About the Book: THE LUCKY ONES is a moving memoir by a survivor of anti-Muslim violence in contemporary India that delicately weaves political and family histories in a tribute to her country’s unique Islamic heritage.

In 2002, Zara Chowdhary was sixteen years old and living with her family in Ahmedabad, one of India’s fastest-growing cities, when a gruesome train fire claimed the lives of sixty Hindu passengers. The country’s long-simmering Hindu-Muslim tensions ignited into a three-month violent siege across Gujarat. One day, Zara was a bright teenager preparing for her school exams and making plans for her future, and the next she found herself under lockdown at home with her family, fearing for their lives as Hindu neighbors, friends, and members of civil society transformed overnight into bloodthirsty mobs. The chief minister of the state at the time, Narendra Modi, was later accused of fomenting the massacre, and yet a decade later, rose to become India’s prime minister.

About the Author: Zara Chowdhary is a writer and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin.

She has an MFA in creative writing and environment from Iowa State University and a master's in writing for performance from the University of Leeds. She has previously written for documentary television, advertising, and film. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her partner, child, and two cats.

Livestream: Zara Chowdhary in Conversation with Taymour Soomro