The Lucky Ones: A Memoir

In 2002, as Gujarat begins to burn, Zara Chowdhary is sixteen years old, living with her family in Ahmedabad and on the verge of taking her board exams. Suddenly, she, her family and neighbours find themselves under a three-month siege and fearing for their lives. The Lucky Ones traces the past of her multigenerational Muslim family to India’s brave but bloody origins, a segregated city’s ancient past and the lingering hurt causing bloodshed on the streets. Symphonic interludes offer glimpses into the precious, ordinary lives of Muslims, all locked together in a crumbling apartment building in the city’s old quarters, with their ability to forgive and find laughter, to offer grace even as the world outside, and their place in it, falls apart.
The Lucky Ones entwines lost histories across a subcontinent, examines forgotten myths, prods a family’s secrets and gazes unflinchingly back at a country rushing to move past one of the biggest pogroms in its modern history. It is a warning thrown to the world by a young survivor, to democracies that fail to protect their vulnerable, and to homes that won’t listen to their daughters. It is an ode to India’s unique Islamic heritage and the rebellion of a young woman who insists she will belong to her land, family and faith on her own terms.