Mah Laqa Bai Chanda was a Courtesan, poet and warrior in the Nizam's time. Her tomb in Hyderabad was the starting point of our walk, which continued to the Moula Ali shrine nearby, dedicated to Ali, the Prophet's Son-in-law and whose followers are Shia Muslims.
She was also a possible inspiration for the book Umrao Jaan Ada, made into a film by Muzaffar Ali. A colourful personality. Pics from the tomb and Moula Ali hill.
Inspiring book- the one on the right! Got it at the Kolkata Litfest recently. Heard him-the author too.
The book deals with an unusual subject. Memoirs of a Courtesan, as narrated to her son. Very inspiring, and I won't give away the story and be a spoiler.
Read it if you can. Manish Gaekwad is a journalist/writer. It's his mother's story. And she was a courtesan here in Kolkata, after being a poor shepherdess in Pune who lived in a hut with many siblings and a drunkard father. And raised her son who could write such a book. He got his education in a boarding school in North Bengal. Very tough for many of us to even imagine her travails.
Simple, straightforward, touching.. with some Hindi words, mostly translated.
The other book I got autographed by the author. Still reading it.
My wife and I visited a friend at IIM Kashipur. Neeraj Dwivedi was my colleague at IIM Kozhikode, in the 2003-05 period, and we were togeth...
