India, July 31 -- There are occasions in literary history when an archive compels us to reconsider not merely an author's life but the literary history that has grown around him. Some months ago, I had the rare privilege of looking at Rahi Masoom Reza's papers. It was the first time his family had permitted anyone access to this remarkable archive. Among the papers were the original handwritten Urdu manuscripts of Aadha Gaon, dated 29 July 1964, and Katra Bi Arzoo, as well as numerous letters, notebooks, and other documents. It was a discovery of uncommon significance. For decades, the accepted wisdom has been that Rahi wrote primarily in Hindi and in the Nagri script. The manuscripts tell a very different story. They establish beyond dou...