Abandoned by her mother, beaten by her father, and hurriedly married off at twelve to an abusive man twice her age, Baby Halder's early life was marked by overwhelming challenges and heartbreak. Exhausted and desperate, the young mother finally fled with her three children in 1999 to Delhi, where she found work as a maid in some of the city's wealthiest homes. 
Expected to serve her employers' every grueling demand, Halder faced a staggering workload that often left her no time to care for her own children. 
The young woman's luck finally turned when she started working for Prabodh Kumar, a retired anthropology professor who noticed Halder's interest in his library. Kumar helped her to read his books and newspapers—which she devoured enthusiastically—then suggested that she write down her own life story. In A Life Less Ordinary, the fascinating result of her writing sessions with Kumar, Halder speaks for a multitude of Indian women, revealing a world of poverty and subjugation few outsiders have heard about. Halder writes simply and candidly of her life as a young girl, and later as a struggling mother. 
Without a trace of melodrama or self-pity, she describes her experiences of growing up poor and neglected, struggling to manage children and a violent husband while she herself was only fourteen years old, and, finally, of escaping her past ultimately to triumph as a writer. 
Already a huge success in India, where it has been published in Hindi, Bengali, and several other languages, A Life Less Ordinary is an astonishing story of strength, courage, and determination that continues to inspire readers everywhere.

A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Halder, Baby

Community & Culture

Harper

When she was very young, Baby Halder was abandoned by her mother and left with a cruel, abusive father. She was married off at twelve to a man twice her age who beat her. At fourteen, she was a mother herself. Her early life was marked by overwhelming challenges and heartbreak until, exhausted and desperate, she fled with her three children to Delhi, to work as a maid in some of the city's wealthiest homes. Expected to serve her employers' every demand, she faced a staggering workload that often left her no time to care for her own children. But she never complained, for such is the lot of the poor in modern-day India. Written without a trace of self-pity, A Life Less Ordinary is a shocking look deep inside a world of poverty and subjugation that few outsiders know about—and an inspiring true story of one remarkable woman's strength, courage, and determination to soar above her circumstances.

Harper-perennial

Vom Dunkel ins Licht: Kein ganz gewöhnliches Leben

Unionsverlag

Kein ganz gewöhnliches Leben

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Draupadi Verlag

Abandoned by her mother when she was four years old, married off by her abusive father at 12, and pregnant at 13, Baby Halder continued experiencing hardship after she and her three children abandoned her abusive husband and she began working as a housemaid for exploitative men in order to feed her family. But a thirst for knowledge and expression, and a kindly employer who recognized it and fostered it, led her to write this personal memoir that has experienced worldwide success. Abandonada por su madre a los cuatro años de edad, entregada en matrimonio por su padre abusivo a los 12 y embarazada a los 13, Baby Halder continuó experimentando dificultades luego de que ella y sus tres hijos abandonaron a su esposo abusivo y ella comenzó a trabajar como criada para hombres explotadores para poder alimentar a su familia. Pero su deseo por el conocimiento y la expresión, y un patrón bondadoso que lo reconoció y lo fomentó, la llevaron a escribir sus memorias personales que se han convertido en un éxito mundial.

Una vida menos ordinaria (Icono Sur) (Spanish Edition)

Memoirs

Ediciones Escalera

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