Riding the Samoosa Express is a metaphor to refer to the process of courtship, love, marriage and beyond. It’s a well written tale sampling the diversity and the different faces the Indian Muslim women contributors experienced.
These personal narratives range from very funny tales like Farhana Ismail’s father’s izzat (honor) demands and Somayya Hansrod’s mishaps in the kitchen to soul searching and self actualization stories such as the ones of Yasmin Denat and many other anonymous and non-anonymous contributors.
A very thought provocative compilation, Riding the Samoosa Express tell us that what may be true for one Muslim woman is not necessarily true or the norm for another Muslim woman. Each Muslim woman has a different life and a different culture. So some of these stories mirror the lives of other Muslim women around the globe while many don’t.
Many of the stories spoke to me. For instance, I felt the struggles of Zaheera Jina when she wished to be ‘Only Oomi’ to her son while battling a PhD career in Mathematics. Another story that spoke to me is the one of Nabeela Patel because of her open mind and religious tolerance of other faiths. I enjoyed her critical mind and the way she ended her piece:
“First, I need to blossom into a flower from a bud and settle into my own life. In this big, bad world I don’t know where I’ll end up, or who I will be, but I need to find that out first. I need to fathom the complex me, settle into my skin and breathe…”
She used the right words to seal the deal with me.
In conclusion, Riding the Samoosa Express is a must and a good read!
Reblogged this on A Ducktrinor Mom.
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Hey, sister – Do you know – this book is set in South Africa and I know some of these women personally!
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Yes, I do! 🙂 Masha’Allah, how cool to know them personally. I only know Zaheera ^_^
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Sounds interesting. I always enjoy stories which are real life rather than fiction and it sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Angela From Daysinbed
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This sounds like a really interesting book to delve into another culture x
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I would like to read the book. I find it interesting to read about how relationships develop in other cultures. Thanks for sharing.
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Sounds very interesting! I do enjoy reading books about love and relationships. Thank you for sharing
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I am a big fan of reading books that are about real lives of people x
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Me too! They give you another take on life :).
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This book sounds like a great way of learning about other cultures without stereotypical assumptions. I like that the stories come from ladies of all backgrounds, thanks for sharing
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Exactly! 🙂
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Sounds like a interesting read. I always enjoy reading real life stories, you can relate to them
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Right! 🙂
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Ooh I would actually love to read this! I am curious about other cultures and I love books about people’s real lives, I’ve not read a good book for ages X
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Awesome! 🙂
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oh this sounds like a really interesting read I will have to go looking for it
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ty!
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