Portraits from Memory brings together two collections of pen-portraits, Ateet ke Chalchitra (Moving Pictures of the Past, 1941) and Smriti ki Rekhayen (Lines of Memory, 1943), written by Mahadevi Varma, perhaps the greatest Hindi woman poet of the twentieth century and a magnificent writer of prose.

The author tells the unforgettable life-stories of many people she knew. An agricultural labourer's little son who exchanges his clothes for a watermelon to present to his teacher; poverty-stricken women who support their families single-handed, hoping for an education in the next birth; an unskilful potter who, inspired by calendar art, manages to produce a beautiful image of Saraswati. One gets glimpses, too, of Mahadevi's own unusual life as a single woman who, in the early twentieth century, lived and travelled by herself, forging relationships across class, gender, age, nationality, occupation, and species.

Translated into English by the inimitable Ruth Vanita, these sketches are a testament to the courage, generosity, dignity, and striking individuality of the unsung Indians who built modern India, a poignant tribute to those who have left an indelible imprint on our present.

MAHADEVI VARMA, generally considered the greatest Hindi woman poet of the twentieth century, was born on Holi in 1907. She took an MA in Sanskrit from Allahabad University, and became residential principal (later, vice-chancellor) of the pioneering women's institution, Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth. She worked in the Gandhi-led movement for independence, and edited several journals, most notably the women's magazine Chand. She was one of the four pillars of the chhayavad movement in Hindi poetry, and authored several collections of poems, such as Nihar (1930), Rashmi (1932), Nirja (1933), Yama (1939), and Deepshikha (1942). Her prose works include reminiscences, pen portraits, essays on women's predicament (Shrinkhla ki Kariyan, 1942), and works of literary criticism, such as Sahityakar ki Astha (1962). She translated numerous works from Sanskrit to Hindi. She founded a trust to support writers in need. In 1979, she was the first woman to be made a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi. Among other awards, she received the Jnanpith Award in 1982, the Padma Bhushan in 1956, and the Padma Vibhushan in 1988. She died in 1987.