u/watervapour_7237

I really recommend everyone to read it.

Elisabeth Bumiller, a journalist for The Washington Post, came to India in the 1980s and over the years, travelled to all parts of the country, examining the paradoxes, problems, triumphs and realities of the lives of India's women: from village women of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala to prominent parliamentarians, politicians, movie-stars, intellectuals, police officers, meeting and interviewing them. She notes that 'a woman's role in Indian society is full of contradictions'. While enormous numbers of them are illiterate, many hold important positions in politics and the arts. While most suffer discrimination and poverty, others are transforming India into a modern nation. Bumiller brings out these paradoxes in a clean, insightful style that makes the vast complexities of the lives of India's four hundred million women accessible and compelling.

Bumiller documented really well. I really liked the chapter where she talked about the feminist movements that was happening in 80s in India, dividing it into three categories- first consisting of urban, elite women coming from educated backgrounds, 2nd- also educated women from mostly from working class more closer and taking in rural issues. And lastly- the rural peasant women. She met and interviewed different feminist women, trying to understand their objectives and how these movements have shaped and are shaping the lives of women in India.

As Indians, we often find that how even after living in a same country, we live completely different lives with completely different experiences. A village woman in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh living in shackles of extreme patriarchy to village woman of Bodh Gaya, Bihar, despite living in extreme poverty knows about her rights. And in complete contrast to a working professional living in Delhi who doesn't know that extreme patriarchy and misogyny that many Indian women still have to suffer.

Interestingly, the writer even puts her own thoughts and views. Admiration, amazement, sympathy and sometimes rage and disgust. In the 5th chapter where she examines the female infanticide and sex- selective abortions, while witnessing a pregnant woman, coming from educated rich background from Bombay, going through a chorionic villus(a recent technology from the West to check the birth defects) to know the gender of fetus. \_"As I watched the wire's journey on the screen of the ultrasound machine, I slowly became disgusted. It had been building all week, but I think seeing this woman with her examination table, so exposed and, in a sense, so violated by the her legs spread on the forces of her society, caused something to snap in me. What did India have, I thought, to take the newest technology from the Wes and use it for something as reprehensible as the slaughter of female babies?"\_ Here, I see both her rage and disgust, that we feel after knowing this.

We even see her self-realization. As she says towards the end, \_"...asking Veena Bhargava how she rationalized painting the homeless rather than working among them, had sought a justification for why I was interviewing interesting artists instead of helping out myself. But realize now I was searching for a larger answer, for one that woul have helped me define my whole purpose in India. I have come to the conclusion that if I did not work among the poor, I have at least told their stories and unveiled a part of their lives. This book was my mission to inform, to enlighten, and to prove that the women of India are more like us than they are not."\_

This is 19th-century portrait of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the last ruler of Awadh (Oudh), present day Lucknow.

Wajid Ali Shah was the last Nawab(ruler) of Awadh, ruling from 1847 until the British annexed the state in 1856. He was exiled by the Britishers after this.

He was considered a major fashion rebel of his time. While British colonial records often tried to frame the style as a symbol of decadence or eccentricity, cultural historians note it was an intentional fashion statement and a subtle form of personal expression or cultural non-conformity. He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts. He introduced Kathak, a major form of classical Indian dance as a court dance after the decline of Mughals for recreation activity.[

Info about the kitten- it live in my home, never step out, but has eaten mice, rats and lizards time to time. So, should I be worried?

I heard it would be costly in a private hospital, so, do you know any govt hospital where I can get the shots?

This painting is "Woman Holding a Fruit". Created in 1894. Currently housed at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

This painting is by Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906). He was a famous Indian painter. He mixed European oil painting styles with Indian themes.

I'm currently reading The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya

It is a memoir of a woman who escaped the Rwandian genocide as a child. In this book, she talks about life with her family in Rwanda before the genocide started, her escape, her life in different refugee camps in multiple countries and finally taking asylum in the US.

What about you all?

This is Kaikeyi's look??😭😭😭 That is how my neighborhood aunty looks like, not the one in Tretayug😭 Who the f is designing the costumes?

So, I came across this page and really want to know if it is genuine. I have bought second hand books multiple times from other insta seller pages. Thankfully, I've not got scammed till now. But, I want to take precautions while buying from a page I've never tried before.

So, the people who have bought from this page, please do comment about your experience!

After Kurukshetra by Mahashweta Devi. This was originally written in Bengali. It is my first book by this author. Just bought it few days ago from a second hand bookstore.

I finished it last night. It is a collection of three short stories. These are the retellings of Mahabharata. All the stories took place after the Mahabharata war (as the title already suggests). What is the most interesting part is that these are the stories of the common people who had suffered even though they had nothing to do with the war or politics.

(Spoiler alert from here)

The first story "Panchakanya" follow five women, whose husbands were padatiks- the foot soldiers, killed in war. These women became the instrument of questioning the idea of Dharmayudha, loss, widowhood forced upon women, grief, common people/poor loosing their lives for the greed of the rich etc.

The second story "Kunti o Nishadi" follow Kunti looking back at our actions and sins after the war was over and her encounter with a Nishadin (forest dweller) who made her remember her gravest sin. Getting innocent people, an old Nishadin and her five sons, killed in the the House of Lac, Jatigriha to save herself and her children. This short story was even mentioned in our NCERT book. It again explores how powerful uses the poor as some mere pawns for their own goals, with not even an ounce of sympathy or regret.

The third story "Souvali" follows Yuyutsu's mother (Souvali) and her looking back at her life and at the treatment of her and her son. Yuyutsu is Dhritrashtra's illegitimate son born from a dasi(servant/slave), Souvali. It is from a perspective of a servant woman whose body was used by a powerful man, finally saying her piece.

These are told from the poor people who lost a lot of things and suffered because of the greed and abuse of power of the rich and powerful, with their stories nowhere to be found in history.

I highly recommend everyone to read it.

After Kurukshetra by Mahashweta Devi. This was originally written in Bengali. It is my first book by this author. Just bought it few days ago from a second hand bookstore.

I finished it last night. It is a collection of three short stories. These are the retellings of Mahabharata. All the stories took place after the Mahabharata war (as the title already suggests). What is the most interesting part is that these are the stories of the common people who had suffered even though they had nothing to do with the war or politics.

(Spoiler alert from here)

The first story "Panchakanya" follow five women, whose husbands were padatiks- the foot soldiers, killed in war. These women became the instrument of questioning the idea of Dharmayudha, loss, widowhood forced upon women, grief, common people/poor loosing their lives for the greed of the rich etc.

The second story "Kunti o Nishadi" follow Kunti looking back at our actions and sins after the war was over and her encounter with a Nishadin (forest dweller) who made her remember her gravest sin. Getting innocent people, an old Nishadin and her five sons, killed in the the House of Lac, Jatigriha to save herself and her children. This short story was even mentioned in our NCERT book. It again explores how powerful uses the poor as some mere pawns for their own goals, with not even an ounce of sympathy or regret.

The third story "Souvali" follows Yuyutsu's mother (Souvali) and her looking back at her life and at the treatment of her and her son. Yuyutsu is Dhritrashtra's illegitimate son born from a dasi(servant/slave), Souvali. It is from a perspective of a servant woman whose body was used by a powerful man, finally saying her piece.

These are told from the poor people who lost a lot of things and suffered because of the greed and abuse of power of the rich and powerful, with their stories nowhere to be found in history.

I highly recommend everyone to read it.

I'm starting After Kurukshetra by Mahashweta Devi. This was originally written in Bengali. It is my first book by this author. Just bought it few days ago from a second hand bookstore.

What about you all?

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín.

Have anyone read it before?