From a free and happy child to suffering domestic violence to a successful career as a single mother, Saguna Shah shares her journey of rediscovering life

Kathmandu

Saguna Shah, Educator and Founder of bOOkahOlics, was born and brought up in Kathmandu. Born into a family with an affluent background and of royal lineage, her parents provided her with the best, sometimes beyond their reach. She finished her schooling partially from West Bengal, India and Nepal. She and her younger sister never were treated in an inferior way as a girl child.

However, life took a different turn when she lost her father at the age of 11. She got married at the age of 17.

“I had been given the ultimate freedom till then, but this decision made for the need of a ‘man’ in the family was incomprehensible to me. I succumbed to this decision indebted to my mother, who as a single woman had had to

undergo an acrimonious battle to give us all the comforts,” she shared.

Her life suddenly changed — from a family of three women, she married into a family with a bevy of relatives. And from her carefree life, she entered a life with restrictions. Yet, she “gave up” her desires and was there always for others — “as a good daughter-in-law and a good wife”.

However, she started suffering physical abuse at her husband’s hands. She faced many insecurities in life and feared living in the house. It became challenging when Shah became a mother at an early age. And her marital life was filled with challenges. Yet she took the challenges headstrong and with determination.

“There was challenge to put up with many upheavals depriving myself of my desires, until the age of 30, when I finally made a decision for the first time in my life. I decided to walk out of my so-called ‘marital bliss’ with  children in tow. There were strong reasons for this step,” 42-year-old Shah revealed.

She wished for a better life and thus divorced in 2005. She was more concerned about her children (two sons) and her mental well-being than anything else. She also fought a legal battle during the divorce. “The legal battle was more for freedom than anything else. Family and friends have always been a great support,” the single mother added.

Shah had self-tutored herself while she was married. She embraced academia once again. She realised that a woman has to have economic independence. Education and getting a degree for her was essential. “It might sound strange that till then I had no intention to work, it was merely for satisfaction of being educated. As years have passed I crave for more academic prowess simply to be taken seriously and because it is ‘heard’,” shared Shah.

She had never learnt to dream for anything for she got very little opportunity to dream in the first place. Now, she had learnt to dream. As such, Shah began her career in teaching literature and French language in 2009, after she completed her Master’s degree. There was no looking back

after that.

Besides being an educator she founded a book club called bOOkahOlics in 2011 to promote the reading culture in Nepal. She feels that her sincerity and passion has made things fall into place and has given her ample opportunities without having to struggle for them.

Shah is taking part in the WOW festival, being organised by British Council on February 18. She will be moderating a session on the status of gender-based violence in Nepal.

“WOW is a celebration of womanhood and the power of being a nature, a force globally. From its inception in 2011 it has been powerful in uniting women for collaborative voice of acknowledgement across the border. Though directed towards women’s empowerment in all spheres, it is an event not only for women but men alike to understand and celebrate equal space. It is an effort to bring a positive change in our approach and attitude through debates, discussion, workshop, music and much more,” Shah shared about the festival.

Talking about the need of the event, she added, “In our hemisphere, the solution lies in appropriate inculcation, but it will all be a damp squib without proper measures, at least a rigid foundation to bolster these campaigns. I am sure events like this will have a long lasting effect not only on those who participate but take a step further into that part of society imparting their knowledge, spreading awareness and uplifting the status of the marginalised with every small step.”