In Custody (novel)
novel by Anita Desai
In Custody (1984) is a novel set in Delhi, India by Indian American writer Anita Desai. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984.
Plot summary
Deven earns a living by teaching Hindi language literatures to college students. As his true interest was in Urdu poetry, he jumps at the chance to meet the great Urdu poet, Nur. Under the advice of his friend Murad, an editor of a periodical devoted to Urdu literature, Deven procures a secondhand tape recorder so that he can help transcribe Urdu's early poetry, as well as conduct an interview or even write the memoirs of Nur. However, things do not happen as he expects them to.
Devens' old friend Murad visits Deven unexpectedly with an offer for him to interview a great Urdu poet Nur Sahjahanabadi who lives in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi for his magazine. Deven is fond of Urdu poetry. He accepts the offer. At first, he thinks that he is getting a chance to sit before a great Urdu poet but after reaching his house he notices the unbearable condition of Nur's house.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “In Custody (novel)” as novel by Anita Desai. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as novel by Anita Desai. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q606184. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1984.
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This entry incorporates text from “In Custody (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.