just penning down in detail the suppressed memory of a dark and sordid ritual was cathartic.

At the time of writing, however, I was filled with despondency. The trauma I had felt forty years ago still existed. Many young Bohra women I had spoken to told me they had their daughters circumcised/cut because the elders in the community had pressured them to do so. Many had done it unquestioningly. The Australia case, where two young girls were circumcised, proved that even in countries where it is banned, the practice is still perpetuated but under clandestine, secretive circumstances.

In the midst of this utter gloom something beautiful happened. Speak out on FGM was born. This forum was a spontaneous coming together of a group of Dawoodi Bohra women from all walksMaula is absolute. Or this instance of a PhD pharmacist and her mother, who is an anaesthesiologist, both accompanying her little girl for the procedure.

So is the story of young Farida, which is heart rending. A practising counsellor today, she gets into a cold sweat at the mention of FGM. Her memory is so vivid yet so painful. She gasps in pain when she remembers the redness of the bathroom each time she went after the procedure was done on her. And even now, decades later, her body reacts physically to just the recollection of that day.

Issues of individual, family, law and religion are talked about openly and freely on our forum. On a daily basis we debate many questions. What is the ‘official' or real reason our