Indian British author Syed Shaheen Chishti has released his first book “The Granddaughter Project”, which talks about female empowerment. He says that he wanted to help young women find their voices and power, and to make the most for themselves – not for their society.

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The descendant of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah and a world peace advocate, says that “so many young women now are the living legacies of strong women who came before them, able to live their lives and enjoy their freedoms and identities because of the sacrifices made by their grandmothers. So many grandmothers went to their graves without telling their stories, for fear of the repercussions and consequences upon their families. Some understandably lacked courage, others lacked opportunity. But now they can be unburdened.”

Chishti, who is also a member of the London Literary Society and of the Muslim-Jewish Forum in London, says that “today, now more than ever, women are able to enjoy freedoms that were not thought possible even three generations ago. But there are still so many expectations- women are still so restricted by society. This is not a book because it is important now- quite frankly, it is long overdue.

He elucidates that society has definitely changed for the better- women can achieve so much and accomplish almost as much as men- but that caveat ‘almost’, that is what still needs to be changed.

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“There are so many glass ceilings to be shattered, a lot of invisible roadblocks that women face from the earliest moments in their careers that need to be obliterated. We need more female participation at the highest levels of society, government, and the corporate world- this can lead to a trickle-down effect and empower and encourage young girls and women to achieve anything they put their minds to- without fear of challenges or bias,” he said.

Talking about how he plans to aim to make a significant social impact with his book, he says that “there is so much to be accomplished with regards to gender equality, but another issue that my book seeks to address is racial equality- compassion, tolerance and understanding of other cultures.”

“ I want people to understand the suffering that human beings have inflicted upon each other- empathize with the generational trauma and understand what the lowest points of humanity wrought- the death, the destruction, and the devastation. Only through that understanding can we ensure that we never repeat the horrors of history,” he said.

So was there any book that he read when he was younger?

“At a very young age, I read the three principles of Mahatma Gandhi – Never speak ill, never see bad things and never do bad.

“I don’t remember whether that was quoted in a book or just something I happened to read, but this way of thinking really resonated with me. Since then, I have tried to live my life by those principles. Even if I do not fully manage to, I do my best to come close,” he sums up.