This book presents a unique and fascinating glimpse of a fabled world. A world of traditions that remained an integral part of Indo-Muslim culture from Mughal times to the partition of the subcontinent. Begum Habibullah's vignettes build up a collage of images that reveal the link between the old and the new. The book spans a lifetime, and in terms of lifestyles and rituals it moves through centuries. It is extensively illustrated by a rare collection of photographs which provides an extraordinary record of costumes and traditions in the early years of the twentieth century.