Book Review - "My Feudal Lord"

Name of Book: My Feudal Lord

Author: Tehmina Durrani 

Genre: Autobiography

Language: English 

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All around the world, women face sexism. If we talk about the Indian subcontinent, the widespread and (accepted) chauvinism makes it worse for women to survive. Career, ambitions etc are still secondary to thousands of women battling domestic violence and abuse.

"My Feudal Lord" came out in 1991 where Durrani bravely writes about the choices she made in her life and their not so pleasant outcome.

Durrani divorced her husband and married Mustafa Khar, one of Pakistan's most eminent political figures hailed as the subcontinent's most celebrated Casanova. But her choice didn't go well as her marriage  soon turned into a nightmare. Mustafa Khar proved to be an extremely possessive, violent and jealous man who cut her off from the outside world. 

Tehmina was a  prisoner in this relationship for almost fourteen years and then she decided to discard the cage and rebel.

It wasn't easy for her to seek divorce from him. She lost all financial support and the custody of her children. Even her parents disowned her and friends left her alone too.

The repressive, partial society suppresses the weaker section's voice and women since always have been taught to be ‘ethnically mute’.

Tehmina divorced her first husband to marry Mustafa, dreaming about a fairytale which unfortunately turned into her worst nightmare.

Overall a good book about women's condition in a superficial society. Has vivid description of the brutality she underwent (alert if you are sensitive to such things). 

One should read this one.