The title of the book Purdah to Piccadilly: A Muslim Woman’s Struggle for Identity is very apt, literally and metaphorically. The book follows the journey of a Muslim woman’s struggle for creating an identity in a world where a woman herself is a non-entity. Based through a timeperiod that sets the background of the story through the social and political upheaval of the pre- and post-Independence era, the story chronicles the life of the author from birth till present times where Zarina Bhatty is leading a quite retired life in Mussorie. The review presented here is more from a gender perspective than anything else.
The story starts with the birth of the author in the pre-Partition era, a time when the birth of a daughter is not a happy moment, though her family eagerly waited for a daughter. Born into a land-owning family in a Muslim-dominated small town, Barbanki, Uttar Pradesh, Zarina is brought up in purdah. She builds the background by sharing with the readers the lives of her parents, her uncles and aunts and grandparents and other relatives who are active socially through various activities like the Independence movement. Zarina’s struggle begins wich her school days as her going back to school every year remained doubtful. Her immense desire to study and on the way challenging the socio-cultural norms of that time makes the crux of the story. Her life after school, marriage to a man who cunningly manipulates her into it are recorded. Post-marriage the story moves to England where the struggle takes on a different meaning altogether with emotional, financial and marital difficulties aplenty. Though full of struggles, life in London helps Zarina open up to new experiences, and ascertain her competencies. For instance, her involvement with the London Majlis and the British Communist Party brought forth her leadership qualities which eventually led to her being elected as the General Secretary of the Student’s Union in her second year at the London School of Economics. During the nine long years in England, Zarina managed to get a Master’s degree and also became a mother to a daughter.