Reader’s Digest India – July 2019

MEMORY ROOM

W

hite light fills the room

as I open my eyes and stare

groggily at the unfamiliar

surroundings—a huge

room with lime-washed

walls, high ceilings with ornate arches

and my bed, which sags a bit in the

middle because it is a palang—with

cloth strips stretched across and

wound tightly at the edges. And then I

remember: I am inside the mahalsara,

the women’s palace, in the heart of the

Qila of Mahmudabad, a living fort in

the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

My family and I are guests of Raja

Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan.

We will be spending two days here,

participating in the mourning rituals of

Muharram, one of the most prominent,

and sacred, cultural observances by

Mahmudabad’s royal family.

The palace is divided into two

distinct sections—the zenana, the

women’s section, and the mardana,

FREEDOM,

SH E RU LED

By Zehra Naqvi

90 july 2019

Illustration by Atri

The Rani of Bilehra was an unlikely

champion of emancipation