This innovative retelling of a remarkable life story is a step towards restoring voice and agency to yet another woman protagonist in history on whom the ‘Mute’ button has too long been pressed. 

It takes a Dante-like expertise to lead the reader through the chaukat of biography and onto the jhopala of imagination’s courtyard. This is a book I will gift to many, many people, as it is, itself, a gift to all of us.