Zeba: A Fractured Superwoman
A book about a girl wearing a hijab, a girl finding it hard to navigate the roads of her mind, a girl who dreams too hard, a girl who was broken from the start. A girl who became a hero – a super one, at that. A girl named ‘Zeba’.
The protagonist was enough to suck me into the black and white lanes of Huma S. Qureshi’s book Zeba.
The book starts off with an introduction. We meet Zeba and spend a day with her. Her character, starting off, is the least pleasant one in the book, an obnoxious socialite with little connection with reality. She does not grow on me as the pages flip, but she does sit on a bench in the garden of my heart.
The plot follows her uncle, "The great Khan – a cruel tyrant with shaitani intentions." It traces his use of black magic and the discovery of her powers. Her true path becomes clear: to save all of mankind from war and hatred.
The plot was not out of the blue, but perhaps was a different shade.
A 'chosen one’ (as Zeba is, in this case) is followed in most fantasy books, a person destined to fulfil others' destiny.
Huma Qureshi
Zeba: An Accidental Superhero
HarperCollins India, 2023
What I liked most in book were the women of the harem. A place where all the royal women or those associated with the Khan lived. They were the main force behind the resistance. They were brave under attack while being on the sidelines, constantly underestimated and undervalued.
I think a quote from Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own perfectly sums up my observations: "Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size."
The women of Harem were a mirror to the Khan, looking at them he saw his image as twice his natural size. When they broke out of their pardah they broke his perception of himself, making him small.
Zeba’s accessory and weapon being her hijab was a statement, a political one at that. The hijab was a gift from the women of Harem, giving Zeba a new identity. It was a brave jump of faith, considering the stereotypes and controversies associated with women choosing to embrace the hijab.
While the world and its political narrative are keen to reducing Muslim women to victims, needing to be constantly saved, here we had a hijabi girl saving all of her kind, becoming a hero. I think her and the women of Harem are symbols of how seemingly meek victims can rise from the ashes of their circumstances.
With this book, Qureshi tried to shape Zeba to be an inspiration and symbol, which to some extent held its ground. The book does something, but not enough.
As an avid fantasy reader, it felt juvenile at times. This indicates that it may be more suited for an even younger demographic. I think it would do well for girls just entering ‘girlhood’ and trying to find a place for themselves. The writing was crisp, vivid and extremely easy to understand. I did feel squeamish a few times, at the casual, ‘teenage’ vocabulary.
The important thing to take into account while reading, assessing, dissecting and reviewing the book is that this is Qureshi's debut novel. She is a renowned actress showing the world her ink for the first time. In a country where the film industry which once proudly marked itself as the flag bearer of its composite culture or Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb, is now being forced to adopt a particular cultural identity, adamant on riding the same wave. Being a member of this family, Qureshi has taken a bold step by giving life to a character out of the norm, challenging common beliefs.
Overall, a book written by a woman, about a woman, for young women holds immense value on its own. I hope she writes further and inspires young girls to jump into pits of vipers, not letting the poison of patriarchy infect them.
Irene Khanum Sherwani is a Class XII student who finds life in books, cats and music. She has adapted multiple personalities from characters, some thorns and some roses.
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