Power Women

"Queen", when we hear the word what comes to our mind first is a good looking neatly dressed woman with lot of grace. But when you associate it with mafia we can hardly even picture anything. Mafia Queens of Bombay by S Hussain Zaidi is one such attempt to explore the ugly and dark side of Mumbai underworld. Where these women made many people dance to their tunes and no ordinary people as well. Mafia queen is a non fiction book which recalls thirteen stories of different women who ruled the underworld of Mumbai. The book engrosses us into world of these women who were forced to make their hands dirty some times by government policies (Jenabais story ) ,sometimes by the people they trusted and loved (Gangu Bai story) sometimes by the loss of ththeir loved ones(Spana’s Stories) and some times just by pure love ( Monica Bedi’s Stories) .

The book catches you by surprises as much as it gives you Goosebumps. So when you turn first few pages and found that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is a frightened young man and goes to women (Jenaa bai in this case) to receive a shelter while hiding from his enraged policeman father after beating up a young thug in a gang fight. Or a how a loving soften spoken, burkha wearing wife after death of her husband dedicates her life to destroying Dawood to avenge her husband’s murder,story of Sapna . And how a housewife forces her husband into the underworld only to be killed by her husband later. The book shows us different shades of human behaviour in these 13 stories. It tells the story of Jenabai Daaruwaala and Mahalakshmi Papamani where misfortune force them to resort to the world of crime as there was no other alternative to fight poverty and to feed a family of 6-8. At the same time it also tells stories of well educated women like Neeta Naik and Mrs Paul who opted for the easier way to power, fame and money.

This is second novel that S.Hussain Zaidi has penned down after authoring the bestselling Black Friday: The True Story of the Bombay Bomb Blasts. This is a courageous attempt by Zaidi to uncover the dark side of Mumbai mafia which many of us not even are aware about. Therefore one must applaud Zaidi & Jane Borges to have picked up such a brave topic. Zaidi keeps you hooked to the book till very last page. The fact Zaidi has managed to draw a thin line between realism and sensationalism and never made it looks like larger than life takes the book to a new level. All the narrations are very simple, straight at the same time ensuring that one does not feel the urge to keep down the book. Zaidi and Jane Borges have done a lot of research with all the 13 narratives each pieced from official documents, case reports interviewing people who have been closely associated with all this female. Wives, Lovers and Mistresses – they are all there in the book. They engross, evoke fear and surprise you through their story and their voices.