Tucked in a far corner of this predominantly Muslim locality called Jama Masjid in the capital New Delhi, Najma, 35, is busy educating three young girls in her non-descript two-room shanty.
The girls, mostly in their teens, are being told of the pitfalls of getting married early and how an education is important.
There is a new bounce in her step and one senses even a new purpose. A mother of six, Najma was divorced four years back after 19 years of marriage but she is now happy.
"I know what happened. He [my husband] harboured ill feelings about me before the divorce," Najma says.
"Then one fine day he uttered talaq thrice and that too on the mobile. He told my father about it and that was it."
Though Najma has had to raise the kids on her own and provide them with an education and food, she feels Muslim women have a voice now.
"My kids will get an education and they will live with their heads held high," Najma adds confidently.
Farida Khan, 48, who hails from the city of Kanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, had a similar fate.
"I was divorced 30 years ago. I had a two-year-old kid and I was pregnant too," she says.
"My husband at that time was not happy with the dowry that was given to him during marriage.
"It was my in-laws who put pressure on him and he uttered those words."
She has now taken on a new role educating women from her community of the ills of triple talaq.
'Change is not going to come overnight'
Under triple talaq, a man could divorce his wife by saying the Urdu word three times. However, in a historic judgment on August 22 this year, India's Supreme Court struck down instant triple talaq deeming it in violation of the Indian Constitution, which provides for equality before law and equal protection within the territory of the country.
But despite the huge victory, many still know they face the kind of deep-rooted discrimination and prejudice when it comes to getting jobs, an education or finding homes. And their fears are not exaggerated or unfounded.
"This [talaq] repressive practice has finally ended and now begins our next battle for social reform within the community," said Zakia Soman, founding member of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA).
"Change is not going to come overnight. Now we have to look at areas of education, empowerment and ensure that girls are not forced to marry early."
The BMMA, a network of Muslim women activists and organisations, led the nationwide campaign against triple talaq.
India is home to world's third-largest Muslim population and is governed by the Sharia or Islamic jurisprudence, which has been the case since British colonial rule.
Until the court judgment, a majority of India's 90 million Muslim women faced the threat of a sudden, oral, and out-of-court divorce and were subjugated, according to various government and independent studies.
According to a 2011 census, out of all married Muslim women nearly 14 per cent were married even before the age of 15 and 49 per cent were married between 14 and 19 years of age.
In most cases, it was found, marriage at such an early age decreased the possibility of acquiring education or being financially sound: studies show about 59 per cent of Muslim women never get into school and less than 10 per cent even completed it.
"Overall the Muslim girl child does face educational deprivation," academic Zoya Hasan, who has studied Muslim women issues, said.
"The constitutional goal of eight years of schooling remains a dream with a Muslim girl getting barely 2.7 years of schooling compared to 3.8 years of a Hindu girl."
Be it in marriage, autonomy or mobility, there is patriarchal control which limits their choices and movement.
In fact a ground-breaking government report in 2006 documented the extreme discrimination and deprivation faced by Muslims, especially women, across all socio-economic scales.
Are the winds of change slowly blowing?
"Many girls have been forced to drop out of school due to poverty or the social conditions they lived in," said Shabnam Hashmi, the founder of ANHAD, a NGO based in the capital.
"But there are initiatives which are happening to get them back and not confine them to the four walls of a house."
Convincing parents to send their girls to coaching centres or schools to restart their education, sit the board exams, perhaps study further and get a job are some of the projects being undertaken by either members of the community or NGOs.
"I would like to be a lawyer when I grow up," Arifa Khanoon, 19, said.
Arifa topped her class earlier this year.
"I am keen on finishing college and then get my degree."
Arifa and her friends are enjoying their studies now and hope to carve out a niche for themselves in the future and this has been largely through the efforts of Pehchan, a NGO that encourages girls to pursue schooling.
This year, five students passed Class XII [a high school equivalent] and are hoping to join a bachelor's program in college.
"Issues of identity and economic survival have put the basic rights of women on the backburner," said Maimoona Mollah of the All Indian Democratic Women's Association.
"Definitely there is politics and there are patriarchal vested interests who want this to continue. But there are now girls and women who want to make a difference."
The changes are incremental but nevertheless welcome.
For a long time poverty, communalism and segregation have hindered Indian-Muslims' educational trajectory, including infrastructure and achievement.
This could be a new beginning.
