A dancing girl rose from the margins to become a beloved queen of the Lion of Lahore.Mapping a unique destiny in 19th century Punjabs 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 peoples Sarkar and philanthropist in the shadows, both revered and reviled. A beloved for whom the secularist Sher-e-Punjab risked the Sikh clergys wrath and built a monument, Pul Kanjri.Memory is fickle. Will Moran Sarkars saga step out of oblivion, luminous like her nautch and nazaakat?
