“AHMED ALI’S NOVEL TWILIGHT IN DELHI AS AN ELEGY: A CRITICAL STUDY OF LOVE AND LOSS”

Abstract The present study is aimed to project Twilight in Delhi as a novel of love and loss. It is an elegy on the death and decline of a family and the whole culture. The research is based on the grounds that love and loss exist together. Wherever in the novel  love existed there came a decline and the characters suffer losses of the relationships and the loved ones The critical analysis of the novel exhibits love and loss on individuals’  level as well as on collective ( national ) level. Characters like Mir Nihal,Asgher ,Bilqeece ,Zohra and ,Mushtari Bai, have been shown in love but none of the relationship proved perpetual. The study unsnarls the atmosphere of gloom and despair and a sense of disillusionment. An intense love and longing for the majestic and glorious past is also a supreme and powerful yearning which the present study brings forth. The society suffered great losses like decline of the whole culture, morality, ethics, economics, peace and harmony. The present research discloses Twilight in Delhi as an elegy on personal and collective levels both. The change that was taking place due to the imposition of colonizers, breeds disillusionment and despair among Delhites .Critical analysis shows that Delhi which was called as a heaven or paradise in the past has now become A Wasteland . KEY WORDS Love.  Loss. Elegy. Degeneration. Past.