 |
|
|
|
|
|
Women's Writing in Translation/Literature/Asian Studies/History/Sociology
Women in Concert:
Edited by Shaheen Akhtar and Moushumi Bhowmik Foreword by Firdous Azim Throwing light on the work and lives of unknown or forgotten Muslim women writers of pre-Independence Bengal, when the state was not yet partitioned between India and East Pakistan (today's Bangladesh), in 1947, this anthology is like a rediscovery of their lives. First published in Bengali as Zenana Mehfil: Bangali Musalman Lekhikader Nirbachita Rachana, 1904-38, it compiles, for the first time, eleven Bengali Muslim women's writings: essays, short stories, poetry, a novel and some correspondence, each introduced and discussed separately. The anthology also gives a glimpse of their lives that were not always confined within the household. The writers include Akhtar Mahal, Sayyada Khatun and M. Fatema Khanum, and other much more familiar names like Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and Shamsundar Mahmud. Among the immensely valuable interviews are those of Mohammed Nasiruddin, who devoted his life to the cause of Bengali Muslim women's emancipation, his daughter Nurjehan Begum, the poet Sufia Kamal, the writer Hameeda Khanam and Syed Mustafa Siraj, the celebrated Bengali novelist who witnessed the social changes that were to alter the Bengali Muslim world. Shaheen Akhtar, a well-known writer and researcher, works for Ain O Salish Kendro (ASK), an NGO that handles legal matters, Dhaka. Moushumi Bhowmik is a composer, singer and researcher and is based in Kolkata. Firdous Azim is professor and chairman, dept of English, BRAC University, Dhaka. Demy octavo hardbound approx 400pp ISBN 81-85604-57-6 Aug 2008 Rs 650 |
|
Memoirs/Psychiatry/Asian Studies My Life as a Psychiatrist: Memoirs and Essays
Ajita Chakraborty Qualified as a doctor, she sailed to England in 1952, to further her medical education, training as a psychiatrist at the well-known Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry in London, working in British mental hospitals for almost ten years, and also obtaining qualifications such as DPM and MRCP. She returned to India in 1960, where modern psychiatry was still a fledgling, considered as subordinate to 'neurology'. As the first woman in the field she faced considerable hostility and opposition, and saw her dreams of setting up an advanced department of psychiatry and elevating its then lowly status fail. Indeed the book throws considerable light on the sociology on medicine and discusses why Chakraborty and her friends who had returned with medical qualifications gained abroad were thwarted in their attempts to set up a modern health system. Of considerable interest is Chakraborty's discussion on why psychiatry taught in the West cannot be applied directly in another culture, emphasizing the need and significance of transcultural psychology in a very complex society like India. The second part of the book offers a selection from her essays, published in various distinguished journals, which are indeed an essential part of the memoir as they illustrate in 'theoretical and concrete terms what is dealt with anecdotally and personally in the memoir'. Born in 1926, Ajita Chakraborty specialized in psychiatry, retiring as professor and director of psychiatry at the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education, Calcutta. She was president of the Indian Psychiatric Society and is fellow Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, and of the American Psychiatrists Association. Demy octavo hb approx 250pp ISBN 81-85604-92-4 Oct 2008 Rs 550All rights available |
|
Memoirs/Women's Writing in Translation/history/politics/anthropology The Weave of My Life: A Dalit Woman’s Memoirs
Urmila Pawar Pawar engages with issues of identity and selfhood, caste/class consciousness, changing expressions of patriarchy and Dalit women's participation in emancipatory struggles and the closure and atrophy in Dalit politics. Her memoir reveals a complexly constructed intersectional self as well as the troubled and complex interface between feminist and Dalit movements. As a young girl brought up by her mother, a single parent, her perception of the residual and newly emergent forms of patriarchy, religion, familial relationships, violence and liberation is intense and acute. Born in 1945, Urmila Pawar took her school-leaving certificate or School Final in 1963, moving to Bombay after her marriage. She later obtained an MA from the University of Bombay. Considered a distinguished short story writer in Marathi, she has also co-authored a book with Meenakshi Moon on the role played by untouchable women in the nationalist movement (Amhihi Itihas Ghadavila). Maya Pandit is professor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFU), Hyderabad, and an activist in women's movement and alternative theatre. Sharmila Rege is professor of Sociology, University of Pune Demy octavo, pbk, approx 350 pp June 2008 ISBN 81-85604-90-8, Rs 350Translation rights available, excepting Marathi |
|
Anthropology/Sociology/History/Politics/Asian Studies Means of Awakening: Gender, Politics and Practice in Rural India
Sirpa Tenhunen Tenhunen reveals the reasons behind the pre-eminence of the CPI (M) Party in local institutions emphasizing the use of caste dynamics. While elected local panchayat officials might be from the lower castes, the local upper caste patrons have become party functionaries and continue to exercise their dominance through the party machinery. Women have emerged as panchayat leaders and are getting integrated into politics and the public realm. Side by side, Tenhunen presents the women’s views on dowry, marriage and their role in the panchayats. Indeed her book documents the process by which women are emerging in the forefront of political struggles in West Bengal. Sirpa Tenhunen is research fellow, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Helsinki. Demy octavo approx 250 pp hb ISBN 81-85604-97-5 Nov 2008 Rs 500 |
|
Health Studies/Anthropology/Sociology/History/Politics/ Putting Women First: Women and Health in a Rural Community Rani Bang, with Sunanda Khogade and Rupa Chinai Foreword by Rahul Goswami Rani Bang’s research found that 92 percent of women in this region had no access to treatment for gynaecological disorders in the absence of women doctors. Such neglect is accompanied by globalization and liberalization, which adds further stresses: rural families are unprepared for the rapid changes wrought in the spheres of education, information, material enhancement and changes in lifestyle. All of this has an impact on human relationships and health. In his foreword, Rahul Goswami points out that the book plays many roles. It is a commentary on the chronic myopia of a planning process that refuses to see millions of Indians and the ways in which their lives can be bettered. It reveals the way ‘tribal society is being buffeted by the modern and whose traditional kinship and ecological systems are being sorely stressed’. It is also a logbook of case medicine. Quite different from the revolutionary activity of the Far Left, the Bangs have set in motion a type of revolution that equips women and men, communities and administrators with the tools to ‘build an indigenous expression of development, one in which the fundamentals of healthcare, interdependence and sustainable economics are paramount’. Rani Bang is co-founder with Dr Abhay Bang of the Society for Education Action and Research in Commuity health (Search) that pioneers new models in Indian health care. About 170-km from Nagpur, they have set up Shodhgram, a spacious campus modelled on a Gond tribal village, that serves the multifarious health needs of the area; Rupa Chinai is a senior journalist who has practised developmental journalism with a focus on health. She has worked with The Indian Express, The Sunday Observer and the Times of India; Sunanda Khorgade works with the women’s health programme at Search and trains traditional birth attendants at the campus. Rahul Goswami is a policy analyst and writer, based in Goa and Delhi. Demy octavo approx 300pp hb ISBN 81-85604-96-7 Dec 2008 Rs 550 |
|
History/Literature/Politics/Women’s Studies The Trauma and the Triumph: Gender and Partition in the Eastern Region, vol 2 Edited by Jasodhara Bagchi and Subhoranjan Dasgupta Jasodhara Bagchi has retired as chairperson West Bengal Commission of Women; Subhoranjan Dasgupta is professor, human sciences, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata. Demy octavo approx 250pp hb ISBN 81-85604-98-3 Dec 2008 Rs 500 |
|
History/Sociology/Politics/Cultural Studies/Asian Studies Writing Indian History: A View from Below Achuthan M. Kandyil A personal statement and interpretation, like the best of historiography, Achuthan declares straightaway that he has not used primary sources, that he is not a professional historian. Underwritten by his passion for social justice, Achuthan's history articulates the claims of the hitherto silent masses, who get written about rather than write for themselves. Achuthan M. Kandyil retired from All India Radio, Government of India. Then taught at Grambling State University, in Grambling, Louisiana. He has lived in the United States of America for thirty years. Demy octavo hb approx 400pp ISBN 81-85604-72-X Jan 2007 approx Rs 650All rights available |
|
Sociology/Politics/Asian Studies/Dalit Studies Venomous Touch: Notes on Caste, Culture and Politics Ravikumar A human rights activist, and a leading Dalit thinker, Ravikumar founded radical journals such as Nirapirigai and The Dalit and is one of the founders of the new publishing house Navayana. |
|
Sociology/Politics/Dalit Studies/Asian Studies Social Justice: An Illustrated Primer on Dalit Politics and Hindutva Ram Puniyani
Introducing the reader to issues in current politics simply and succinctly, Puniyani argues that the public rage against the liberation of Dalits hides the discomfort felt at the liberation of women; indeed the real social issues of caste and gender are buried deep and deflected so that the structural hierarchy of caste and gender remains intact. He argues that we need to be involved actively in the goal for greater social justice, that democracy cannot be protected without supporting the common struggles of Dalits, workers, women and Adivasis for economic, social and gender justice. Ram Punyani taught at IIT Mumbai till 2004 when he took early retirement so that he could be a full-time activist on Human Rights. He contributes a fortnightly e-bulletin, Issues in Secular Politics. He has recently edited Religion, Power and Violence (2006). Demy octavo, pbk, approx 250 pp, ISBN 81-85604-88-6, Sept 2008 approx Rs 350 |
|
Hindu Sharankumar Limbale Translated from the Marathi with an introduction by Arun Prabha Mukherjee Reflecting contemporary conflicts in India, this novel, set in a village in western India, reveals the end of compromise based on fear, which once controlled the untouchables, who go all out the avenge the murder of a dalit activist by upper castes. It also reveals the changing face of gender oppression within all castes. Sharankumar Limbale is a distinguished dalit novelist and critic whose work has been translated into many Indian languages and is beginning to be translated into English (Towards an Aesthetic of Dalit Literature: History, Controversies and Considerations, translated by Alok Mukherjee, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2004). Arun Prabha Mukherjee is Associate Professor, Department of English, York University, Toronto, and a well-known scholar of post-colonial studies and a literary critic. Demy octavo, approx 150pp pbk ISBN 81-85604-95-9 Jan 2009 RS 250 |
|
History/Sociology/Politics/Women’s Writing in Translation Dissent: Writings on Nandigram and the State of West Bengal Saoli Mitra Saoli Mitra’s theatre work is conducive to dissent. Pacham Vaidik, her theatre company has presented Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, her own Bitata Bitangsha (A Web Spread Wide) and her recent adaptation of Poshukhamar (George Orwell’s Animal Farm). Mitra has used theatre as a medium of focusing on the ugly face of state-sponsored terror. When the ruling Left government in West Bengal went on an industrialization overdrive immediately after winning their seventh successive five-year term –- having systematically destroyed the state’s industry in their first decade – Mitra travelled across the state to find out more about the victims of displacement. She met the dispossessed farmers of Singur, the family of the teenage activist Tapasi Malik who was gang-raped and burnt alive for her involvement in the protest against forcible land acquisition; the maimed protestors of Nandigram who refused to part with their land and with the tea garden workers in north Bengal, who must give up their livelihoods to make way for realtors. She gives voice to her outrage, shared by a growing number of uneasy citizens, must be analyzed and shared. The articles, translated for the first time, combine research with on-the-field activism, trying to make sense of each situation in terms of the lessons drawn from the writer’s years of involvement in meaningful theatre. Unlike a purely academic treatise or a journalistic account, Saoli Mitra’s account is charged by both emotion and righteous rage and is an appeal to humanity. A much-admired name among Bengal’s leading theatre persons for more than three decades, Saoli Mitra is now also one of its most intrepid voices, speaking out against the ruling Left government’s policies that seem to admit no debate Her previous books include, Five Lords, Yet None a Protector and Timeless Tales: Two Plays (Stree,April 2006). Chitralekha Basu is an editor, creative writer, literary and film critic who contributes to The Independent and Times Literary Supplement in the UK. Her short fiction and extracts from her translations of Hootum Pyanchar Noksha are featured in the Penguin anthology of Writings on Calcutta, Amit Chaudhuri, ed (forthcoming); she has translated and introduced Urban Tales: A Satirist’s View of Colonial Calcutta, the whole of Hootum Pyanchar Noksha by Kali Prasanna Sinha with a foreword from Amit Chaudhuri (Samya: forthcoming 2009) Demy octavo, approx 300pp pb ISBN 81-85604-99-1 Nov 2008 Rs 350 |
|
|
History/Sociology/Politics/Women's Writing in Translation Urban Tales: A Satirist's View of Colonial Calcutta By Hootum (Kali Prasanna Sinha) Translated and with a critical introduction by Chitralekha Basu From Günter Grass to V. S. Naipaul, Calcutta continues to intrigue the world's finest writers. The city's extraordinary ability to be obsessed with itself, the marvellous tension between its cosmopolitan features and inherent provincial character that contemporary writers find engaging, were probably explored for the first time in Hootum Pyanchar Noksha (literally, Sketches by Hootum). This book, primarily a series of lampoons on the manners and morals of its citizens, cutting across all classes, was written by Kali Prasanna Sinha between 1861 and 1868. The multi-faceted and prodigiously-talented Sinha, best remembered for his translation of humongous classical texts such as the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit into everyday Bengali, evolved a personal idiom - racy, colloquial, playful, rich in words borrowed from other cultures and clever coinages - to write the sketches that many have admired but few were able to emulate. Published in the wake of two significant resistances against the British government - the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny and the Indigo revolts of the mid-nineteenth century, Urban Tales operated at many levels. Sinha uses comedy and scatology as agents of subversion: The potpourri of street lingo and Calcutta cockney, peppered with Sanskrit, Urdu and English, Hootum's language is an anachronistic milestone in the time of Victorian sensibilities that no one has dared emulate. Urban Tales presents the rise of a new social class. It talks of elaborate festivities and ostentatious celebrations to reveal the corruption, distrust, laziness and ignorance that lie beneath. The city of Calcutta receives Sinha's full attention: his portrait of cosmopolitan Calcutta where the gora (white) soldier, the Chinese, the Afghan child-lifter and the language teacher from the Middle East move in the same space, is reminiscent of a shot in Satyajit Ray's Aparajita where the people of different communities/cultures with distinctly different features stop under a shade to avoid the rain. An uncensored portrait of its sleazy backstreets and vibrant inner courtyards that excite, entice and also threaten their occupants. Chitralekha Basu is an editor, creative writer, literary and film critic who contributes to The Independent and Times Literary Supplement in the UK. Her short fiction and extracts from her translations of Hootum Pyanchar Noksha are featured in the Penguin anthology of Writings on Calcutta, Amit Chaudhuri, ed (forthcoming); she has translated and introduced Urban Tales: A Satirist’s View of Colonial Calcutta, the whole of Hootum Pyanchar Noksha by Kali Prasanna Sinha with a foreword from Amit Chaudhuri (Samya: forthcoming 2009) Amit Chaudhuri is an internationally acclaimed novelist and literary critic. His first book, A Strange and Sublime Address (1991), won the Betty Trask Prize, the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (Eurasia Region, Best First Book) and was short listed for the Guardian Fiction Prize. His new collection of essays, Clearing a Space: Reflection on India, Literature, Culture (Peter Lang/Permanent Black), is about to be published, May 2009. He is currently teaching Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Demy octavo hb approx 300pp ISBN 978-81-85604-71-8 Jan 2009 Rs 550 |
|
