A first of its kind, this book brings together the writings of women from Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. Home to many different tribes and scores of languages and dialects, once known as a ‘frontier’ state, Arunachal Pradesh began to see major change after it opened up to tourism and once the Indian State introduced Hindi as its official language. In this volume, Mamang Dai, one of Arunachal’s best known writers, brings together new and established voices on subjects as varied as identity, home, belonging, language, Shamanism, folk culture, orality and more. Much of what has been handed down orally, through festivals, epic narratives, the performance of rituals by Shamans and rhapsodists, revered as guardians of collective and tribal memory, is captured here in the words of young poets and writers, as well as artists and illustrators, as they trace their heritage, listen to stories and render them in newer forms of expression.Contributors: Ayinam Ering | Bhanu Tatak | Chasoom Bosai | Doirangsi Kri | Gedak Angu | Gyati T. M. Ampi | Ing Perme | Jamuna Bini | Karry Padu | Kolpi Dai | Leki Thungon | Mamang Dai | Millo Ankha| Mishimbu Miri | Nellie N. Manpoong | Ngurang Reena | Nomi Maga Gumro | Omili Borang | Ponung Ering Angu | Rebom Belo | Rinchin Choden | Ronnie Nido | Samy Moyong | Stuti Mamen Lowang | Subi Taba | Takhe Moni | Tine Mena | Toko Anu | Tolum Chumchum | Tongam Rina | Tunung Tabing | Yaniam Chukhu | Yater NyokirMAMANG DAI is a poet and novelist. A former journalist, she has worked with World Wildlife Fund in the Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspots programme. Her first book, Arunachal Pradesh: The Hidden Land, received the State Verrier Elwin Prize. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri (Literature and Education) and the Sahitya Akademi Award. She currently lives in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
Manipur has a rich tradition of folk and oral narratives, as well as written texts dating from as early as in 8th Century AD. It was however only in the second half of the twentieth century that women began writing and publishing their works. Today, women's writing forms a vibrant part of Manipuri literature, and their voices are amplified through their coming together as an all-woman literary group. Put together in discussions and workshops by Thingnam Anjulika Samom, Crafting the Word captures a region steeped in conservative patriarchy and at the centre of an armed conflict. It is also a place, however, where women’s activism has been at the forefront of peace-making and where their contributions in informal commerce and trade hold together the economy of daily life.Contributors: Arambam Ongbi Memchoubi, Aruna Nahakpam, Ayung Tampakleima Raikhan, Bimabati Thiyam Ongbi, Binodini, Chongtham (o) Subadani, Chongtham Jamini Devi, Guru Aribam Ghanapriya Devi, Haobam Satyabati Khundrakpam ongbi, Haobijam Prema Chanu, Koijam Santibala, Kshetrimayum Subadani, Kundo Yumnam, Lairenlakpam Ibemhal, Moirangthem Borkanya, Mufidun Nesha, Natalie Nk, Nee Devi, Nepram Maya Devi, Ningombam Sunita, Ningombam Surma, RK Sanahanbi (Likkhombi) Chanu, Sanatombi Ningombam, Sanjembam Bhanumati Devi, Satyabati Ningombam, Tonjam Sarojini Chanu, Yuimi VashumTranslators: Akoijam Sunita, Bobo Khuraijam, Kundo Yumnam, L. Somi Roy, Natasha Elangbam, Paonam Thoibi, Sapam Sweetie, Shreema Ningombam, Soibam Haripriya, Sonia Wahengbam, Thingnam Anjulika SamomTHINGNAM ANJULIKA SAMOM is an independent journalist, writer and translator based in Imphal, Manipur. Her journalistic writing focusing on gender, con ict and developmental issues in Manipur has been published in many online and print publications in India as well as outside the country. She is the recipient of the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity 2010–11 (Eastern Region). She also translates literary works from Manipuri to English and was given the Katha Award for Translation in 2004. A few of her poems are part of the anthology Centrepiece (2017) published by Zubaan.
In this personal and passionate account, activist and researcher Sahba Husain documents her deeply engaged and empathetic involvement with the politicised terrain of Kashmir. As she meets people that she speaks with and, more importantly, listens to, she begins to question her own ‘Indian’ identity. Recognizing the anger, despair and helplessness of a people caught in conflict and violence, Husain forms deep friendships during her time working in the state.It is these 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 in the faultlines of nation-state and community. A book of 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.PUBLISHER'S NOTE: As this book goes to press, there is news of the abrogation, by the Indian government, of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that grants special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Major changes that affect the lives of people in Kashmir are being put in place. Currently, there is a heavy presence of the armed forces, curfew is in place, telephone and internet lines have been suspended, people are in fear and there is huge bewilderment, confusion, anger. No one knows what the future will hold. This book, the result of long years of engagement with Kashmir, ends on a note of hope. It is our hope and belief too that whatever the future holds, it is the people of Kashmir who will shape it for their state and their world.SAHBA HUSAIN is an independent researcher and women’s rights activist. For the last two decades, she has travelled extensively in Jammu and Kashmir, documenting the social consequences of armed conflict, mass violence and militarization on individuals, families and communities, with a special focus on women. Her earlier research focused on problems of working women in the organized and unorganized sectors in several states of India and on the impact of development policies on women’s social, political and economic status.
A grandmother’s tattoos, the advent of Christianity, stories woven into fabrics, a tradition of orality, the imposition of a ‘new’ language, a history of war and conflict: all this and much more informs the writers and artists in this book. Filmmaker and writer Anungla Zoe Longkumer brings together here, for the first time, a remarkable set of stories, poems, first-person narratives and visuals that reflect the many facets of women’s writing in Nagaland.Written in English, a language the Nagas — who had no tradition of written literature — made their own after the Church came to Nagaland, each piece speaks of women’s many journeys to reclaim their pasts and understand their complex present.Contributors: Abokali Jimomi, Ahikali Swu, Aniho Chishi, Anungla Zoe Longkumer, Avinuo Kire, Beni Sumer Yanthan, Dzuvinguno Dorothy Chasie, Easterine Kire, Em Em El, Emisenla Jamir, Eyingbeni Humtsoe-Nienu, Hekali Zhimomi, Iris Yingzen, Jungmayangla Longkumer, Kutoli N, Licca Kiho, Limatola Longkumer, Manenjungla Aier, Marianne Murry, Moaso Aier, Narola Changkija, Neikehienuo Mepfhüo, Nini Lungalang, Phejin Konyak, rōzumarī saṃsāra, Sirawon Tulisen Khathing, Metongla Aier, Talilula, Temsula Ao, Thejakhrienuo Yhome, Theyie Keditsu, Vishü Rita Krocha.ANUNGLA ZOE LONGKUMER can best be described as a free individual discovering her way through creative pursuits in music, writing, filmmaking, and folk traditions. Having travelled and lived outside Nagaland during most of her life, she is currently based in Dimapur, Nagaland, where she freelances doing some content editing, music and filmmaking. She is the author of Folklore of Eastern Nagaland (2017), that comprises translations of folktales, folk songs and real-life accounts, collected from the six tribes who inhabit the more remote districts of Eastern Nagaland.
In 2008, when the Azad Foundation, an NGO based in Delhi, began training poor women to become drivers of commercial and private vehicles, most people thought they were somewhat out of touch with reality. Poor, illiterate women, many of them from violent homes, some of them single mothers, others from families and communities which had never allowed women to step out of the home – how could these women take the wheel, drive around in unsafe cities, be confident and competent, earn money? At the time, there was only one known woman auto driver in Delhi. When Azad turned to radio cab companies to suggest they take in women drivers, there wasn’t much interest. Today, more than 300 women drivers have received training from Azad and are on the roads of several cities. Nine years after radio companies turned Azad away, special services or women with women drivers are being introduced within these same companies. In 2015, the Delhi Transport Corporation got its first woman driver, and in 2016, the Delhi Commission for Women recruited 25 women drivers to be part of their women’s helpline. Clearly, things are changing.Lady Driver maps the journeys of twelve women from poor, marginalized communities who have transformed their lives by taking up the challenge of becoming women drivers. Each story is unique; there’s no Cinderella effect here. Reality does not change overnight. Instead, as the women featured here painstakingly claim a relationship with the road, it translates into claims for identity, for dignity, for a livelihood. Their stories are about beginnings, but have no endings – there is still quite a way to drive.
Winner of the Muse India Translation Prize (2018), Priya Sarukkai Chabria and Ravi Shankar’s elegant new translations of eighth-century Tamil poet and founding saint Andal, cements her status as the South Indian corollary to Mirabai.In this one volume is her entire corpus, composed before she apocryphally merged with the idol of her chosen god as a young teenager, leaving behind the still popular song of congregational worship, the Thiruppavai, a collection of thirty pasuram (stanzas) sung for Lord Tirumal (Vishnu) and the much less frequently translated and rapturously erotic Nacchiyar Thirumoli.Chabria and Shankar employ a radical new method of revitalizing classical verse by shifting it into a contemporary poetic idiom in another language. Some of the hymns are translated collaboratively, others by one or another of the translators, and others separately by each. This kaleidoscopic approach allows the reader multiple perspectives on the rich sonic and philosophical complexity of Andal’s classical Tamil.
On a cold February night in 1991, a group of soldiers and officers of the Indian Army pushed their way into two villages in Kashmir, seeking out militants assumed to be hiding there. They pulled the men out of their homes and subjected many to torture, and the women to rape. According to village accounts, as many as 31 women were raped.Twenty-one years later, in 2012, the rape and murder of a young medical student in Delhi galvanized a protest movement so widespread and deep that it reached all corners of the world. In Kashmir, a group of young women, all in their twenties, were inspired to re-open the Kunan-Poshpora case, to revisit their history and to look at what had happened to the survivors of the 1991 mass rape. Through personal accounts of their journey, this book examines questions of justice, of stigma, of the responsibility of the state, and of the long-term impact of trauma.
A searing memoir of a political life that took the Telugu literary world by storm.Well-known as the widow of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah (KS), founder of the Maoist movement in Andhra Pradesh, Koteswaramma’s life spans a tumultuous century of the Independence movement, the Communist insurrection and the Naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh. A dedicated worker for the Communist Party, she went underground in the difficult years of the late forties, living a secret life, running from safe house to safe house. Throughout, it was the support and companionship of her husband, Seetharamaiah, that gave her strength. And then, everything changed when he deserted her.Refusing to be cowed down, Koteswaramma rebuilt her life step by painful step. She educated herself, took up a job, raised her grandchildren, wrote poetry and prose and established herself as a thinking person in her own right. This moving memoir is a testimony of her courage and tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, as well as her understanding of the frailties of human beings and political institutions. That women in India often face incredible suffering is known. That they can fight back and emerge winners is exemplified in Koteswaramma’s life.
The essential guide to the who, why, what, when, where and how of sexuality education.Talking to children and young people about sexuality is never easy. This non-nonsense, straightforward and accessible guide will help adults get across the necessary information in the best way possible. Since 1996, TARSHI has been counseling and supporting people - young and not-so-young - on issues to do with sexual health.Building on the success of the highly popular Red Book (for 10-14-year-olds) and Blue Book (for 15+), the team have put together The Yellow Book specifically for parents and teachers. The Yellow Book is full of tips and tools, information and advice to help you talk to your children about sexuality at every stage of their lives.
The Malayalam literary public is one of the most vibrant in India and thrives on the long history of widespread literacy in the state of Kerala. It is well described as the 'beating heart' of Kerala's public life. Historically, it has been the space in which entrenched power structures encountered their earliest challenges. Not surprisingly, then critiques of patriarchy in twentieth-century Kerala were first heard and continued to be raised there, even when they had become muffled in wider public discussion.Womanwriting = Manreading? is a provocative take on some of the raging debates in Malayalam literature, which surely resonate elsewhere. But it also raises the important question: Can we tell the story of women's anti-patriarchal writing in Malayalam in a way that highlights the force and drama of their confrontations with the male-dominated literary establishment?J. DEVIKA has written on the intertwined histories of gender, culture, politics and development in her home state, Kerala. She is bilingual and translates both fiction and non-fiction between Malayalam and English and also writes on contemporary Kerala on www.kafila.org. She currently teaches and researches in the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.