Download Now Mafia Queens Of Mumbai: Stories Of Women From The Ganglands By S. Hussain Zaidi Accessible Through Paperbound

you know that the word Mafia is a derivative of a Sicilian adjective, which roughly translates to boldness or bravado,

What is the image that comes into your head when you hear the word Mafia and Mumbai in the same sentence


Is it the opulent lifestyle that they lead, as shown in Bollywood movies Is it their years of struggle through which they attained that lifestyle
Do you only envision macho men when you hear the word Mafia

Well, this book is about to change that.



When it comes to women criminals, the author says:
“I realised they were gutsier, far more scheming, and lethal when it came to pursuing their goals.
”

Through this work, we get an insight into the complex minds and psyche of women criminals,

Dawood Ibrahim, Haji Mastan,

Abu Salem, Chhota Rajan, Karim Lala the whos who of the underworld were often singlehandedly supported or taken on by certain women who were not only bold and brave but were determined to have their way.


For some of these women, this kind of life was circumstantial, while for others, it was their choice,

At the end of the day, they are criminals and the author in no way, glorifies them, He simply puts forward their stories which somehow fail to get the limelight as compared to their male counterparts,

The book talks about:

Jenabai, Mastan not only considered her his sister and Dawood as his surrogate mother, she also tied a rakhi to Morarji Desai.


Gangubai Kathiawadi, the matriarch of Kamathipura, who is revered by all sex workers in her area, to the present day,

Ashraf, aka Sapna, who wanted revenge for her husband's death and decided to take on Dawood Ibrahim,

Monica Bedi, who got caught up because of her love for one Abu Salem,

The list continues,

The book is informative, intriguing and neutral in its approach, Go ahead, pick this up to get your quota of these hardened women who chose to have their way in a world that is not yet ready to accept them.

I loved listening to this book, It gave a glimpse into the life of women who led gangs in Mumbai what led them into crime and how they reigned, The author does a great job telling their story, letting the reader feel their emotions and experience their world in small ways, Women are amazing indeed. The book throws light on some prominent women in the world of tuffest men, . the Underworld! Captivating read. Fascinating to no extent. Realized that for some women, . security, society, men and family are not everything, Hussain Zaidi did a wonderful job of penning down somethong that's not spoken out loud, Visualizing all that was written in the book excited me, . . then I thought how would those women have lead the world, . facing and living everything that was written

A tip to readers : Read the book in one go, if possible, Also, take your time and dont hurry, . relish and enjoy every word of the book, Reading such books is a treat that you should never avoid, I found this book gripping, As soon as I started I was hooked up and finished the whole in just two sittings,

Male villains are interesting, but the female ones are more interesting, that's what Vishal Bhardwaj tries to convey in the preface, but as I proceed through the stories of these underworld women, I find in them a lot of innocence, good nature and a bit of cunningness and grey shade.
Most of them were helpless by the situations,

Only a few were real villains,

This was the first time that I read S, Hussain Zaidi. He is a journalist, but I don't think I have ever read any of his articles,

Starting from Jenabai Daruwali who almost acted as the Godmother for Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim, the book ends on vicious and crafty bar girls.


Story of Jenabai was really impressive, Gangubaithe sex worker or 'Kamathipura Ki Amma' and her connection with the gangster Karima Lala as brothersister and in later days her social works were also good, somewhat like Nalini Jameela the first sexworker who wrote her autobiography, but the most awful and heartrending story in the collection was of Ashraf aka Sapna Didi, a widow whose husband was murdered by Dawood Ibrahim because he wanted to leave his Comapany.
She loved her husband so much that she decided to kill Dawood and for this went through extensive training of arms and weapons, but she came to dreadful and brutal end.
Ibrahim's goons butchered her with knives, At that time, it was the most brutal murder in police record, Totalcuts.

I got some real villainy in Mahalakshmi Papamani, the drugmafia, She too was helpless by her poverty and her handicapped and alcoholic husband, She started as a drugpeddler but built a huge empire in illegal drugdealings later, Then comes the story of Monika Bedi and Abu Salem, of which I was a little familiar but here it was in full detail, from the beginning of the trap till the extradition of both from Lisbon.


Afterwards, there are stories of Hindu gangsters' wives Asha Gawli aka Mummy, wife of Arun Gawli aka Daddy their followers called the duo MummyDaddy.
You might be acquainted with this gangstercumpolitician, if you have watched the Bollywood movie Daddy, Neeta Naik, wife of the gangster Ashwin Naik, She was educated and from good family but fell in love with a gangster, Later, she supported her husband by joining politics when he was in jail, but the bastard get killed her suspecting she had an affair, Sujata Nikhalje aka Nani wife of Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje aka Chhota Rajan aka Nana, this lady was really much indulged with her husband in various organised crimes.
She has been arrested and sent to jail many times, In present, she is on bail and living in Tilak Nagar area of Mumbai, Padma Pujari wife of Ravi Pujari, a close aid of Chhota Rajan, she too was indulged in extortion with her husband, Right now, she is absconding and in the wanted list of INTERPOL,

There are a few girlfriends and mistresses of the gangsters Shamim Mirza Beg aka Mrs Paul, inamorata of Arif Beg, a close aid of Chhota Shakeel Rubina Siraj Sayyed, mistress of Chhota Shakeel Tarannum Khan, a bar dancer who made huge money in cricket betting Archana Balmukund Sharma aka Manisha aka Lady Don with Killer Looks, her face resembled of Manisha Koirala, the Nepali beauty, she used several men even notorious gangsters for money.
Right now, she is missing,

So, this is all about of the contents, I have just given one or two lines for every character, but the writer has delved deep and described them in full detail, I found it as a fine work of narrative journalism, The style is so picturesque you will feel like you are watching a movie while reading it,
It was my first read by S, Hussain Zaidi and I have become his diehard fan, What a classic book that talked a lot about the true stories of women gangsters in the financial capital of India Mumbai,

I personally felt so much empathy towards Monica Bedi for falling in love with Aby Salem and how her journey of changing religions got her closer to God.


I felt a lot about Gangubai toowithout any fault of her own what kind of profession she got and the life she led, I truly feel like killing her husband if he is alive at all,

My heart goes to every woman who got betrayed by their loved ones and dragged to the prostitution business, You deserved a life of your own no matter what,

I am not stopping yet as this book has made my mind inclined towards reading crime stories and I am going to pick more of his book.
What a book. I guess I'm a bit late to the party but I'm glad that I did listen to this audiobook,

The book is filled with real life fascinating characters, All of them as notorious or famous as their male counterparts but never hogging the limelight as men, Some of them close confidants, lovers, Wife, partners and even a bar dancer, These women have proved that their gender never stopped them from achieving what they wanted to achieve,

We learn about a woman who was murdered by her own husband, Ashwin, He was jealous of her growing clout and alleged affair with another man, We learn about how a small time bar dancer was involved in cricketing bets and earning millions, We also learn about Mandira Bedi, the alleged love interest of Drug Lord Abu Salem, A lot more of such stories,

It's tough to remember all of their names but you will never forget about what they did in a segment dominated by men, The most fascinating story I read about was Ashraf/Sapna Didi, a women whose single minded focus came close to kill the dreaded underworld Don Dawood.
Mahalakshmi Papamani, close confidant of Varadaraj Mudaliyar was another fascinating character and to think that she is still alive is a statement to her grit and determination.


I guess I may have to revisit this book sometimes in the future to learn once more about these women and their exploits in the underworld.
This is an excellent book introducing the role some of the women played in the Mumbai underworld, The best part about this book was the narration by all three narrators, their style made this listen a very interesting one, Whilst not every story is equally gripping, there are quite a few gems in this melange of journalism and fiction, Its an interesting genre that I havent been all too familiar withI say this with regret for I have only, now, understood the grey vibrancy oxymoron, intended of my own city and its crime culture.
Well I cannot accept glorified version of real life gangsters,

Still the book has given me some new information,

Detailed review may follow, In the corner of a graveyard in Mumbai lies an unmarked tombstone of a woman who was revered as godmother by youknowwho himself, Somewhere else, many years ago, an alone, sick and pained woman was stabbed multiple times in her private parts because she dared to stand up for her beloved departed and many more years ago and still remembered as a deity by few was a sex worker who'd put today's feminists to shame.
True stories of women who made their own footing in the dangerous and bloody of Mumbai's underworld and were unremembered until Mr Zaidi wrote this book.


There is this line from a Tamil song I always remember when reading Mr, Zaidi's characters in his books "Naragam adil nee vazhandaal, mirugam ena maara vendum" which roughly translates as "should you live in hell, it is imperative you become an animal to survive amp thrive".
Victims of their circumstances and environment the people in Mr Zaidi's books did what they had to do and paid the price, lived by the sword and died by it.


What I liked:

, Instead of painting it all black and white Mr, Zaidi puts perspective to the narrative which is important,

. I am no expert on the underworld but this for sure reeks of authenticity, Don't know if I can point to a particular chapter or a paragraph to prove my point but there is something about listening to similar stories from veteran reporters that I know that what Mr Zaidi writes is only what a very credible source could've told him.
Total paisa vasool.

. The photographs were a revelation, Interesting to put faces to infamous names,

What I did not like:

Not much, just that it looked like he tried to cram a few uninteresting ones in the end to fatten the book which he shouldn't have at all.
The quality matters not quantity but who am I to say that to a veteran journalist who put his life at risk to bring this book to light for us


I will end by saying that India's nonfiction scene has taken a definite turn for good with Mr.
Zaidi's works. Worth the read and worth the five, .