Attiya Dawood is a Sindhi poet, writer and activist and is considered to be the 'most important feminist writer. Story of her life consists of though struggle. Her writings highlight the oppression she faced in the society in the name of tradition and culture. ‘Images in my mirror’ is her autobiography in which she has described all her efforts which she made for her survival in the society. Her father passed away when she was quite young and it changed the entire universe around her. The little girl who was always treated with love and affection in her father’s life became a pitiable orphan after the demise of her father. Attiya Dawood never wrote a diary but she says every moment of her past is inscribed in her mind and is still fresh in her memories.

The book starts with a detailed introduction of the family which was known as Mullah. Religion was their ancestral practice. She lived in a village of interior Sindh, which follows a great deal of customs and traditions. Writing about marriage system in the interior Sindh, she has written that the girls were always given in marriage in exchange for their brother’s brides. If any girl did not have a brother, she was exchanged for her uncle’s wife. It was considered irregular to give a girl into marriage without an exchange. If the girl was beautiful or rich she could even be exchanged for two girls. She has written minute details of her childhood, including the memory of her mother’s grinding the grain and her churning the yogurt to make lassi (yogurt drink) in the morning.

After her childhood, Attiya came to Karachi and got admission in a college. From this onwards her life took a new start. She experienced life in a different style and got new friends. She has also written about the financial constraints which she faced and also had to do jobs for coming out of that financial handicap. One of her jobs was working in a towel factory.

Her literary activities started when one of her dear friend Rupa introduced her to Ahmed Saleem. She became an active member of Sindhi Adabi Sangat.

Attiya’s style of describing events in her book is so lucid that it gives a feeling of reading a novel than an autobiography. The book also contains many pictures of Attiya Dawood and her family.

‘Images in my mirror’ is a translation of ‘Ainay kay sSamnay’ translated by Amina Azfar. As many of her other translated works e.g., like Sajjad Zaheer’s Roshnai (The Light), Premchand’s Bazaar-e-Husn (The Courtesans’ Quarter) and many other she has also translated this book with equal skill and aptness.

Title: Images in my mirror | Written By: Attiya Dawood | Translated By: Amina Azfar | Language: English | Pages: 229 |

Price: Rs 895 | Publisher: Oxford University Press