Daughter of Luharu

Married at the age of eight, Roheeni had no one who can look out for her. She learnt to survive an evil mother-in-law, an absent husband, back-breaking work, heat, and a ghunghat (veil). After twenty years when her daughter faces the same fate; will she finally speak up or let the story repeat itself? Set against the backdrop of the freedom struggle and partition, Daughter of Luharu is an extraordinary story of survival as Roheeni navigates issues of self-worth, love, marriage, parenthood, and most importantly, her identity. Relevant even after seventy-four years of India’s independence, the story gives a rare insight into a woman’s struggles in a pre-independent Haryana of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and raises the burning question: Has anything changed at all? Transcending limitations to overcome adversity, Roheeni and her likes are India’s very own Thousand Splendid Suns.