Writings from Arunachal Pradesh. The first anthology of writings from a variety of debut and established writers in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India.
An innovative collection of essays on the turmoil spreading across South Asia, Contesting Nation sheds light on how violence--in wars of direct and indirect conquest--marks the present. Featuring contributions by distinguished South Asian women scholars, the book offers inspired, gendered, and contested histories of the present, exploring nation-making and its intersections with projects of militarization and cultural assertion, modernization, and globalization. The contributors to this volume consider such turbulent events as the Gujarat carnage of 2002, post-9/11 mobilizations, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, shedding light on the force with which brutal events encompass lives and disfigure communities. This powerful book examines the very borders such brutality maintains and its intimate and lasting effects on bodies and memories.
The culmination of research undertaken in the rural panchayats of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, A Foot in the Door brings the voices of Dalit women to the forefront of the ongoing conversation about their political oppression. The authors examine the patriarchal and caste-based barriers to Dalit women's political participation in Panchayati Raj, explaining clearly that without a more holistic approach, the panchayats will only continue to reinforce existing and undeniably violent hierarchies of caste and gender. Dalit women's political participation remains a risky endeavor and involves very little actual transfer of power. Getting 'a foot in the door' is not enough--the affirmative action that secures a Dalit woman's right to enter the panchayats often still silences them in the process of seeking active participation. An essential read for feminist and Dalit scholars working on issues of gender, caste, and political participation, A Foot in the Door argues that there is a need for deep, systemic change at every level of governance--only then can equal and meaningful participation be ensured.
Researcher and activist Sahba Husain has been working in Kashmir for two decades, and in this personal, passionate account of that state and its people, she documents her deeply engaged and empathetic involvement with Kashmir's politicized terrain. We join her as she meets--and, crucially, listens to--people who carry all of the anger, despair, and helplessness of a people caught in conflict and violence. Forming deep friendships through this process, Husain finds herself questioning her own "Indian" identity. It is those relationships that form the backdrop of this book, in which Husain focuses on certain key areas: the health of a people, militancy and its changing meanings for local people and the state, impunity and the search for justice, migration and the longing for homes left behind, and women's activism along the faultlines of nation-state and community. A book of difficult subjects, but one that finds surprising beauty in its engagement with human relationships, of love for a land and a people and of hope for a future free of violence, Love, Loss, and Longing in Kashmir is a compelling and necessary read.
Jeumon has a complicated story stuck in her head: her familyâ¿s. In the newly-drawn boundaries of Assam and Meghalaya in 1972 India, young Jeumon wonders how she should define herself. Is she Assamese, like her father, or Khasi, like her mother? Â As a researcher and writer, she speaks with passion of the oral narratives and folk tales shared by the people of the hills and plains, those of different tribes, and those with different languages. To herself, she wonders: if stories can do this, why canâ¿t people? Why must they be trapped in singular identities? Â In this moving narrative of change, Tilottoma Misra tells the story of one family to explore how lives are impacted by sweeping geographical partitions and how human relationships morph under the weight of political turmoil. Â
A grandmotherâ¿s tattoos, the advent of Christianity, stories woven into fabrics, a tradition of orality, the imposition of a ânewâ? language, and a history of war and conflictâ¿all of this and much more informs the writers and artists in this book. Filmmaker and writer Anungla Zoe Longkumer brings together, for the first time, a remarkable set of stories, poems, first-person narratives, and visuals that showcase the breadth of Naga womenâ¿s creative and literary expression. The essays are written in English, a language the Nagasâ¿who had no tradition of written literatureâ¿made their own after the arrival of Christianity in the region during the nineteenth century. In The Many That I Am, each writer speaks of the many journeys women undertake to reclaim their pasts and understand their complex present. Â
Set in the forests of northern Odisha, Mahuldiha Days is the moving story of a young civil servant caught between her commitment to the tribal communities she knows are the original inhabitants of the forest and the monolithic state, oblivious to the diverse realities of life on the ground. The moonlit brahmani river snakes through the story with a life of its own while the city of the narrator's childhood comes to her in dreams. Agnihotri creates a poignant, intense narrative layered with an awareness of the pressures of motherhood and personal love.
Gender and Governance examines how different governance structures affect gender in five specific locations in South Asia: Swat in Pakistan, the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, the Northern Province in Sri Lanka, and Kashmir and Manipur in India. These comparative studies examine the historical context of each region, look at existing structures of governance, trace how these have changed over time, conclude whether or not parallel systems have come up in their place, and reflect on what this means for gender issues in the region. Although each location is quite different, some common patterns emerge. This book sheds new light on how formal and informal structures affect the lives of women, particularly in conflict zones. When formal governance fails, women often turn to the informal structures in their community--and these can be both conservative and patriarchal. Gender and Governance shows why gendering structures of governance, therefore, is essential in ongoing efforts to improve gender equality in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The Tamil text Nīlakeci, dated around the 5th century CE (debated), is an unusual literary creation. It retrieves a violent, vengeful pēy (female possessing spirit) of Palayanur, transforming her into a Jaina philosopher. It was a profoundly subversive idea of its time, using the female persona and voice (for a hitherto disembodied being) to debate with preceptors of different schools of thought/religions of the time, all male, barring the Buddhist nun, Kuṇṭalakeci. Nīlakeci's debates focus on questions of non-violence, existence of the soul, authorship and caste, among others. However, in order to truly appreciate this alter-texting, one has to unravel layers of other texts and traditions: the lesser known villuppāttu (bow-song) and nātakam (theatrical) versions of the pēy Nīli stories, as well as the story of Kuṇṭalakeci's own transformative journey. Umamaheshwari situates these in a comparative context, while maintaining the centrality of the debates within Nīlakeci, using translation of selected excerpts.
The fashion industry in India is huge, employing more than sixty million people and, at $70 billion, accounting for a sizable chunk of the nation's economic activity. Despite that, it remains a startlingly unprofessional industry--particularly when it comes to the work of modeling, and how the women who perform that work are viewed and treated. With Mannequin, Manjima Bhattacharya takes readers into the world of fashion in India to show what the work of a model is like and the difficulties it entails, from the struggle by trade unions to organize models to the fundamental question of whether fashion objectifies women or acknowledges their agency. Spanning from the 1960s to the present, and taking account of changes from globalization and shifting beauty standards, Mannequin is an up-to-date account of fashion's forgotten workers.
July 15, 2004: An amazing scene unfolds in front of the Kangla Fort in Manipur, the headquarters of the Assam Rifles, a unit of the Indian army. Soldiers and officers watch aghast as twelve women, all in their sixties and seventies, position themselves in front of the gates and then, one by one, strip themselves naked. The imas, the mothers of Manipur, are in a cold fury, protesting the custodial rape and murder of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year-old woman, alleged by the army to be a militant. The women hold aloft banners that shout, 'Indian Army Rape Us', 'Take Our Flesh'. Never has this happened before: the army is appalled. Hundreds of thousands of people around the country, watching the drama unfold, are shocked. Can this be possible? A naked protest in India? By mothers? The imas of Manipur are known to be strong, self-sufficient. It is they who by and large run the economy of the state; here, though, they are doing something different. Manorama's death is the trigger for their renewed protest against the Draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958, which is used with impunity in the state and excuses all sorts of army excesses. Manipur has witnessed several decades of low-intensity war with more than twenty militant outfits operating in the state. In this unusual book, journalist Teresa Rehman, tells the story of the twelve women, of how they took the momentous decision - in some cases unknown to their families - and how they carried it out with precision and care. The story of the mothers of Manipur reflects the larger history of the conflict-torn state and of the courage and resistance of the people in the face of overwhelming odds.
A Czechoslovakian Jew who was imprisoned at Auschwitz, Dina Gottliebova-Babbitt (1923-2009) was saved by her artistic abilities. Gottliebova painted the walls of the children's barracks with images of the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. When Josef Mengele discovered her talent, he commissioned her to paint watercolor portraits of Roma prisoners. After the war, Gottliebova worked as an animator for Warner Brothers for many years, eventually marrying Walt Disney animator Art Babbitt. Many years later, Gottliebova's Auschwitz paintings were recovered and displayed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. When the artist requested that her paintings be returned, her request was denied. The dispute escalated into an international scandal with the American and Polish governments becoming involved. Gottliebova passed away in 2009 without having her works returned. Watercolours is Gottliebova's story. Journalist Lidia Ostalowska reconstructs Gottliebova's time in Auschwitz, with an eye to broader issues of historical memory, trauma, racism, and the relationship between torturer and victim. Drawing on hundreds of accounts of the hellish camp, Ostalowska tells the story of one remarkable woman's incarceration and battle for survival.
In this delightful book, the reader is invited to overhear a series of playful, sharp philosophical debates between the author and her beloved cat. To Sukia sulky, silky feline who believes she is a goddessher owner is simply her high priestess, there to do her bidding. To Sunitia writer, poet, fabulist and feminist iconSuki is a stroppy cat who talks too much. But as they discuss the merits of vegetarianism, or the meaning of happiness, or war, or morality or any topic under the sun, it soon becomes clear that the bond between human and animal is a deep, complex and loving one. Far more than a personal memoir about a dearly departed pet, Sukiis a philosophical novel, full of tender wisdom. It is a unique exploration of the relationship between human and animal. Readers who have enjoyed J. R. Ackerley sMy Dog Tulip, Nilanjana Roy sThe Wildings, or Paul Auster sTimbuktu, will fall in love with the maddening, lovable, unique character that is Suki as seen through the eyes of Suniti Namjoshi, her companion, fellow-traveller and one of the foremost women writers of her generation."
The Naga people of the troubled northeastern region of India have endured more than a century of bloodshed in their struggle for an independent Nagaland and a national identity. This title features stories that are set against this uneasy backdrop. It includes stories that spring from the internal fault lines of the Indian nation-state.
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