I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Pristine” is the word I would like to use to describe this book. A honest revelation of a young girl called Malala from Swat Valley of Pakistan with respect to Muslim culture and Talibanisation of Swat Valley after the massive earthquake in 2005.
It’s all about how the women and young girls of Swat Valley who were not wanted to be going to schools and pursue education, by a terrorist outfit, Taliban, who took control over Swat Valley and were running a parallel Government. A neat, chronological detailing of each and every event, as to how the peaceful Swat valley was converted into a dangerous place to survive, over a period of time. The complete picture of Pashtun culture, customs and traditions are exquisitely brought out and never can a reader come across another book which can portray the same with such emotions blended with real life events.
Malala Yousafzai, a young girl of fourteen years shot in the head by Taliban on 9th Oct’2012, for raising her voice against the Taliban order of girls being deprived of their basic rights towards education and free life, ultimately had to leave the country, alongwith her family to pursue her dreams, in England, even though she received many awards for her efforts including the Pakistan National Peace Prize and support from UN and other world countries. Such was the power and influence of the Taliban on Pakistan internal affairs. Remarkable efforts by the doctors of Combined Military Hospital, Pakistan and Queen Elizabeth Hospital of England in bringing back Malala to normal life through some of the most complex surgeries ever performed.
Many people, who are ignorant of Islam, would come across, through this book, lot of good things about the teachings of Prophet Mohammed and the base on which this great religion was built upon. One would be awestruck to learn about how deep the religion is imbibed into the blood of Muslims due to their extreme devotion and love towards their religion and countries. One good point one would come across is that Islam never taught extremism. The Quran teaches patience, cleanliness, peace and maximum respect to women and children. Unfortunately, it has been mis-interpreted by some to form their own understanding of the teachings thus having their own fundamental laws, for which the entire population of Muslims cannot be stereotyped. This was what Malala and her father have been preaching.
I sometimes in between, felt that Malala was too obsessed with her religion and her Pashtun clan. Hence she has a much constricted view on those countries which Pakistan is opposed to due to some other broader reasons unknown to her….. Probably, since she was too young to understand them on a holistic approach.

Congratulations to Christina Lamb for excellent presentation of the book, through her elaborate research and traveling done into Malala’s life history. Nice collection of the photographs of Malala through her journey from birth to present day.
A must read by all those across the world to learn how important a family, friendship, culture, religion and government is for a normal human being to survive in some countries.
View all my reviews