Those who have read 'Noor, the Impeccable' on this blog and enjoyed it might like 'The 20th Wife', a novel by Indu Sundaresan (Penguin publishing).
Could not lay the book to rest till I had read the last of the prints...it is a treat to those who know
or rather would like to unravel the enigma that surrounds Noor. The novel makes you re-live those glorious days when feminity and fragility was considered a virtue amongst women...and it was exploited shrewdly and shamelessly by its bearers. The menfolk ...royal or plebian had no choice but to be smitten and beguiled by those luring charms. Oh! the power that these mermaids weilded!
And, Noor...the strength of her character impresses me beyond anything. There is an episode where Jehangir, the proud Emperor of Hindostan suggests to Noor to be a part his Zenana as a concubine and she refuses. After all she had nurtured the dream of becoming his lawfully wedded wife since the age of eight; how then could she accept anything lesser? Amazing woman.
The words of Milton Berle resound in my heart and mind as I think of her refusal...
"I would rather be a 'could be', if I cannot be an 'are'...
Because a 'could be' is a 'may be' who is reaching for a star.
I would rather be a 'has been' than a 'might have been' by far...
For a 'might have been' has 'never been', but a 'has been' was once an 'are'!
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