Bariamma as the physical embodiment of purdah and zenananas

I want to talk a bit about the Hyder zenana in Shame, and how Bariamma is portrayed as the matriarch and overseer of the traditions surrounding it. I suppose there are two possible readings of this parallel. One would be that Bariamma's age reflects wisdom, and she is the keeper of tradition in order to serve as a form of wise guidance over the actions of her family. However, by describing Bariamma as feeble, bald, and toothless, Rushdie seems to be hinting at something else. Perhaps that Bariamma's decline runs parallel to the decline of Islamic traditions in society. Or maybe her age represents the archaic value systems represented in these traditions that is becoming more and more removed from modern ideas as time goes on. In any case, the "the matriarch wore a wig," implicating that Bariamma is clinging to her last vestiges of youth and vitality, so if she is supposed to embody the traditions of purdah and the zenana, it would seem that the matriarch is on her way out, soon to be replaced.