Historical records unearthed by various academics and researchers show that tawaifs enjoyed influence among writers, journalists and poets.
Also a documentary filmmaker, Dewan explores the lives of many tawaifs from this family's past to zoom out and capture the ever-changing nature of the relationship between Indian society and tawaifs. Well-researched and intricately written, Tawaifnama presents a nuance account of the tawaif community's history when few such writings exist in the public realm. From Dharmman Bibi, a tawaif who marched into war with the British during the 1857 mutiny, to Sadabahar, one of the most influential tawaifs that Banaras had seen, to Pyaari Bai, a tawaif who became a radio sensation in Allahabad of postcolonial India, this book documents the rise, and often, the fall of a multigeneration tawaif family. While doing so, the book delves into gender dynamics within families in the tawaif community, the significance of music and arts in their lives, and the role of the colonial and postcolonial state's policies and laws in stigmatising these communities.
Beyond moral strictures