Author Zara Chowdhary Wins Final Shakti Bhatt Award for Debut Memoir

Writer Zara Chowdhary has won the 2025 Shakti Bhatt Prize for her debut memoir "The Lucky Ones."

The book tells the story of three months of violence during the 2002 Gujarat riots in Ahmedabad. Chowdhary was just 16 years old when the riots happened in her hometown.

Her memoir looks at how family trauma passes from one generation to the next. It shows how one deeply troubled family got caught up in a major event in Indian history.

Chowdhary will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for winning the award. The book has also received other recognition — it was a finalist for the 2025 PEN/Galbraith Award and was named one of Time Magazine's best books of 2024.

The memoir gives a personal account of the anti-Muslim violence that took place in Gujarat more than 20 years ago. Through her family's story, Chowdhary documents a dark chapter in recent Indian history.

The Shakti Bhatt Prize honors the best writing in English by authors from the Indian subcontinent. After this year's award to Chowdhary, the prize will be discontinued.