A M A L I A H
It's South Asian Heritage Month ✨ Here's a thread of book recommendations to explore during this month and beyond to broaden your understanding of South Asian culture, heritage and history 👇 📚
Book mentions in this thread
The Roles We Play
by Sabba Khan
'Where is home, Mum?' From the foothills of the Himalayas in the Kashmiri valleys to bustling Green Street in East London, Sabba Khan researches her identity from the global to the local, covering partition, displacement, and clothing choices for an interview as a wannabe student at a prestigious private architectural school.Daughters of Partition
by Fozia Raja
16-year-old Taji Kaur is living a blissful life - after a grand and lavish wedding ceremony she has her first baby and is expecting the second in August of 1947. In the backdrop, the British Raj in India is coming to an end and a line of partition is being proposed between India and Pakistan. Taji and her husband, Indian Sikhs, find themselves on the wrong side of the border. Amidst the ravages of riots and bloodshed, they make a desperate attempt to cross a mountainous region to reach India; but the journey is far from straightforward. This is a heart-wrenching, real-life story of borders, civil unrest, loss, migration, religion and incredible bravery, told through the eyes of one woman who lived through these tragedies.Expelled from Uganda
by Noreen Nasim
Born in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, Amir Majothi spent his carefree childhood in the town of Kakira. His ultimate superpower was playing mischievous pranks on his unsuspecting victims and much of his time was spent climbing mango trees and dashing through sugarcane fields with his friends. This idyllic childhood came to an end when dictator Idi Amin, President of Uganda, issued an unjust expulsion order giving 80,000 Ugandan Asians only 90 days to leave the country. Missing the deadline meant certain death. Separated from his family, Amir must deal with a corrupt bureaucracy and the ever-present danger of Amin's soldiers in order to escape execution and find a new life overseas.Expelled from Uganda is a captivating memoir, written as narrative fiction. Set in 1972 Uganda, at the peak of Idi Amin's dictatorship, it explores the trials of a young Indian boy leaving behind his home, his faithful dog and his delightful childhood memories, to embark on a perilous journey to safety from Amin's reign of terror.Story of a Brief Marriage
by Anuk Arudpragasam
The Story of a Brief Marriage is a feat of extraordinary sensitivity and imagination, a meditation on the fundamental elements of human existence - eating, sleeping, washing, touching, speaking - that give us direction and purpose, even as the world around us collapses. Set over the course of a single day and night, this unflinching debut confronts marriage and war, life and death, bestowing on its subjects the highest dignity, however briefly.Kololo Hill
by Neema Shah
When you’re left with nothing but your secrets, how do you start again? Uganda 1972 A devastating decree is issued: all Ugandan Asians must leave the country in ninety days. They must take only what they can carry, give up their money and never return. For Asha and Pran, married a matter of months, it means abandoning the family business that Pran has worked so hard to save. For his mother, Jaya, it means saying goodbye to the house that has been her home for decades. But violence is escalating in Kampala, and people are disappearing. Will they all make it to safety in Britain and will they be given refuge if they do? And all the while, a terrible secret about the expulsion hangs over them, threatening to tear the family apart. From the green hilltops of Kampala, to the terraced houses of London, Neema Shah’s extraordinarily moving debut Kololo Hill explores what it means to leave your home behind, what it takes to start again, and the lengths some will go to protect their loved ones.