Memoir on 19th century Sindhi society published

Oxford University Press launch "Footprints in Time: Reminiscences of a Sindhi Matriarch" by Ghulam Fatima Shaikh.

KARACHI: Oxford University Press launched Footprints in Time: Reminiscences of a Sindhi Matriarch by Ghulam Fatima Shaikh on Wednesday.

Translated from Sindhi by Rasheeda Husain, Shaikh’s saga spans two continents and two centuries as she had witnessed and experienced some of the most tumultuous events in the history of the subcontinent.

This memoir provides a first-hand account of what conversion from Hinduism to Islam meant in practice and what its impact was on Sindhi society from the late nineteenth century onwards.

She wrote about what it was like to be in a society divided on religious grounds, presenting a picture of how the division affected one family.

Shaikh founded the Fatima Girls Middle School in Hyderabad in 1947 which she ran until her death in 1981.

The translator, Rasheeda Husain, has had a varied career as a teacher, newsreader, a radio programme conductor, research librarian and a publicity manager.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2010.