More on Jamal Ara - finally.
I first read about Jamal Ara in the book Woman in the Wild, which I reviewed here . I wondered about Jamal Ara, I remember, with sadness and regret. Sadness for her mental breakdown and deep regret hat her papers were lost forever. So, the fact that maybe her papers are not all lost - I was hugely delighted! Please go to the original link and see her sketches and notes. The Almirah – In Search of Jamal Ara’s Papers By Raza Kazmi The story of Jamal Ara, India’s first birdwoman, was published in a book titled ‘Women in the Wild’, in 2023, and struck a chord with many readers. To me, however, there was so much more left to uncover of the life story of this mysterious, gifted woman. As I recount in my essay, one of my biggest heartbreaks was to learn from Madhuca that her mother, in her last days, had burnt down all her archives – all her life’s work. When Madhuca had asked her, despairing, why she had done so, Jamal Ara would whisper, catatonic – “it was all useles...
