by Farah Usmani (Author), Faiza Abbasi (Author), Sabiha Ahmad (Author)
A first ever collective of its kind, Rising Beyond The Ceiling shares stereotype shattering stories of courage, grit, and service of contemporary Muslim women from the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Over 100 million Indian women, who identify themselves as Muslim, reach across a spectrum of ethnicities and languages, states and union territories, do not look the same or sound the same, and contribute to India’s growth and development in a variety of ways. Of these nearly a quarter, over 22 million, are from Uttar Pradesh, a population larger than many countries of the world. Rising Beyond The Ceiling aims to change the stereotype narrative surrounding Muslim women in India, doing so in an integrated way, with collaboration of all faiths.
The ‘RBTC 100 Women’ celebrated in this book capture the diversity and exemplary accomplishments of Uttar Pradesh’s Muslim women. They serve in the police and army, they are skeet shooters and bike riders, they write books and poetry, create art, play hockey and tennis championships, fly drones and planes, administer, and govern, advocate for social issues, serve as lawyers, scientists, and doctors, are entrepreneurs, politicians, media and corporate professionals, all substantive contributors in the progress of the country.
Role models have an amplified benefit for women due to the gender biases, institutional barriers and negative stereotypes women have long had to content with across professions. The positive role models in the book will inspire all women and girls in India, and around the world, at every stage of their lives, in all areas of endeavor and open a door to new ambitions. For young women, seeing so many other women of dramatically different backgrounds, achieving in a range of professions, is a strong signal that success and service come in many forms, and everyone gets to pick their own icons.
