Girls for Sale: Kanyasulkam, a Play from Colonial India

First staged in 1892, the South Indian play Girls for Sale (Kanyasulkam) is considered the greatest modern work of Telugu literature and the first major drama written in an Indian language that critiqued British colonialism's effects on Indian society. Filled with humor, biting social commentary, parody, and masquerade, the plot revolves around a clever courtesan, a young widow, and a very old man who wants to buy as his wife a very young girl. Velcheru Narayana Rao has prepared the first idiomatic English translation, with notes and a critical essay. Itself a masterpiece of Indian literature in translation, this edition makes Apparao's work available to new audiences.

First staged in 1892, the South Indian play Girls for Sale (Kanyasulkam)
is considered the greatest modern work of Telugu literature and the first major
drama written in an Indian language that critiqued British colonialism's effects on
Indian society. Filled with humor, biting social commentary, parody, and masquerade,
the plot revolves around a clever courtesan, a young widow, and a very old man who
wants to buy as his wife a very young girl. Velcheru Narayana Rao has prepared the
first idiomatic English translation, with notes and a critical essay. Itself a
masterpiece of Indian literature in translation, this edition makes Apparao's work
available to new audiences.

Acknowledgments Introduction Note On Translation And Transliteration Girls For Sale Dramatis Personae 1. Act One 2. Act Two 3. Act Three 4. Act Four 5. Act Five 6. Act Six 7. Act Seven The Play In Context: A Second Look At Apparao's Kanyasulkam Note On Names And Castes On Kinship And Friendship Performing Kanyasulkam Card Game In Act Five, Scene Two Guide To Pronunciation Proper Names With Diacritics Notes Index Gurajada Apparao ; Translated From Telugu By Velcheru Narayana Rao. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [203]-226). A masterpiece of British Indian literature in a vibrant modern English translation