This book is a biography of the author and very skilfully presents a picture of her childhood, juxtaposing childish playfulness with the realities of the urban middle class she lived in. The prose is engrossing because it presents a child’s candid and forthright perspective of the society she is part of. The curiosity of a rebellious child forced to survive in the adult world provides insight for the readers into the mind of a child forced to grow up before her time. A number of the author’s poems, also translated by Samina Rahman, are included in this volume.