the Sikh clergy’s wrath and built a monument, 'Pul Kanjri'.

Memory is fickle. Will Moran Sarkar’s saga step out of oblivion, luminous like her nautch and nazaakat?
 
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