The Wikipedia page on late professor Rashid Ahmed Siddiqui says:
Any study of his writings without keeping in mind the scholarly, literary and cultural ambiance of Aligarh Muslim University and the city of Aligarh would make little sense. Most of the themes, events and characters in his works are, in one way or another, related to Aligarh but one also catches glimpses of Mariyahu, his place of birth. However, Aligarh is invariably the main source of his inspiration and creativity.This is an accurate assessment but does not make the implications clear. This deters one from approaching his writings. This is a wrong impression. In reality one should read him if one wants to know what is Aligarh.