Bookmarked Musings: Reading inspiration from my Bibliophile Grandmother by Maimuna Shafique

This personal essay by Maimuna Shafique deals with her grandmother and her reading habit in a time when women were deprived of basic education. 

Aamna, a wife of Zamindar and Local Hakeem (healer) was born and brought up in a place and space where education for women was like a light flickering from a lantern kept at an edge. She was a mother of 10 children and a Grandmother of multiple children including me. The wrinkles on my grandmother’s face bore evidence to the multiple storms through which she navigated her way in life. There was an air of tranquility whenever she was around. She never forgot to bring cookies and cream biscuits for me. But there was something else which was also carried by her, magazines and books.