A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE: THE MEMOIRS OF BEGUM KHURSHID MIRZA
Zubaan, Rs 450

There are at least two distinct approaches to Begum Khurshid Mirza?s memoirs, one personal and the other socio-cultural. The good thing about the book is that it is both entertaining and educative.

Mirza leads readers through her childhood, youth, marriage, film-stardom and later life spent in Pakistan. While there are fond memories of the family, we also see how Mirza had to fight an oppressive society to become an independent woman. Her account is not aggressively feminist, yet it packs a punch.

Mirza?s account spans more than 120 years. Her father, Sheikh Abdullah, came from a Kashmiri Pandit family who had converted to Islam while in college. A disciple of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, he was the founder of the Aligarh woman?s college. Mirza?s mother, Waheed Jahan Begum, was an educated lady from an old Mughal family in Delhi. Interestingly, it was she, and not her husband, who brought an end to the purdah in their household.

But Waheed Jahan?s liberalism was yet to rub off on the society. As a female child, Mirza was unwelcome. One of Sheikh Abdullah?s sisters-in-law brought the message that his wife had delivered a boy. ?Immediately, eleven shots were fired into the air to announce the happy occasion, before it was disclosed that the child was actually a girl.?

Memories of Mirza?s childhood in their big and spacious house are delightful. She recounts having hot jalebis sitting on a charpoy; the amateur photography of her uncle; Lachman, the stable hand, who gave up dal-roti for the charms of an English breakfast with toast; the two-horse carriage which had shutters to let in fresh air without being disrespectful towards purdah. The anecdotal style does not let the book become heavy.

Gender discrimination is a running theme. When Mirza was discovered for the first time to have starred in a Bombay film, her father had to declare publicly in Aligarh that after marriage, the decisions about a woman?s behaviour were to be taken by her husband and not her father. Mirza and her husband were advised to stay away from Aligarh until the public displeasure abated. Akbar, her husband, was a radical man by contemporary standards. Yet, even he could never whole-heartedly support his wife?s ventures into the celluloid world.

Khurshid Mirza?s life was far from being a smooth one. But even in the face of adversity, her determination and adaptability were remarkable. Being born a woman at somewhat the wrong time in Indian history did not deter her. She was one of those pioneers who worked silently to better the lot of future generations of women.