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Nirmala: The Mud Blossom
This story is about Nirmala the Mud Blossom, who had the misfortune to be born a female in Mumbai. Rejected and thrown into the dustbin when she was just two days old, the child was rescued and returned to her family by the NGOs.
Nirmala is ill-treated by her mother, always subject to violence at her hands. She is allowed to continue her studies only because she can then coach her younger brothers, as the parents are illiterate. Each beating is accepted with forbearance, as she loves to go to school to get books to read from her library.
Nirmala is forced to stop her studies after the twelfth grade so her parents can save enough money to send the boys to college. She is then married off, but while her married life begins smoothly, it is only the beginning of her next phase of hell. After giving birth to her first child, Nirmala is subjected to harassment, beatings, and forced into doing things contrary to her beliefs and dreams. Her life is shattered.
What will happen to this little mud blossom? Will she fight back or succumb? How can she rid herself of harassment and rise above the stigma she endures?
Nirmala: The Mud Blossom graphically depicts the travails, discrimination, and abuse faced by female children in India from the cradle to the grave.
"I am positive many readers will be thrilled with her powerful, passionate fiction portraying the "crying out" of the human spirit." Margaret Virany,
author of A Book of Kells: Growing Up in an Ego Void
Nirmala is ill-treated by her mother, always subject to violence at her hands. She is allowed to continue her studies only because she can then coach her younger brothers, as the parents are illiterate. Each beating is accepted with forbearance, as she loves to go to school to get books to read from her library.
Nirmala is forced to stop her studies after the twelfth grade so her parents can save enough money to send the boys to college. She is then married off, but while her married life begins smoothly, it is only the beginning of her next phase of hell. After giving birth to her first child, Nirmala is subjected to harassment, beatings, and forced into doing things contrary to her beliefs and dreams. Her life is shattered.
What will happen to this little mud blossom? Will she fight back or succumb? How can she rid herself of harassment and rise above the stigma she endures?
Nirmala: The Mud Blossom graphically depicts the travails, discrimination, and abuse faced by female children in India from the cradle to the grave.
"I am positive many readers will be thrilled with her powerful, passionate fiction portraying the "crying out" of the human spirit." Margaret Virany,
author of A Book of Kells: Growing Up in an Ego Void
102 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
337 people want to read
About the author
Fiza Pathan
42 books376 followersIMP: If you are an indie-author & wish to contact me for written or live interviews on my blogs & websites then contact me here - pathan.fiza@gmail.com
or you can text me on 9820763499.
I will then get back to you ASAP.
I also review books already published & in ARC form (pdfs are fine) especially of indie-writers. You can message or text about the same to me via the above given details. Messaging on Goodreads is coming to an end, period. I am also on X, LinkedIn, Fable & StoryGraph, feel free to join me there.
Fiza Pathan is a Roman Catholic born on the 19th of March 1989 and is from Mumbai, India.
Fiza has written and published seventeen award-winning books and short stories, which reflect her interest in furthering the cause of education and in championing social issues. In over seventy literary competitions, she has placed either as winner or finalist, chief among them being: 2020 DBW Awards; 2020 Writer's Digest Self-Published E-Book Awards; 2018 DBW Awards; Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Award; 2018 IAN Book of the Year Awards; 2018 Book Viral Millennium Book Awards; Readers’ Favorite Book Awards; Reader Views Literary Awards; Eric Hoffer Book Award; Foreword Reviews Indie Fab Book Awards; Mom’s Choice Awards; Literary Classics Book Awards; and Dan Poynter’s Global E-Book Awards. She established her own niche publishing company called Fiza Pathan Publishing OPC Private Limited where she publishes Rare Classics for younger readers.
She has been contributing articles, book reviews, parabolic stories, and theological essays to various Catholic Magazines for the past 16 years. She has been associated with ‘The Examiner’ which is a reputed Catholic newsweekly of India for the past 16 years. In recognition of her various literary achievements as a young Catholic writer, she has recently received the first ever Bronze Pen Award from The Examiner at its 175th anniversary celebrations in the year 2024.
She also contributes theological articles and book reviews respectively to the ICM (Indian Catholic Matters) online magazine as well as ‘The Teenager Today’ which is run by the Catholic congregation of St. Pauls. She also contributed articles to ‘The Vision & Venture’ and ‘Word Power’ as a youth, both of which are Catholic monthlies.
Fiza Pathan is currently pursuing her Masters in Theological Studies from Pontifex University Atlanta, Georgia asynchronously. She also pursues additional theological courses at the Institute of Catholic Culture in Virginia through its online platform to improve her knowledge of authentic Catholic theology, philosophy, and literature. She is currently in the process of becoming a Consecrated Virgin for Christ.
She is also pursuing her Post Graduate Certificate In International Teacher Education (PGCITE) at Podar International School, Santacruz. She is being trained to teach grades 1 to 12 in the IGCSE & IB curricula. Her specializations will be in English Language, English Literature, Global Perspectives (GP), History, TOK & CAS.
She taught English Literature and History for a year at an ICSE school called Lilavati Bai Podar High School, Mumbai (2011-2012).
Fiza Pathan has a bachelor’s degree in arts from the University of Mumbai, where she majored in History and Sociology with a first class. She also has a bachelor’s degree in education, again with a first class, her special subjects being English and History.
She lives with her maternal family & her cat Lopez, and writes essays, book reviews, sketches, novels, and short stories in most genres. You may follow her on Twitter @FizaPathan and visit her blog insaneowl.com or her website fizapathansportfolioforpgcite.com
or you can text me on 9820763499.
I will then get back to you ASAP.
I also review books already published & in ARC form (pdfs are fine) especially of indie-writers. You can message or text about the same to me via the above given details. Messaging on Goodreads is coming to an end, period. I am also on X, LinkedIn, Fable & StoryGraph, feel free to join me there.
Fiza Pathan is a Roman Catholic born on the 19th of March 1989 and is from Mumbai, India.
Fiza has written and published seventeen award-winning books and short stories, which reflect her interest in furthering the cause of education and in championing social issues. In over seventy literary competitions, she has placed either as winner or finalist, chief among them being: 2020 DBW Awards; 2020 Writer's Digest Self-Published E-Book Awards; 2018 DBW Awards; Killer Nashville 2018 Silver Falchion Award; 2018 IAN Book of the Year Awards; 2018 Book Viral Millennium Book Awards; Readers’ Favorite Book Awards; Reader Views Literary Awards; Eric Hoffer Book Award; Foreword Reviews Indie Fab Book Awards; Mom’s Choice Awards; Literary Classics Book Awards; and Dan Poynter’s Global E-Book Awards. She established her own niche publishing company called Fiza Pathan Publishing OPC Private Limited where she publishes Rare Classics for younger readers.
She has been contributing articles, book reviews, parabolic stories, and theological essays to various Catholic Magazines for the past 16 years. She has been associated with ‘The Examiner’ which is a reputed Catholic newsweekly of India for the past 16 years. In recognition of her various literary achievements as a young Catholic writer, she has recently received the first ever Bronze Pen Award from The Examiner at its 175th anniversary celebrations in the year 2024.
She also contributes theological articles and book reviews respectively to the ICM (Indian Catholic Matters) online magazine as well as ‘The Teenager Today’ which is run by the Catholic congregation of St. Pauls. She also contributed articles to ‘The Vision & Venture’ and ‘Word Power’ as a youth, both of which are Catholic monthlies.
Fiza Pathan is currently pursuing her Masters in Theological Studies from Pontifex University Atlanta, Georgia asynchronously. She also pursues additional theological courses at the Institute of Catholic Culture in Virginia through its online platform to improve her knowledge of authentic Catholic theology, philosophy, and literature. She is currently in the process of becoming a Consecrated Virgin for Christ.
She is also pursuing her Post Graduate Certificate In International Teacher Education (PGCITE) at Podar International School, Santacruz. She is being trained to teach grades 1 to 12 in the IGCSE & IB curricula. Her specializations will be in English Language, English Literature, Global Perspectives (GP), History, TOK & CAS.
She taught English Literature and History for a year at an ICSE school called Lilavati Bai Podar High School, Mumbai (2011-2012).
Fiza Pathan has a bachelor’s degree in arts from the University of Mumbai, where she majored in History and Sociology with a first class. She also has a bachelor’s degree in education, again with a first class, her special subjects being English and History.
She lives with her maternal family & her cat Lopez, and writes essays, book reviews, sketches, novels, and short stories in most genres. You may follow her on Twitter @FizaPathan and visit her blog insaneowl.com or her website fizapathansportfolioforpgcite.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 6, 2023
“Nirmala” is a painful and sometimes inspiring read that was hard to put down. Nirmala was born to a family that didn’t want a female child, so they threw her away. She was found, though, and returned to her family. Growing up she suffered through not only staggering poverty but beatings and abuse which are graphicly described. She could go to school only to teach her younger brothers and advance them. In school, she was shunned because of her lack of hygiene, but she also was a top student. Her dream was to be a doctor. I couldn’t help but root for a girl in a society that wasn’t welcoming. She had a deep strength that shined through, even in the darkest of situations until the very end. Although she didn’t get to pursue her dream, a marriage was arranged, and it seemed to be a place of peace for her—until it wasn’t. The heart-wrenching part was this is the stark reality for some women in Mumbai. A beautiful young girl who was gifted with intelligence being constantly told she was trash. There is no happy ending, but it fits her situation. A well-written story I can easily recommend that shines a light on how unfairly some women are still treated in our world.
July 18, 2023
The story of Nirmala is heartbreaking. Nirmala is a likable character that you are rooting for throughout the book. The characters are well developed and the story is beautifully written. I am looking forward to reading more of Fiza’s work!
May 10, 2023
An enlightening story of life, dreams, and the reality of challenges people face.
Nirmala is a good girl, born into a life of slum poverty in India. She dreams of receiving an education and becoming a doctor. But the caste system dictating life in her country, traditions that hold women back, and the cruelty some of us face are barriers keeping her from making her dreams come true. Some people see Nirmala as a light of hope, others see her as a curse. Despite her life challenges, Nirmala does not surrender. She works hard, she endures, she embraces all so that she may one day be the doctor she believes she is meant to be. Not even the family members who thwart her keep her from finding ways to become the person she is meant to be.
.... But will it be enough?
Fiza Pathan's novel of life for a girl born in the slums of India is hard-hitting. This is not the sort of novel one can write without having done incredible research, and perhaps even experiencing some of what she has written herself? Readers cannot help appreciating and hopefully better understand the struggles young girls and women face in places where they are seen as second-class citizens. This sort of story should not be ignored and I highly recommend you read it. It is truly captivating.
Nirmala is a good girl, born into a life of slum poverty in India. She dreams of receiving an education and becoming a doctor. But the caste system dictating life in her country, traditions that hold women back, and the cruelty some of us face are barriers keeping her from making her dreams come true. Some people see Nirmala as a light of hope, others see her as a curse. Despite her life challenges, Nirmala does not surrender. She works hard, she endures, she embraces all so that she may one day be the doctor she believes she is meant to be. Not even the family members who thwart her keep her from finding ways to become the person she is meant to be.
.... But will it be enough?
Fiza Pathan's novel of life for a girl born in the slums of India is hard-hitting. This is not the sort of novel one can write without having done incredible research, and perhaps even experiencing some of what she has written herself? Readers cannot help appreciating and hopefully better understand the struggles young girls and women face in places where they are seen as second-class citizens. This sort of story should not be ignored and I highly recommend you read it. It is truly captivating.
Want to read
August 15, 2014"The Mud Blossom graphically depicts the travails, discrimination, and abuse faced by female children in India from the cradle to the grave."
This book looks oh so promising. I want to see Nirmala fight. I want her to get her way. Most girls in India, born to educated or fairly literate families could perhaps relate.
Cannot wait for release!
This book looks oh so promising. I want to see Nirmala fight. I want her to get her way. Most girls in India, born to educated or fairly literate families could perhaps relate.
Cannot wait for release!
November 30, 2020
Sad, yet never melodramatic, well written, giving a vivid picture of the hard life of some women in India.
February 11, 2024
One cannot help but feel the sadness in their hearts for Nirmala, a beautiful Indian girl treated like shit all her life from birth, right through to her life growing up in a family where women were nothing except to nurture and birth males, to her arranged marriage to a man obsessed with having a son at any cost. This poor girl has taken the brunt of what her societal beliefs had doled out on her.
Pathan is an engaging storyteller, bringing this heart-wrenching story to us, demonstrating the horrendous way females are treated in India by taking us into one fictional story that gives us a bird’s eye view of living as a female and the way society and their families treat them. From the time Nirmala was born and thrown into a dustbin and retrieved only by force to her parents, her destiny was a life of hardship. Living in a one-room slum, mud hut, her lot in life was to help educate her younger brothers who had much more value to her parents than she, while being subjected to regular beatings by her mother for any talk related to a future for Nirmala and her desire to become a doctor. Her parents allowed her to graduate grade ten only because they were illiterate and needed Nirmala to help tutor her brothers who would one day be able to provide their parents with dowries in marriage.
The story continues when Nirmala is matched up with a husband, and goes to live with his family in a two-room dwelling. But Nirmala’s husband has great ambitions for a son born, and when she produces three daughters, husband is ready to go beserk until he finds someone who can aid him with ultra sounds and abortions every time after his wife got pregnant and it wasn’t a boy. And after every unsterile abortion Nirmala endured and many beatings from her husband for not producing a son, more beatings followed. Nirmala succumbs and surrenders to what her life has become and loses her desire to fight back.
This short book packs a powerful punch on social injustice and the heinous way females are treated as told by the tender Mud Blossom, Nirmala. A story that will stay with you long after it’s read. I am now compelled to read Pathan’s follow-up book, Amina: The Silent One as Amina was a Muslim musical prodigy childhood friend of Nirmala’s who grew up in the slums down the street from Nirmala, also destined for a brutal life.
Pathan is an engaging storyteller, bringing this heart-wrenching story to us, demonstrating the horrendous way females are treated in India by taking us into one fictional story that gives us a bird’s eye view of living as a female and the way society and their families treat them. From the time Nirmala was born and thrown into a dustbin and retrieved only by force to her parents, her destiny was a life of hardship. Living in a one-room slum, mud hut, her lot in life was to help educate her younger brothers who had much more value to her parents than she, while being subjected to regular beatings by her mother for any talk related to a future for Nirmala and her desire to become a doctor. Her parents allowed her to graduate grade ten only because they were illiterate and needed Nirmala to help tutor her brothers who would one day be able to provide their parents with dowries in marriage.
The story continues when Nirmala is matched up with a husband, and goes to live with his family in a two-room dwelling. But Nirmala’s husband has great ambitions for a son born, and when she produces three daughters, husband is ready to go beserk until he finds someone who can aid him with ultra sounds and abortions every time after his wife got pregnant and it wasn’t a boy. And after every unsterile abortion Nirmala endured and many beatings from her husband for not producing a son, more beatings followed. Nirmala succumbs and surrenders to what her life has become and loses her desire to fight back.
This short book packs a powerful punch on social injustice and the heinous way females are treated as told by the tender Mud Blossom, Nirmala. A story that will stay with you long after it’s read. I am now compelled to read Pathan’s follow-up book, Amina: The Silent One as Amina was a Muslim musical prodigy childhood friend of Nirmala’s who grew up in the slums down the street from Nirmala, also destined for a brutal life.
February 7, 2025
Mangalam Shiva read this very very gruelling story of Nirmala: the Mud Blossom in one sitting. The Mud Blossom has to undergo immense pains and tortures right from her birth to her heart rending end. Mangalam Shiva is reminded of one of the stories in his book EMPTY FISTS---STIGMA--
India is not a good place for a girl. She has to undergo immense obstacles in life right from the day she is born. She has to pass through the trauma of being born as a girl who is considered as a liability and expenditure for the parents. When she grows up she has to survive so many human wolves preying on her to molest. She has to compete with her brothers for education, nourishment, affection etc. She has to compete in schools and colleges for her education with the boys. She has to get a good job and then a good husband who is always selected by her parents. Many girls do not have any choice in this matter. In the meanwhile she has to survive attempts of molestation on her by human animals. Even after her marriage she has to survive the egoistic attitudes of her husband and in-laws. Oh, it is a very difficult life for a girl in India.
Nirmala has to sacrifice her desire to become a doctor, undergoes painful tortures by her own mother, tolerates her husband's inhuman treatments because she could not give them a son. Only a strong hearted reader can read through the horrible conditions in the slums of Bombay and sympathise with the cruel hapeening in Mud Blossom. Well done, Fiza Pathan.
India is not a good place for a girl. She has to undergo immense obstacles in life right from the day she is born. She has to pass through the trauma of being born as a girl who is considered as a liability and expenditure for the parents. When she grows up she has to survive so many human wolves preying on her to molest. She has to compete with her brothers for education, nourishment, affection etc. She has to compete in schools and colleges for her education with the boys. She has to get a good job and then a good husband who is always selected by her parents. Many girls do not have any choice in this matter. In the meanwhile she has to survive attempts of molestation on her by human animals. Even after her marriage she has to survive the egoistic attitudes of her husband and in-laws. Oh, it is a very difficult life for a girl in India.
Nirmala has to sacrifice her desire to become a doctor, undergoes painful tortures by her own mother, tolerates her husband's inhuman treatments because she could not give them a son. Only a strong hearted reader can read through the horrible conditions in the slums of Bombay and sympathise with the cruel hapeening in Mud Blossom. Well done, Fiza Pathan.
February 11, 2025
The emphasis on Nirmala's journey from birth to womanhood effectively addresses her structural challenges. The narrative's capacity to important discussions on topics such as female infanticide, domestic violence, gender inequality, and education is evident. While the story introduces Nirmala's situation, it is critical to comprehend her inner world. What motivates her resilience the face of unrelenting cruelty and hardship? Characters such as Nirmala’s mother, Tarabai, her mentor, Shantaram, and her alter ego, Amina, could have been developed in greater depth. Broadening their setting beyond their immediate would have provided a more comprehensive view of their.
However, is impossible not to feel sorrow for Nirmala, a beautiful girl who has endured mistreatment since birth. Growing up in a family where women were valued solely for nurturing and birthing males, hardships continued into an arranged marriage with a man fixated on having a son at cost.
This is a highly relatable story, imbued with pathos and reality.
However, is impossible not to feel sorrow for Nirmala, a beautiful girl who has endured mistreatment since birth. Growing up in a family where women were valued solely for nurturing and birthing males, hardships continued into an arranged marriage with a man fixated on having a son at cost.
This is a highly relatable story, imbued with pathos and reality.
August 1, 2024
The focus on Nirmala's life from birth to womanhood successfully underlines the structural difficulties she faces. The narrative’s ability to generate crucial debates regarding female infanticide, domestic abuse, gender inequity, and education is evident.
While the story introduces Nirmala's situation, it is critical to comprehend her inner world. What motivates her resilience in the face of unrelenting cruelty and hardship?
Other characters like Nirmala’s mother Tarabai, her mentor Shantaram, or her alter ego Amina, could have been explored in greater depth. Expanding their location beyond immediate surroundings would have created a more comprehensive perspective for their challenges.
However, it is impossible not to feel sad for Nirmala, a beautiful girl who endures mistreatment since birth. Growing up in a family where women were valued only for nurturing and birthing males, her hardships continue into an arranged marriage with a man fixated on having a son at any cost.
It is highly relatable story, touched by pathos and reality.
While the story introduces Nirmala's situation, it is critical to comprehend her inner world. What motivates her resilience in the face of unrelenting cruelty and hardship?
Other characters like Nirmala’s mother Tarabai, her mentor Shantaram, or her alter ego Amina, could have been explored in greater depth. Expanding their location beyond immediate surroundings would have created a more comprehensive perspective for their challenges.
However, it is impossible not to feel sad for Nirmala, a beautiful girl who endures mistreatment since birth. Growing up in a family where women were valued only for nurturing and birthing males, her hardships continue into an arranged marriage with a man fixated on having a son at any cost.
It is highly relatable story, touched by pathos and reality.
September 11, 2023
NIRMALA: The Mud Blossom highlights abject poverty, squalor, discrimination, domestic violence and misery that an innocent girl had to undergo in the stinking, unhygienic slums of Mumbai. Her crime - she is a female!
Pathan doesn't leave anything to the reader’s imagination, as she vividly describes the untold physical and mental agony that is inflicted upon Nirmala. She transports you to the slums, making each nook and cranny come alive, so that you can smell the stench emanating from open drains, human excreta and garbage dump.
Nirmala’s character grows from a silent, helpless girl to a strong and resilient woman, eager to follow the demands of her family and traditions of society. Is that enough? Does her suffering end? Keep reading this fast-paced story, dripping with stark realism, which would seem unbelievable!
Pathan doesn't leave anything to the reader’s imagination, as she vividly describes the untold physical and mental agony that is inflicted upon Nirmala. She transports you to the slums, making each nook and cranny come alive, so that you can smell the stench emanating from open drains, human excreta and garbage dump.
Nirmala’s character grows from a silent, helpless girl to a strong and resilient woman, eager to follow the demands of her family and traditions of society. Is that enough? Does her suffering end? Keep reading this fast-paced story, dripping with stark realism, which would seem unbelievable!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews