Tahira Kashyap Khurrana reveals all secrets in black and white
Book Title: The 12 Commandments of Being a Woman
Author: Tahira Kashyap Khurrana
Renu Sud Sinha
Commandments have been a way of life with society since the time of Christ. In the Indian context, these can be traced back to Manusmriti. Since then, every era has evolved its own set of rules. God forbid if you are a woman, these then would be much more stringent.
While these unwritten codes of conduct may not have changed with the change in times, thankfully the women have. That’s exactly what Tahira Kashyap Khurrana’s “The 12 Commandments of Being a Woman” is all about.
Tahira, who belongs to Chandigarh, has written about growing up in a small town and the subsequent idiosyncrasies associated with it. Laced with wry humour, the book recounts her school years and a teenager’s angst with her growing body, or rather the non-growing parts. It brings an acknowledging smile as most women somewhere can relate to those body-image issues, particularly in the growing-up years.
The book is a candid account of her journey and no one has been spared — from nosy neighbours, to how she and her friends befooled parents while inviting boyfriends overnight. The in-laws have not been spared either, putting their lacy laundry to hang out in public.
Tahira has written about each and every aspect of her life, sans any filter, in microscopic detail — her growing insecurities while husband Ayushmann Khurrana was scaling the heights of stardom, her struggles with her lack of identity in a star marriage, her confusion about trying to realise what her true calling is, her forays into spiritualism to calm the chaos in her life and finally, her out-there attitude while battling breast cancer.
This bare-all book is not for the prude-hearted. Candour and humour are the only filters she has used — it does take guts to spill out all your secrets in black and white.
