POPULARITY
Motherhood is a terrifying condition that changes a woman's life forever. Forget coping with it -- how do you even understand it? Priya Mathews and Gunjan Grover Gupta join Amit Varma in episode 354 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss all they have learnt from being mothers, processing the experience, and their cult podcast, The Mommy Mix Tape. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Priya Mathews and Gunjan Grover Gupta on Instagram.. 2. The Mommy Mix Tape -- The most awesome parenting podcast ever by Priya Mathews, Bakul Dua and Gunjan Grover Gupta. 3. The Mommy Mix Tape on Instagram. 4. A Life's Work -- Rachel Cusk. 5. Of Woman Born -- Adrienne Rich. 6. The Child, the Family, and the Outside World -- Donald Winnicott. 7. Select episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra (1, 2), Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande, Natasha Badhwar, Shanta Gokhale, Arshia Sattar, Rohini Nilekani and Shaili Chopra. 8. In a Silent Way — Episode 316 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gaurav Chintamani). 9. Gaurav Chintamani on Instagram. 10. What Is It Like to Be a Bat? — Thomas Nagel. 11. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 12. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 14. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht's newsletter. 16. Pallavi Aiyar Has Seen the World -- Episode 351 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Babies and Bylines — Pallavi Aiyar. 18. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 19. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 20. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 21. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 22. Murali Neelakantan Looks at the World — Episode 329 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. The Nurture Assumption -- Judith Rich Harris. 24. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 25. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 26. Happiness Class: A Film by Samina Mishra. 27. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma. 29. Hold on to Your Kids -- Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté. 30. The Breeders on Disney Hotstar. 31. My Daughter's Mum -- Natasha Badhwar. 32. I Will -- The Beatles. 33. All You Need is Love -- Shelja Sen. 34. The Whole-Brain Child -- Daniel J Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson. 32. Frances Ha -- Noah Baumbach. 33. The Lost Daughter -- Maggie Gyllenhaal. 34. How to Apologize -- David LaRochelle & Mike Wohnoutka. 35. I Talk Like a River -- Jordan Scott & Sydney Smith. 36. Cry, Heart, But Never Break -- Glenn Ringtved & Charlotte Pardi. 37. A Stone For Sascha -- Aaron Becker. 38. Journey -- Aaron Becker. 39. How War Changed Rondo -- Romana Romanyshyn & Andriy Lesiv. 40. The Wanderer -- Peter Van den Ende. 41. Cicada -- Shaun Tan. 42. The Arrival -- Shaun Tan. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Mother Looking Out, Looking In' by Simahina.
She's been a historian and a filmmaker. She's worked on feminism and caste and Buddhism. She's collected oral histories of India's traumas. She's mentored generations. The legendary Uma Chakravarti joins Amit Varma in episode 332 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life, her times and her invaluable work towards the pursuit of truth. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Uma Chakkravarti on Wikipedia and Amazon. 2. The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism -- Uma Chakravarti. 3. Rewriting History: The Life and Times of Pandita Ramabai -- Uma Chakravarti. 4. Gendering Caste Through a Feminist Lens -- Uma Chakravarti. 5. Delhi Riots: Three Days in the Life of a Nation -- Uma Chakravarti and Nandita Haksar. 6. Thinking Gender, Doing Gender -- Edited by Uma Chakravarti. 7. A Quiet Little Entry -- Uma Chakravarti. 8. Fragments of a Past -- Uma Chakravarti. 9. Ek Inquilab Aur Aaya: Lucknow 1920-1949 -- Uma Chakravarti. 10. Prison Diaries -- Uma Chakravarti. 11. Sexual Violence in Indian Society -- Uma Chakravarti. 12. Restructuring the Path: Inserting Women into History (2000) -- Uma Chakravarti. 13. Select episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande, Natasha Badhwar, Shanta Gokhale, Arshia Sattar, Rohini Nilekani and Shaili Chopra. 14. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 15. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Whatever happened To Ehsan Jafri on February 28, 2002? — Harsh Mander. 17. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 18. Kiran Ahluwalia Finds Our Aam Zameen -- Episode 328 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Yogendra Yadav on why he was named Salim. 20. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 21. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 22. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 23. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 24. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 25. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 26. A Venture Capitalist Looks at the World — Episode 213 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sajith Pai). 27. Therīgāthā on Wikipedia and Amazon. 28. Arshia Sattar and the Complex Search for Dharma — Episode 315 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. Deedar -- Nitin Bose. 30. Diya Jalao Jagmag Jagmag -- Song from Tansen. 31. Do Bigha Zameen -- Bimal Roy. 32. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 34. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman — Mary Wollstonecraft. 35. Frankenstein -- Mary Shelley. 36. Amit Varma's episode of The Book Club on Wollstonecraft's book. 37. Amit Varma's episode of The Book Club on Shelley's book. 38. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia — Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen. 39. Manjima Bhattacharjya: The Making of a Feminist — Episode 280 of The Seen and the Unseen. 40. A Cricket Tragic Celebrates the Game — Episode 201 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 41. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 42. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 43. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 44. Education in India — Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 45. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 46. The Great Redistribution — Amit Varma. 47. The Beautiful Tree — James Tooley. 48. Hum Dekhenge -- Iqbal Bano. 49. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Question of Socialism in India -- V Geetha. 50. Let's Read Ambedkar -- Lecture series by V Geetha. 51. Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India -- Douglas Ober. 52. The Conversion of the Untouchables -- BR Ambedkar. 53. The Gregorian Chant. 54. Deva Bandha Namma -- Bhimsen Joshi. 55. Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada So Hi Param Pada Pavega -- Bhimsen Joshi. 56. Vaishnav Jan To -- Riyaaz Qawwali. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Carrying the Torch' by Simahina.
Women in India are much more than either bechari, badass or bitch -- and they won't be defined any more by the male gaze. Shaili Chopra joins Amit Varma in episode 325 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life, her learnings and why she won't hold back on her anger. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shaili Chopra on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon and her own website. 2. Sisterhood Economy -- Shaili Chopra. 3. SheThePeople.tv and GyTree. 4. Let Her Be Angry -- Shaila Chopra's TEDx Talk. 5. Select episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande, Natasha Badhwar, Shanta Gokhale, Arshia Sattar and Rohini Nilekani. 6. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. The Argumentative Indian -- Amartya Sen. 8. Jai Arjun Singh Lost It at the Movies — Episode 230 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. The Life and Times of Mita Kapur -- Episode 322 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 12. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra. 13. How Social Media Threatens Society — Episode 8 of Brave New World, hosted by Vasant Dhar, featuring Jonathan Haidt. 14. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas, Varun Duggirala, Neelesh Misra, Snehal Pradhan, Chuck Gopal, Nishant Jain, Deepak Shenoy, Abhijit Bhaduri and Gaurav Chintamani. 15. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 16. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 17. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Mrinal Pande's pieces for Pragati on women in Indian agriculture: 1, 2. 19. Men Must Step Up Now -- Amit Varma. 20. 'What's Your Favourite Position?' -- Shaili Chopra's Instagram post. 21. Imposter Syndrome. 22. Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh — Shrayana Bhattacharya. 23. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 24. Private Truths, Public Lies — Timur Kuran. 25. ‘Let Me Interrupt Your Expertise With My Confidence' — New Yorker cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein. 26. The Second Sex — Simone de Beauvoir. 27. The #MeToo Movement — Episode 90 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Supriya Nair & Nikita Saxena). 28. We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates (2008) — Amit Varma. 29. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 30. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht -- Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. The Raja Beta Syndrome — Mahima Vashisht. 32. Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative. 33. Ways of Seeing -- John Berger. 34. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 35. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dabangg, Mardaani, Badhaai Ho, Badhaai Do, Astitva and Lust Stories. 36. Alice Munro, Marilynne Robinson, Mary Oliver and JK Rowling. 39. Everybody Lies — Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. 40. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 41. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 42. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 43. Alice Evans Studies the Great Gender Divergence — Episode 297 of The Seen and the Unseen. 44. The Life and Work of Ashwini Deshpande -- Episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. Women at Work — Ep 132 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Namita Bhandare). 46. The Code Breaker -- Walter Isaacson. 47. Lessons in Chemistry -- Bonnie Garmus. 48. Caste -- Isabel Wilkerson. 49. Normal People -- Sally Rooney. 50. Conversations with Friends -- Sally Rooney. 51. Red, White & Royal Blue -- Casey McQuiston. 52. Curry -- Lizzie Cunningham. 53. Figuring -- Maria Popova. 54. The Marginalian -- Maria Popova's website. 55. Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary -- Anita Anand. 56. Hello, Mum -- Polly Dunbar. 57. Bruno Mars, Blue, Michael Jackson, Amjad Ali Khan, Shobha Gurtu, Shubha Mudgal and Kishori Amonkar on Spotify. 58. Chor Bazari, Prem Ki Naiyya and Girls Like To Swing. 59. Waka Waka -- Shakira. 60. Valeria, Unauthorised Living, Monarca, and High Seas. 61. Sitting Woman -- Henri Matisse. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘The Sisterhood' by Simahina.
Samaaj came before Sarkaar and Bazaar. We are more than subjects of the state and consumers of the market. Rohini Nilekani joins Amit Varma in episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life and her learnings, why citizens need to embrace their agency -- and why those with wealth have a special responsibility. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Rohini Nilekani on Amazon, Wikipedia and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. 2. Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar : A citizen-first approach -- Rohini Nilekani. 3. Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. 4. Arghyam, EkStep and Pratham Books. 5. The Annual Status of Education (ASER) Report, 2022. 6. Enid Blyton, Just William, Winnie the Pooh, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys on Amazon. 7. A Terrible Beauty -- Peter Watson. 8. Iris Murdoch and VS Ramachandran on Amazon. 9. The Tell-Train Brain -- VS Ramachandran. 10. The Long Road From Neeyat to Neeti -- Episode 313 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley). 11. Sansar Se Bhage Phirte Ho — Song from Chitralekha with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi. 12. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 13. Arshia Sattar and the Complex Search for Dharma -- Episode 315 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Germaine Greer, Nancy Friday and Betty Friedan on Amazon. 15. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia — Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Select episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande, Natasha Badhwar, Shanta Gokhale and Arshia Sattar. 17. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 18. The Will to Change — Bell Hooks. 19. The Jackson Katz quote on passive sentence constructions. 20. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 21. Imposter Syndrome. 22. Gerald Durrell, The Jungle Book and Black Beauty on Amazon. 23. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. 24. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Mohit Satyanand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 25. The Chauri Chaura Incident. 26. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on Covid-19: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 27. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence — Amit Varma. 28. The Third Pillar — Raghuram Rajan. 29. Participatory Democracy — Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 30. Cities and Citizens — Episode 198 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 31. Helping Others in the Fog of Pandemic — Episode 226 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 32. Lewis Mumford on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 33. Abby Philips Fights for Science and Medicine — Episode 310 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. The Median Voter Theorem. 35. Mohammad Zubair's Twitter thread on the Dharam Sansad. 36. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister — Amit Varma's column on the importance of reading. 37. Janaagraha. 38. Emergent Ventures. 39. Giving Billions Fast, MacKenzie Scott Upends Philanthropy -- Nicholas Kulish. 40. The/Nudge Institute, Give India, Dasra and Bridgespan India. 41. Lewis Hyde on Amazon. 42. The Brass Notebook: A Memoir - Devaki Jain. 43. Breaking Through: A Memoir -- Isher Judge Ahluwalia. 44. My Life in Full -- Indra Nooyi. 45. A Full Life -- Sabira Merchant. 46. Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past and Savarkar: A Contested Legacy -- Vikram Sampath. 47. Ramachandra Guha on Amazon. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Nurture' by Simahina.
In today's episode, we have Sorayya Khan in #FiveDesiFaves. She has a new memoir: We Take Our Cities With Us. Here, she discusses the five desi books to which she owes a substantial debt. Covering multiple genres and generations, these books are by Sara Suleri, Bapsi Sidhwa, Agha Shahid Ali, Urvashi Butalia, and Intizar Husain. Thank you for listening. Twitter: @DesiBooks Instagram: @desi.books Facebook: @desibooksfb Website: https://desibooks.co Newsletter: https://bit.ly/desibooksnews Email: desibooks@desibooks.co
Women are not the only victims of patriarchy -- men are also diminished by it. Nikhil Taneja joins Amit Varma in episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss what he has learnt about mental health, young people in India, the epidemic of loneliness in our country -- and the enormous power of storytelling. (For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.) Also check out: 1. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 2. Nikhil Taneja on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, IMDb and HT Brunch. 3. Yuvaa. 4. The internet—a toxic love story -- Nikhil Taneja. 5. The pandemic pretence of being ‘okay' -- Nikhil Taneja. 6. Keeping up with the algorithms -- Nikhil Taneja. 7. It is okay for men to cry -- Nikhil Taneja. 8. Reject the mission statement of your gender -- Nikhil Taneja. 9. Kindness: Don't be an A**hole! -- Nikhil Taneja. 10. Why young Indians are lonelier than ever before -- Nikhil Taneja. 11. How stories can heal our divided world -- Nikhil Taneja. 12. Nikhil Taneja on Advertising is Dead with Varun Duggirala. 13. Nikhil Taneja on the Filter Koffee Podcast with Karthik Nagarajan. 14. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted — Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. Episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande and Natasha Badhwar. 16. Hitesh Kewalya on Twitter, Instagram and IMDb. 17. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. 18. Dev Anand and Roger Corman. 19. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal -- Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 21. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. Gendered Leadership Course by Angellica Aribam. 23. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 24. Dreamers — Snigdha Poonam. 25. Men Must Step Up Now -- Amit Varma. 26. Beedi Jali Le -- Song from Omkara. 27. NH 10 (Navdeep Singh), Hichki (Siddharth Malhotra), Chhapaak (Meghna Gulzar), Rashmi Rocket (Akarsh Khurana) and Queen (Vikas Bahl). 28. Ghostbusters (2016, Paul Feig) and The Lost City (Nee Brothers). 29. 3 Idiots (Rajkumar Hirani), Dangal (Nitesh Tiwari), Badhaai Ho (Amit Ravindernath Sharma), Kantara (Rishab Shetty) and Thugs of Hindostan (Vijay Krishna Acharya). 30. Aamir Khan on Koffee With Karan (2018). 31. Parasite -- Bong Joon-ho. 32. Asghar Farhadi on Wikipedia and IMDb. 33. Delhi Crime. 34. TikTok and Indian Society -- The online course conducted by Amit Varma, now no longer on offer. 35. Vicky Donor (Shoojit Sircar) and RRR (SS Rajamouli). 36. Salim-Javed. 37. Range Rover — The archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Economic Times. 38. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Aditya Chopra) and Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (Rakesh Roshan). 39. Dev D (Anurag Kashyap), Udaan (Vikramaditya Motwane) and Oye Lucky Oye Lucky (Dibakar Banerjee). 40. Bhuvam Bam, Prajakta Koli and Amit Bhadana. 41. Man's World (Y-Films) and Ki & Ka (R Balki). 42. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 43. Mumbai Diaries 26/11 -- NIkhil Advani. 44. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 45. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 46. If You Are a Creator, This Is Your Time -- Amit Varma. 47. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas, Varun Duggirala, Neelesh Misra, Snehal Pradhan, Chuck Gopal, Nishant Jain, Deepak Shenoy and Abhijit Bhaduri. 48. One Cut of the Dead — Shin'ichirō Ueda. 49. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala -- Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty). 50. Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith (Clerks), Sofia Coppola and Richard Linklater. 51. The Life and Work of Ashwini Deshpande -- Episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen. 52. Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Mani Kaul. 53. Andaz Apna Apna (Rajkumar Santoshi), Gunda (Kanti Shah) and Disco Dancer (Babbar Subhash). 54. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht -- Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht's newsletter. 56. Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence — Shrayana Bhattacharya. 57. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 58. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra. 59. Shravana Kumara, the pious son. 60. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kavitha Rao). 61. Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine — Kavitha Rao. 62. Penelope Fitzgerald on Amazon and Wikipedia. 63. Roshan Abbas and the Creator Economy -- Episode 239 of The Seen and the Unseen. 64. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai -- Karan Johar. 65. The Chaos Machine -- Max Fisher. 66. The Social Dilemma -- Jeff Orlowski. 67. The Flying Spaghetti Monster. 68. Coming Out as Bisexual -- Mohit's talk at Main Hoon Yuvaa. 69. Nikhil Taneja's Twitter thread on his anxiety. 70. Nikhil Taneja's Facebook post on his anxiety. 71. Chandrahas Choudhury's Country of Literature — Episode 288 of The Seen and the Unseen. 72. Turtles All the Way Down -- John Green. 73. Don't think too much of yourself. You're an accident — Amit Varma's column on Chris Cornell's death. 74. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks. 75. Amit Varma's favourite shower gel. 76. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 77. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 78. Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience and Parks and Recreation. 79. Greatest Events of WWII in Colour -- The Netflix docuseries mentioned by Nikhil. 80. Zeynep Tufekci's newsletter, Twitter and column archive. 81. Ed Yong on Twitter, Amazon, The Atlantic and his own website. 82. My Friend Dropped His Pants -- Amit Varma. 83. Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill by Richard Curtis. 84. Project Everyone. 85. Ladies Room, 6 Pack Band and Bang Baaja Baaraat. 86. Maja Ma -- Anand Tiwari. 87. Phone Bhoot, Badhaai Ho and Crash Course. 88. Let's Talk Consent. 89. Queeristan -- Episode 190 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parmesh Shahani).. 90. Gray (Sakshi Gurnani) and Tasalli Se (Tarun Dudeja). 91. Dear Teenage Me.-- A podcast by Yuvaa on Spotify. 92. Humankind: A Hopeful History -- Rutger Bregman. 93. The Stanford Prison Experiment. 94. Invisible Women — Caroline Criado Perez. 95. Will -- Will Smith's autobiography. 96. Homeland Elegies -- Ayad Akhtar. 97. Yearbook -- Seth Rogan. 98. Shamoon Ismail on YouTube and Spotify. 99. Vampire Weekend on YouTube and Spotify. 100. Dev D by Amit Trivedi. 101. Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke -- Song from Nau Do Gyarah, starring Dev Anand. 102. The Before Trilogy by Richard Linklater. 103. Rambling Man -- An interview of Richard Linklater by Nikhil Taneja. 104. Superchor -- Song from Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. 104. Succession, Ted Lasso and Bojack Horseman. 105. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory -- Raphael Bob-Waksberg. 106. The Lord of the Rings -- JRR Tolkein. 107. The Lord of the Rings -- The films. 108. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. 109. 8 Book Recommendations by Nikhil Taneja on Chalchitra Talks. 110. Weekly Movie Recommendations by Nikhil Taneja on Chalchitra Talks. 111. 80 Marvelous Recommendations by Nikhil Taneja on Chalchitra Talks. 112. Nikhil Taneja's 2020 and 2021 recommendations on Instagram. 113. Nikhil Taneja's 2022 favourites, specially compiled for The Seen and the Unseen. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘I'm not lonely' by Simahina.
Such a delight to meet someone who continues to pursue a wide range of interests while specializing enough to be a University Professor! Usha Raman is Professor of Communication at the University of Hyderabad, Vice President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Editor of ‘Teacher Plus' magazine, writer for ‘The Hindu', and a core team member of the Hyderabad Literary Festival. Phew! Usha shares her journalistic journey, her adventures in reading, writing, teaching and podcasting here on Episode 76. Her fantastic tips on what to listen to and read right now are not to be missed!Listen now on your favorite podcast app, or at www.theindianedit.com and please take a second to rate us wherever you're listening so the voices of these inspiring women can be heard all over the world!SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 76:Find Usha at her website, on instagram, her substack and Twitter: @usharamanUsha's Podcast Reading for our times and magazine Teacher PlusThe Hyderabad Literary Festival in late JanuaryPODCAST TIPS:How to Fail with Elizabeth Day - Usha recommends the Stanley Tucci and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie episodesEmpire podcast with Anita Anand and William DalrympleAmit Varma's podcast The Seen and The Unseen: episode on with Urvashi Butalia is here883 to Infinity (podcast by a Bombay and Karachi based duo)BOOKS we discussed:Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry booksHarini Nagendra's books including the Bangalore Detectives ClubSiddhartha Mukherjee's booksAgatha Christie's And Then There were None audiobook read by Dan StevensNora Ephron's Heartburn read by Meryl StreepBeloved read by Toni Morrisson The Dutch House by Ann Patchett read by Tom HanksQuestions? Comments? Get in touch @theindianeditpodcast on Instagram !Special thanks to Varun Dhabe and the team @ Boon Castle / Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!
Her pioneering work has helped us understand how caste and gender remain huge problems in India. But her past goes beyond numbers, into a rich history of aajobas and aajis and theatre and song. Ashwini Deshpande joins Amit Varma in episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how she used her economist's gaze to understand our social problems -- and how films and music also played their part. (For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.) Also check out: 1. Ashwini Deshpande on Twitter, Ashoka, Google Scholar, Amazon and her own website. 2. The Grammar of Caste -- Ashwini Deshpande. 3. Why are Indian Women not employed? -- Ashwini Deshpande's talk for Manthan. 4. What Women Do: Is it even "work"? -- A seminar by Ashwini Deshpande at Ashoka. 5. The New Grammar of Caste -- Ashwini Deshpande's talk at JNU. 6. Gender and Caste Discrimination and Affirmative Action in India -- Ashwini Deshpande speaks to Shruti Rajagopalan on the Ideas of India podcast. 7. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad -- Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that discussed gender with Shrayana Bhattacharya, Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Urvashi Butalia, Namita Bhandare, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Mahima Vashisht and Alice Evans. 9. Amit Varma's tweet with Ashwini Deshpande's viral and potentially award-winning vocal performance. 10. Archaeology and the Public Purpose -- Nayanjot Lahiri. 11. Rahimatpur: Town along the Kamandalu -- GP Deshpande. 12. Satyashodhak (out-of-print book) (YouTube) -- GP Deshpande. 13. Uddhwasta Dharmashala (Marathi) (English)-- GP Deshpande. 14. Thelma and Louise -- Ridley Scott. 15. Jyoti Subhash, Amruta Subhash, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Ebrahim Alkazi, Rohini Hattangadi, Jayadev Hattangadi, Manohar Singh, Sai Paranjpye, Arun Joglekar, Shriram Lagoo and Amol Palekar. 16. Ghashiram Kotwal -- Vijay Tendulkar. 17. Jai Santoshi Maa -- Vijay Sharma. 18. English Vinglish -- Gauri Shinde. 19. Satyajit Ray and Manmohan Desai. 20. Qurbani -- Feroz Khan. 21. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala -- Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty). 22. Dance Dance — Babbar Subhash. 23. Aagaya Aagaya Halwa Wala — Song from Dance Dance. 24. Ek Aur Ek Gyarah -- David Dhawan. 25. Baba Sehgal and ML Sondhi. 26. The Man Who Resides in Music -- PL Deshpande on Malikarjun Mansur, translated by Ashwini Deshpande. 27. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy -- Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Chhoti Si Baat -- Basu Chatterjee. 29. Raj Kumar's famous dialogue from Waqt. 30. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and Manik Bhide. 31. Yuval Noah Harari on Amazon. 32. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. 33. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht -- Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. Kaushik Basu and Amazon, Twitter, Wikipedia and his own website. 35. Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? -- Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan. 36. Race At Work: Realities of Race and Criminal Record in the NYC Job Market -- Devah Pager and Bruce Western. 37. Walking the Talk? What Employers Say Versus What They Do -- Devah Pager and Lincoln Quillian. 38. The Economics of Discrimination -- Gary Becker. 39. How Gary Becker Saw the Scourge of Discrimination -- Kevin Murphy. 40. The Theory of Discrimination -- Kenneth Arrow. 41. What Has Economics to Say About Racial Discrimination? -- Kenneth Arrow. 42. Who gains from the new Maternity Benefit Act Amendment? — Devika Kher. 43. Here's What's Wrong With the Maternity Benefits Act — Suman Joshi. 44. Who is the Identifiable Victim?: Caste Interacts with Sympathy in India -- Ashwini Deshpande and Dean Spears. 45. Identifiable victim effect. 46. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study -- Thomas Sowell. 47. Dominant or Backward? Political Economy of the Demand for Quotas by Jats, Patels and Marathas -- Ashwini Deshpande and Rajesh Ramachandran. 48. (In)Visibility, Care and Cultural Barriers: The Size and Shape of Women's Work in India -- Ashwini Deshpande and Naila Kabeer. 49. Norms that matter -- Ashwini Deshpande and Naila Kabeer. 50. The gendered effects of droughts -- Farzana Afridi, Kanika Mahajan and Nikita Sangwan. 51. The COVID-19 Pandemic and Gendered Division of Paid and Unpaid Work -- Ashwini Deshpande. 52. Women's Work in India: Evidence from changes in time use between 1998 and 2019 -- Nicholas Li. 53. Dropping Out, Being Pushed Out or Can't Get in? Decoding Declining Labour Force Participation of Indian Women -- Ashwini Deshpande and Jitendra Singh. 54. Women at Work -- Episode 132 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Namita Bhandare). 55. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman -- Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 56. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal -- Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 57. Metrics of Empowerment — Episode 88 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devika Kher, Nidhi Gupta & Hamsini Hariharan). 58. We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates (2008) — Amit Varma. 59. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 60. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 61. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 62. Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State -- Episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen. 63. Ret Samadhi -- Geetanjali Shree. 64. Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya -- Mohammed Rafi song from Hum Dono. 65. Court — Chaitanya Tamhane. 66. The Disciple — Chaitanya Tamhane. 67. Line of Duty, Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, Shetland, The Good Wife, The Good Fight and Giri/Haji. 68. The Good Doctor -- Damon Galgut. 69. Gangubai Kathiawadi -- Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: 'Patriarchy' by Simahina.
We're in the 21st century, and it would seem that the world is finally moving towards gender equality, right? Not so fast. Alice Evans joins Amit Varma in episode 297 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss why some parts of the world are crawling slower than others. (For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.) Also check out: 1. Alice Evans on her blog, website, YouTube, podcast, Google Scholar, King's College and Twitter. 2. Rocking Our Priors -- Alice Evans's podcast. 3. Ten Thousand Years of Patriarchy, Updated! -- Alice Evans. 4. An Intellectual History of the Patriarchy -- Alice Evans. 5. Friendships and Women's Liberation -- Alice Evans. 6. 3 Things I Got Wrong About Patriarchy -- Alice Evans. 7. What Don't We Know About Patriarchy? -- Alice Evans. 8. Overcoming the Global Despondency Trap -- Alice Evans. 9. Ideas of India: The Great Gender Divergence -- Alice Evans on Shruti Rajagopalan's podcast. 10. Ideas of India: Female Friendships and Fraternal Capital -- Alice Evans on Shruti Rajagopalan's podcast. 11. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that discussed gender with Shrayana Bhattacharya, Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Urvashi Butalia, Namita Bhandare, Manjima Bhattacharjya and Mahima Vashisht. 12. Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome. 13. We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates (2008) — Amit Varma. 14. Metrics of Empowerment — Episode 88 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devika Kher, Nidhi Gupta & Hamsini Hariharan). 15. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 16. Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh — Shrayana Bhattacharya. 17. Chup: Breaking the Silence About India's Women -- Deepa Narayan. 18. Terror as a Bargaining Instrument -- Francis Bloch and Vijayendra Rao. 19. Russia: Bill to Decriminalize Domestic Violence -- Human Rights Watch. 20. The Argumentative Indian -- Amartya Sen. 21. Climate Change and Our Power Sector -- Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah). 22. Nuclear Power Can Save the World — Joshua S Goldstein, Staffan A Qvist and Steven Pinker. 23. Emergent Ventures prizes for best new and recent blogs -- Tyler Cowen. 24. Zotero -- Your Personal Research Assistant. 25. Most of Amit Varma's writing on DeMon, collected in one Twitter thread. 26. On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough -- Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano, Nathan Nunn. 27. The Ties That Bound -- Barbara A Hanawalt. 28. Jared Diamond and Paul Collier on Amazon. 29. Pseudoerasmus.-- Blog about economic history & comparative development. 30. Daron Acemoglu on Amazon. 31. Naila Kabeer on Twitter, LSE, her own website.and Google Scholar. 32. Sylvia Chant at LSE and Google Scholar. 33. Claudia Goldin at Harvard and Google Scholar. 34. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 35. Tony Joseph's episode of The Seen and the Unseen. 36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 37. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 38. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 39. On the Economic Origins of Restricting Women's Promiscuity -- Anke Becker. 40. Herding, Warfare, and a Culture of Honor: Global Evidence -- Yiming Cao, Benjamin Enke, Armin Falk, Paola Giuliano and Nathan Nunn. 41. The Politics of Marriage in Medieval India: Gender and Alliance in Rajasthan -- Sabita Singh. 42. The Ulema-State Alliance: A Barrier to Democracy and Development in the Muslim World -- Ahmet T Kuru. 43. Gendered Morality -- Zahra Ayubi. 44. Parkinson's Law — C Northcote Parkinson. 45. Sowmya Dhanaraj and Vidya Mahambare speak to Alice Evans on her podcast. 46. Structural Transformation and Employment Generation in India -- Amit Basole. 47. Networks and Misallocation: Insurance, Migration, and the Rural-Urban Wage Gap -- Kaivan Munshi and Mark Rosenzweig. 48. Curse of the Mummy‐Ji: The Influence of Mothers‐In‐Law on Women in India -- S Anukriti, Catalina Herrera‐Almanza, Praveen Pathak and Mahesh Karra. 49. Gender, Intersectionality and Smartphones in Rural West Bengal -- Sirpa Tenhunen. 50. Private Truths, Public Lies — Timur Kuran. 51. The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development -- Yuhua Wang. 52. Penis pins. 53. Female Monarchs and Merchant Queens in Africa -- Nwando Achebe. 54. The Enlightened Economy: Britain and the Industrial Revolution, 1700-1850 -- Joel Mokyr. 55. The Slave Trade and the Origins of Mistrust in Africa -- Nathan Nunn and Leonard Wantchekon. 56. Michael Pollan on coffee. 57. Public Goods and Ethnic Divisions -- Alberto Alesina, Reza Baqir and William Easterly. 58. The Progress of Humanity -- Episode 101 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Steven Pinker). 59. Claiming the State -- Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner. 60. Capable Women, Incapable States -- Poulami Roychowdhury. 61. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg. 62. A Godless Congregation — Amit Varma. 63. Honour and Shame: Women in Modern Iraq -- Sana Al-Khayyat. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art by Simahina.
The evil of caste will be solved not by deliverance from up top but empowerment from down below. Dalit scholar and writer Chandra Bhan Prasad joins Amit Varma in episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain why the cure for caste lies in capitalism -- and why his two great heroes are Babasaheb Ambedkar and Adam Smith. (For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.) Also check out: 1. Chandra Bhan Prasad on Twitter, Amazon, Wikipedia. Mercatus, Times of India and Google Scholar. 2. Defying the Odds: The Rise of Dalit Entrepreneurs -- Devesh Kapur, D Shyam Babu and Chandra Bhan Prasad. 3. What is Ambedkarism? -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 4. Dalit Phobia: Why Do They Hate Us -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 5. When Adam Smith entered an Ambedkar village -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 6. In defence of suit, boot -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 7. How Piketty got it wrong -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 8. Who was the real Ambedkar? -- Chandra Bhan Prasad. 9. On Ambedkarism, Caste and Dalit Capitalism -- Chandra Bhan Prasad in conversation with Shruti Rajagopalan in the Ideas of India podcast. 10. 'Indian languages carry the legacy of caste' -- Chandra Bhan Prasad interviewed by Sheela Bhatt. 11. Rethinking Inequality: Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the Market Reform Era -- Devesh Kapur, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett and D Shyam Babu. 12. The Collected Writings and Speeches of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. 13. The Dalit Emancipation Manifesto of 1951 -- Babasaheb Ambedkar. 14. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that discussed caste with TM Krishna, Shruti Rajagopalan and Manu Pillai. 15. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that discussed the 1991 reforms with Shruti Rajagopalan+Ajay Shah, Vinay Sitapati and Montek Singh Ahluwalia. 16. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that discussed gender with Shrayana Bhattacharya, Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Urvashi Butalia, Namita Bhandare, Manjima Bhattacharjya and Mahima Vashisht. 17. Ramchandra Keh Gaye Siya Se -- Song from Gopi. 18. The Laws of Manu (Manu Smriti) -- The Penguin edition & the Buhler translation. 19. India's Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality — Amit Varma. 20. What Have We Done With Our Independence? — Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 21. Devesh Kapur at University of Pennsylvania. 22. Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias -- The New York Times profile of Chandra Bhan Prasad by Somini Sengupta. 23. In an Indian Village, Signs of the Loosening Grip of Caste -- The Washington Post piece on Chandra Bhan Prasad by Emily Wax. 24. Small Holdings in India and Their Remedies -- Babasaheb Ambedkar. 25. Aims and Objects of the Republican Party of India -- Babasaheb Ambedkar. 26. Ambedkar's memorandum to the British (in Volume 10 of his collected works). This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art by Simahina, in a homage to Gond painting.
This week, Neha discusses what happened to many children amidst the chaos of Partition. She interviews Nasir Dhillon and his work reuniting families, most notably two brothers, Sadiq and Sika Khan who lost each other and were reunited in 2022. Sources/Links: The Other Side of Silence by Urvashi Butalia Two brothers were separated in India during the partition. 74 years later, they have finally reunited - Washington Post Punjabi Lehar YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkgJxsi3aAs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqwomJarhYk Voiceover for Urvashi Butalia is provided by Nafisa Aziz Voiceover for Sadiq Khan is provided by Aziz Akbarali Voiceover for Sika Khan is provided by Ahmed Amirali Voiceover for Nasir Dhillon is provided by Manahar Kumar https://twitter.com/1947pod https://www.instagram.com/partitionpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/nehaaziz/ https://twitter.com/NehaAziz13 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During Partition women were murdered, raped, kidnapped, and abused at the hands of men. This week Neha talks to Partition survivor, Manjula Waldron, as she shares her memories of escaping with her family. In order to cope with her trauma, Manjula wrote a fictional historical novel called Love Partitioned where women are at the forefront. The Other Side of Silence by Urvashi Butalia Survivor account - Manjula Waldron Voiceover for Urvashi Butalia is provided by Shanti ThakurSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
She helped generations of women in India find a voice. She expanded the worldview of countless people. She confronted the horrors of our past and the fissures of our present. Urvashi Butalia joins Amit Varma in episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and learnings. Also check out: 1. Urvashi Butalia at Zubaan and Amazon. 2. The Other Side of Silence -- Urvashi Butalia. 3. Zubaan Books and Kali for Women. 4. Turning the Page for Feminism -- Nilanjana Roy on Urvashi Butalia. 5. Episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya and Nilanjana Roy. 6. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy -- Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 8. Tales from the Kathasaritsagara -- Somadeva (translated by Arshia Sattar). 9. The Auschwitz Memorial Twitter account. 10. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life -- Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Will to Change — Bell Hooks. 12. Men Must Step Up Now -- Amit Varma. 13. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow -- Washington Irving. 14. Mahadevi Varma and Sheila Bhatia. 15. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 17. Rukmini Sees India's Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 18. The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections -- Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala. 19. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 20. What Have We Done With Our Independence? — Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 21. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Abhinandan Sekhri). 22. Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on Status of Women in India (1974). 23. The Kavita Krishnan Files -- Episode 228 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. Manjima Bhattacharjya: The Making of a Feminist -- Episode 280 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Kamla Bhasin on Wikipedia. 26. Division of Hearts -- Satti Khanna and Peter Chappell. 27. Heer Ranjha. 28. Kumar Gandharva sings Nirgun Bhajans. 29. Reshma sings Bulle Shah. 30. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on Spotify. 31. Ek Onkar -- Harshdeep Kaur. 32. Chaudhvin Ka Chand -- Guru Dutt. 33. Pyaasa -- Guru Dutt. 34. A Question of Silence -- Marleen Gorris. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! The illustration for this episode is by Nishant Jain aka Sneaky Artist. Check out his work on Twitter, Instagram and Substack.
What is the importance of women's stories? How do we learn the art of listening with humility and respect for storytellers? Feminist independent publisher Urvashi Butalia is here to answer these questions, and give us an insight into publishing exclusive stories, practicing intergenerational leadership, and getting on a bicycle before you turn 70. Tune in this week to discover the power of challenging yourself to listen in situations that make you uncomfortable. Urvashi Butalia is discussing her experiences of sharing the stories of women over the past four decades, and of accepting that now is the time for her organization to take the path of the next generation of leaders and changemakers. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mallikadutt.com/s2e08 Leadership Moves is supported by the BUILD program of the Ford Foundation Podcast music composed by Devadas, (c) Mallika Dutt, LLC 2021 Production team: Mallika Dutt, Kiani Ned, Loubna Bouajaj, and Digital Freedom Productions Sign up for Mallika's email newsletter at mallikadutt.com/join Follow Mallika: Twitter: twitter.com/mallikadutt Instagram: instagram.com/mallikadutt Facebook: facebook.com/mallikadutt YouTube: youtube.com/c/MallikaDutt-IC
When the lockdowns started last year, and we had to spend a lot of time with ourselves, staying within, physically and emotionally, a lot of us found solace in fictional escape and imaginary worlds. We turned to literature for relief, relatability and reference. In todays episode, we will be discussing the importance of reading and books and why it is imperative for more women to tell stories and how stories always sustain us because we are all our stories in the end! Joining us in this episode is Urvashi Butalia, a feminist writer, publisher and activist. She is known for her work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from and the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. She co-founded Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house, in 1984. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books. In 2011, she was awarded the Padma Shri, for her work in Literature and Education.
Urvashi Butalia comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss why it is important to tell feminist histories, challenging his story, and the current state of publishing. On this deep dive episode, we get into a discussion around the fluidity of identity, stories of partition survivors, and having empathy of the other. Urvashi Butalia is an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. She is known for her work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from and the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. Along with Ritu Menon, she co-founded Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house, in 1984. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books, an imprint of Kali for Women. In 2011, Butalia and Menon were jointly awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for their work in Literature and Education. Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder. https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadghias/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:00 History vs herstory: Erasure of women from History 10:06 Womens bodies become the targets 20:30 Sona Chaman kee kahani 24:50 Hum Hindu ya Musalman nahee, hum Dalit hain 30:50 Identity and violence 37:00 Flexibity and fluidity in Identity 51:00 Reassertion of Identity during times of crisis 1:00:00 Grappling with Partition and your history 1:06:45 Does Pakistan's triumphant narrative about 1947 leave space for grief? 1:20:00 Empathy of the other 1:23:00 You cant compare traditional history vs peoples history 1:36:20 Can you write about something that is not your identity? 1:42:20 What is the ethos of a feminist publishing house? 1:48:00 Publishing is not commercially viable 1:54:30 Audience Q&As
In this episode, we talk with Taha Ahmad about how he navigates ethics in his longterm projects. He stresses the importance of extensive research in his workflow, of building relationships with the people he photographs, and of approaching traumatic histories with care and sensitivity. Finally, he describes the personal experiences that have tested his ethics.What you'll find inside:“I would not have been able to access [family archives] because it is with the family, so I have to take the permission. And whenever I shoot any of the archival material, I shoot it in front of the family members so that they are aware what I am shooting or what I am scanning or which letter I'm scanning and also how I'm going to use it.” (7:28)“It's not easy and you know it's not even easy emotionally for me because you know talking about those incidents again and again … a lot of times talking about this takes them back and gives them an emotional toll. What I do is, my process is I never go and talk about it straight away. … They start telling me themselves, and this is how I finally make a relation with them. And then I start asking them questions so that they don't feel that I am here just to extract the tragic memories they have, but instead you know they feel that I am a curious person who is here to understand.” (10:10)“I know that I work on longterm projects, I have ample time. So, even if I am not shooting for, let's say, two weeks, it doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that I'm able to get the real truth out of it.” (13:14)Discussion about the importance of research (15:00)“Research is also something which actually becomes a part of your process, it is something which actually leads you to a particular idea, it is something which decides how you are going to execute it, how are you going to gain access. … This is why research is important, because when a person knows about the roots of their work … they have a better understanding of the kind of work they are going to produce and what impact the work could make when it is out in front of the world.” (16:40)On making decisions about photographing graphic subjects (Warning: Graphic content 22:00 – 24:00) (21:05)Complications of consent when embedding in a community (26:30)What does photo ethics mean to Taha?“Photography ethics I would say, especially for me, it might differ from person to person … for me it is kind of the morals that I live my daily life with … ethics again differ from place to place, work to work, and situation to situation.” (18:30)Links:The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India by Urvashi Butalia
Information empowers and its role in a democracy is especially critical and definitive. In this important session, social activist Aruna Roy, the power behind the RTI Movement and Harsh Mander, fearless activist, who works with survivors of mass violence and hunger, the homeless and street children, and also the Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, make a passionate plea for the ‘Right to Know’ in order to challenge the convenient obscurantism of those in power. In conversation with Indian feminist and publisher Urvashi Butalia, a session rich in anecdote and readings from The RTI Story: Power to the People, authored by Roy, and for those who ask questions to seek answers. This episode is a live session from day 2 of #ZEEJLF2019.
6:41 The difference between Hinduism and Hindutva 12:55 How is ethnonationalist militancy compatible with Hinduism? 19:42 Buddhism and violence 23:24 The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) 26:27 What ethnonationalist groups have in common 31:04 The caste system 54:16 Arranged marriage in India 58:04 Hypocrises of Indians living in the US 59:17 Violence in the media 1:00:43 More on arranged marriage 1:06:38 Modi & his government 1:08:21 Babri Masjid 1:20:51 Yogi Adityanath 1:33:09 Indian secularism 1:42:47 The future of Hindu nationalism & how to combat it Rohini Mohan is the author of The Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka's Civil War (2014): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239396/the-seasons-of-trouble-by-rohini-mohan/9781781688830/ Rohit Chopra is the author of three books: Inter-Religious Marriages Among Muslims: Negotiating Religious and Social Identity in Family and Community (2005), with Abdullahi An-Naim; Technology and Nationalism in India: Cultural Negotiations from Colonialism to Cyberspace (2008); and The Virtual Hindu Rashtra. Saffron Nationalism and New Media (2019). His latest work can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/9789353029579-Books/s?k=9789353029579&rh=n%3A283155 You can follow @rohini_mohan on Twitter. For a particularly moving article of hers, see "A Template for Hate": https://harpers.org/archive/2018/09/india-bharatiya-janata-party-intolerance-bjp-muslim-hindu/ You can follow Rohit Chopra on Twitter, where he tweets as @IndiaExplained. His podcast with Bunty Bolta can be found here: https://audioboom.com/channel/the-india-explained-podcast and on most other podcast apps. Other References: Shashi Tharoor, Why I am a Hindu (2018) The work of Ashis Nandy (b. 1937) and Nirad Chandra Chaudhuri (1897–1999) Urvashi Butalia, The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India (2000)
Promoting women's writing around the world - Kim Chakanetsa brings together the heads of pioneering feminist publishing houses in Australia and India, and asks how they stay relevant in an age of self-publishing and e-books? Susan Hawthorne runs Spinifex Press in Queensland. She and her partner Renate Klein set it up in 1991 as a response to what they saw as a dearth of diversity in Australian publishing. She says that despite the proliferation of online platforms for writers to publish their work in recent years, they still find they need a real publisher to select, edit and promote them. Susan finds her books in a variety of ways, but is frustrated by the mainstream publishing sector's focus on 'star authors'. Susan is also a writer and her new novel Dark Matters is about a lesbian who is tortured. Urvashi Butalia co-founded India's first exclusively feminist publishing house in 1984, and now runs Zubaan books based in New Delhi. Her aim is to reflect the experiences of marginalised women and she says she is also seeing a resurgence of interest from young women - and young men - in the history of the women's movement in India. Urvashi is an award-winning author herself, whose best known book is The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. Image and credit: (L) Urvashi Butalia. Image: (R) Susan Hawthorne. Credit: Naomi McKescher
Feminist icon and publisher Urvashi Butalia discusses the deep desire Indian woman have to change their lives and her role in giving these women a voice. CREDITS Host: Dr Dolly Kikon Guest: Urvashi Butalia Producer: Kog Ravindran Audio Engineer: Gavin Nebauer This podcast is brought to you in association with the Australia India Institute @ Delhi and founding partners La Trobe University and the University of New South Wales.
Nu ska vi till Indien med P1 Kulturs Naila Saleem för att prata om indisk feminism. Den skiljer sig från västerländsk, i vad man lägger i själva begreppet men också i hur man ser på ordet feminism. Staden Varanasi ligger längs floden Ganges. Det är en pilgrimsstad för många hinduer, men där finns också ett av landets bästa universitet och dit har vår reporter Naila Saleem åkt för att intervjua människor om indisk feminism. För den skiljer sig en del från den västerländska, inte bara i vad man lägger i själva begreppet men också i hur man ser på själva ordet feminism. Och som en del av denna resa bestämde sig Naila för att klä sig som en traditionell indisk kvinna under en dag och alltså bära en sari för att se hur det skulle kännas i kroppen. - Är du feminist?- Ja jag tror det, om det handlar om att skapa jämlikhet mellan könen, mellan olika kast- och klassindelningar för de hänger ihop, då är jag definitivt feminist, säger Ranjana Sheel som är historieprofessor på ett av Indiens bästa universitet Banaras Hindu University som ligger i den nordindiska staden Varanasi också känd under namnet Banaras.Dagen skymmer i Varanasi, människor söker sig till floden Ganges för att se på solnedgången och spana in folk. Tjejer och killar kollar in varandra, lite i smyg för det gäller att inte dra de vuxnas blickar till sig. I stadens parker, inne i buskaget bland grenar och löv sitter unga par, älskande som inte har någon annan plats att ta vägen när behovet av att hångla inte går att stå emot.Rätten till att bestämma över sin egen kropp är en komplicerad fråga i Indien, särskilt för kvinnor för familjens heder ligger bokstavligen talat i hennes sköte. Så en kvinnas rörelsefrihet övervakas, vem hon talar och umgås med regleras av familjen. Sen varierar graden av kontroll mellan landsbygd och stad, mellan kast- och klasstillhörighet. I de urbana kretsarna ifrågasätts de patriarkala strukturerna allt mer och inom populärkulturen visas kärlek à la väst med sex före äktenskapet. Det talas om att det indiska samhället sexualiseras allt mer, och att baksidan är det sexuella våldet. Varje dag skriver tidningarna om våldtäkter med en eller flera gärningsmän som utsätter barn, flickor och kvinnor för övergrepp.Frågan om sexuellt våld är bara en av många som engagerar den indiska kvinnorörelsen, och det här programmet ska handla om denna kamp men vi börjar med lite terminologi för frågan om feminism är laddad i Indien. Ordet står för något västerländskt, importerat och långt ifrån alla känner sig bekväma med att säga att de är feminister. Istället pratar man om kvinnofrågor som i den indiska kontexten handlar om allt ifrån hur kvinnor ska få en bättre tillvaro och slippa undan fattigdom till undernäring, analfabetism, kast- och klassdiskriminering och våld på grund av religiösa spänningar. Till exempel så vill inte en av hindilitteraturens stora stjärnor, som i sina texter varit tydligt feministisk, kalla sig för feminist.- Nä inte alls, vi måste göra människor av oss själva och agera utifrån vilka vi är. En ekonomiskt fri kvinna är lika bra som en man och det synsättet skapar möjligheter att se annorlunda på livet, säger Krishna Sobti som hunnit fylla 90 år.Hon är alltså en av 1900-tals litteraturens giganter i Indien men okänd för många utanför landets gränser eftersom få av hennes verk översatts till engelska. Hon skrev tidigt om kvinnor och deras sexuella behov. Frispråkighet är ett passande ord för att beskriva hennes stil kanske bäst uttryckt i kortromanen Mitro Marjani eller på engelska To hell with you Mitro om den unga Mitro som är sexuellt understimulerad och som orsakar skandal med sina behov och sin vägran att lyda sin make.Mitro Marjani skapade uppståndelse när den kom ut 1966 och har också satts upp som pjäs.Urvashi Butalia är förläggare och driver Zubaan books. För henne är det självklart att svara ja på frågan om hon är feminist. Det har varit hennes livsverk att arbeta med de här frågorna men däremot är hon tveksam till att ladda begreppet feminism med ordet jämställdhet som västerländska feminister ju brukar göra.- Jag tycker att begreppet jämställdhet är svårt i ett så hierarkiskt samhälle som det indiska med våra kaster och klasser. Vem ska en fattig kvinna vilja vara jämställd med? En fattig man, en rik kvinna eller en rik man? Det blir komplicerat säger Urvashi Butalia och menar att jämställdhet fungerar bättre i samhällen där klass inte längre är så viktigt. Jag tycker det är mer berättigat att tala om skillnader och hämtar kraft i tanken att varje människa har rätt till ett värdigt liv, säger hon.Historikern Ranjana Sheel i Varanasi menar att det finns många likheter mellan feminismen i väst och i Indien men också många olikheter. Till exempel har homosexuellas rättigheter ännu inte blivit en stor fråga. Den viktigaste frågan för många unga är istället giftermål och önskan att få välja sin partner själv. Det märker hon inte minst på sina kvinnliga studenter.- Jag ser att det finns en ganska stor grupp kvinnliga studenter på Banaras Hindu University som inte är redo att återvända hem utan fortsätter studera. De tar vilka kurser som helst bara för att slippa gifta sig, säger Ranjana Sheel.Det pratas ibland om att det finns ett glapp mellan den frihet som unga indiska kvinnor tros vilja ha och som liknar västerländska kvinnors dvs att klä sig som de vill och vara ute sent om kvällarna om de så önskar, och den kamp som den äldre generationens feminister driver och som handlar om hälsofrågor, bättre arbetsvillkor och medvetenhet om sina grundläggande rättigheter. Ranjana Sheel menar att detta glapp möjligen är en fråga för kvinnorna i Indiens megastäder men för resten av befolkningen är det inte så, där är de mer basala bristerna på möjligheter som är de allvarliga.- De olika sätt som förtrycket manifesteras på gör det hela så komplext; man har frågan om läs- och skrivkunnighet, sen kast och klass och det gör att det blir komplicerat, säger Ranjana Sheel.Jag tar en autorickshaw till en av södra Delhis populära stadsdelar för att besöka Zubaan books. I de smala gränderna trängs hippa kaféer med små butiker som säljer designade kläder. Stadsdelen har blivit allt mer gentrifierad berättar Urvashi Butalia på förlaget Zubaan books.Zubaan betyder tunga på hindi men också språk och röst, när kvinnor i det hinditalande bältet i norra Indien talar för mycket säger man att deras zubaan har öppnats och tanken med det här bokförlaget är att ge kvinnor en röst och utrymme, säger Urvashi Butalia. Förlaget ger inte bara ut skönlitteratur utan även akademiska böcker och barn- och ungdomsböcker. När hon startade förlaget för många år sedan var syftet att skapa ett verktyg som kunde användas i vardagen för kvinnor eftersom förlagsbranschen var så manlig. På den tiden hette förlaget Kali for Women och när hon och en kollega drog igång verksamheten 1984 blev det Indiens första feministiska förlag.- När vi började förlaget letade vi upp befintlig litteratur skriven av kvinnor för att översätta och sprida verken, säger Urvashi Butalia.Det finns ett tjugotal officiella språk i Indien och bristen på översättningar är en stor fråga för det leder till att litteraturen inte sprids mellan landets olika delar. Detta har också i stor utsträckning gällt litteratur skriven av kvinnor. Då i början var det en utmaning för Urvashi Butalia och hennes kollegor att övertala kvinnorna att vilja bli utgivna.- Kvinnors bristande självkänsla och känsla för att det de skrev var viktigt och behövde komma ut i världen, det var en verklig utmaning, berättar Urvashi Butalia men detta har förändrats.En annan fråga av vikt för förlaget har varit frågan om klass. Man har aktivt letat efter författare som inte tillhört den vanliga gruppen skrivande utan som hör hemma i en muntlig tradition. Urvashi Butalia berättar om ett av sina mest omhuldade bokprojekt. Det är en tunn liten skrift skapad av 75 kvinnor från en by i delstaten Rajasthan och den handlar om kvinnokroppen och kvinnors hälsa. Kvinnorna har själva ritat bilderna. Men hur är det nu för tiden? Är det lättare för kvinnliga författare?- Det finns ett intresse, en öppenhet, en marknad och läsare men det är fortfarande svårt för kvinnor som skriver på de indiska språken för det kräver att folk letar aktivt för att hitta dem, säger hon.Krishna Sobti skriver på hindi och urdu och fortfarande aktiv i samhällsdebatten, även om hälsan börjar svikta. Hon ställer in intervjun flera men till slut ses vi i hennes hem. Hon är glad och pigg, och det märks att ett besök livar upp. Vi sitter i vardagsrummet och pratar medan kvinnan som arbetar hos henne kommer med färskpressad apelsinjuice och småkakor. Hon är väldigt nyfiken på mig och min familj och ursäktar sig så att hon inte har några gåvor att ge mina barn. Vi pratar om Indien och Pakistan, om hur olika länderna utvecklats.Krishna Sobti föddes i dagens Pakistan men hamnade efter självständigheten i Indien. Under många år arbetade hon på dagarna och skrev på nätterna. Kvällarna tillbringade hon på någon av restaurangerna kring flashiga Connaught Place i centrala Delhi. Hon bestämde sig tidigt för att inte gifta sig och bilda familj, ett mycket ovanligt beslut för någon i hennes generation får väl sägas.- Vårt system där man lever ihop över generationsgränserna, det förstör både mannen och kvinnan. Det leder till att kvinnans roll blir att producera barn och ta hand om familj och svärföräldrar medan mannen fattar besluten, säger Krishna Sobti.Hon har skrivit kritiskt om äktenskapet i flera av sina böcker, bland annat i det självbiografiska verket Ai Ladki, på svenska Lyssna min dotter. Den handlar om en ogift dotter som vårdar sin döende moder. Modern ömsom bannar dotterns livsval att satsa på skrivandet ömsom hyllar dem.Krishna Sobti rotar som sagt ofta runt i relationerna mellan män och kvinnor men drar också in det omgivande samhällets problem och hur värderingar förändras i tider av politisk turbulens och uppbrott. Hon återkommer till att det viktiga inte är vårt kön utan att leva som individer.Ranjana Sheel är professor i historia med genusfrågor som specialitet. På BHU, Banaras Hindu University, i Varanasi där hon arbetar är campus stort och grönt. Det rymmer inte bara de olika fakultetsbyggnaderna utan även student- och lärarbostäder och stadens bästa sjukhus. Jag och Ranjana Sheel har stämt träff på hennes institution, en gul byggnad med pelare i entrén och långa mörka korridorer och små små rum åt professorerna.Vi slår oss ner i biblioteket, öppnar fönstren och dörrarna för att få in lite luft i värmen. Hon berättar att den indiska kvinnorörelsen består av tre faser, den första sträcker sig fram till Indiens självständighet 1947, den andra till 1970-talet och den tredje fram till idag.- Den första fasen handlade om sati det vill säga sedvänjan att en änka skulle låta sig brännas levande tillsammans med sin döda make, och frågan om änkor skulle få gifta om sig. Ett annat spörsmål var från vilken ålder det skulle vara lagligt att ha sex. Det här var kampanjer som leddes av männen, berättar Ranjana Sheel.Sati förbjöds 1829 och änkor fick laglig rätt att gifta om sig 1856. Under 1800-talets andra hälft engagerade sig fler kvinnor i de här frågorna, främst från överklassen och de högre kasterna. Frågorna handlade mest om kvinnors rättigheter inom hemmet. När sedan kampen för självständighet blev allt intensivare klagade flera kvinnoledare på att männen, med Mahatma Gandhi i spetsen, främst var intresserade av självständighet från britterna och inte i att förbättra villkoren för landets kvinnor. När så britterna lämnade Indien 1947 inleddes arbetet med en nya konstitution.- Konstitutionen gav oss jämlikhet enligt lagen och var kulmen på att det sociala arbete som förts, säger Ranjana Sheel.Då var lyckan stor över att vara fri och alla rättigheter kvinnorna fått i och med den nya konstitutionen, så åren därpå blev kvinnorörelsen mer fragmenterad. Några grupper arbetade mot alkohol, andra för att kvinnor skulle få större rättigheter när det gäller rätten att äga mark men på 1970-talet hamnade fokus återigen direkt på kvinnornas situation.Då kom rapporten Towards equality som var en kartläggning över det indiska samhället sett ur kvinnornas perspektiv när det gällde allt från ekonomi till politik och juridik, media och födelsetal där antalet kvinnor jämförs med antalet män. Den kom att lägga grunden för det fortsätta arbetet med kvinnofrågor menar Ranjana Sheel.- Den här rapporten visade på uppdelningarna enligt klass och kast. Det hade funnits i kvinnogruppernas medvetande men blev mer tydligt. Det som fick rörelsen att komma samman var frågorna om våld; det vill säga att kvinnor dödades på grund av att makens familj inte var nöjd med hennes hemgift och så våldtäkterna, säger Ranjana Sheel.Även om konstitutionen slår fast att män och kvinnor har samma rättigheter och skyldigheter så säger den indiska traditionen något annat.- Processen börjar vid födseln, om det är en flicka talas det direkt om att öppna ett bankkonto i hennes namn för att spara till hennes bröllop, säger hon.Om första barnet är en flicka är det inte så stor fråga men om det är andra dottern är familjen inte längre så glad. Det håller på att förändras i medelklassfamiljer i städerna säger Ranjana Sheel och fortsätter: Däremot när det är dags för flickorna att gifta sig kan föräldrarna uttrycka sorg för då förlorar de ju sina döttrar som flyttar till makens familj och lämnar föräldrarna ensamma. Om pengar finns låter man båda barnen studera men är familjen fattig lägger man pengarna på sonens utbildning. Sen finns ett glorifierande av den självuppoffrande modern som tar hand om sin familj och inte ser till sina egna behov, t ex hon äter först när alla andra fått mat och sitter inte ned med sin familj. När Ranjana Sheel frågar sina studenter om middagen tagit slut fast att modern inte fått någon mat, lagar hon då ny mat åt sig själv blir svaret alltid nej. Om fadern kommer hem sent då? Jo då, då lagar hon ny mat åt honom.Ranjana vill att jag ska följa med på en kvinnofest på campus, ett antal lärare och professorer ses och firar vårfesten Holi som är en av de viktigaste högtiderna i Indien. Festen är också ett sätt för dem att stärka sina nätverk och utbyta erfarenheter. Vi sitter vid ett långbord, äter sötsaker och snart börjar kvinnorna sjunga och dansa. Jag ställer samma fråga till dem alla: vilken är den viktigaste kvinnofrågan i Indien just nu? Svaren blir många; en professor i ekonomi säger att lagarna som reglerar kvinnors arbete när det gäller lön och arbetsmiljö behöver ses över. Sangita Pandit är lärare i sång på BHU. Hon säger att en del av hennes kvinnliga studenter inte får tillräckligt stöd av sina familjer i sitt karriärval och det skapar problem:- En del av mina studenter inte får det stöd de behöver av sin omgivning, till exempel om de kommer hem sent om kvällen efter ett uppträdande så behöver de familjens stöd ifall människor ifrågasätter vad de gjort ute sent, säger Sangita Pandit.Tillbaka till strandpromenaden i Varanasi som ligger vid floden Ganges. I vimlet hittar jag Sneha och henne kompis Priyanka. De säger att det är stor skillnad på hur killar och tjejer behandlas av sina familjer och omgivningen.- Killarna har andra studiemöjligheter och mer frihet i samhället. Vi kan till exempel inte ha på oss klänningar och kortkort som ni i väst har, säger Sneha.Vad är då hennes största rädsla undrar jag?- De flesta tjejer är rädda för att bli våldtagna, för här accepterar inte killar att tjejer står över dem, har bättre utbildning, är mer intelligenta osv, säger hon. När jag frågar om de får välja sina framtida makar själva börjar de fnittra och säger nej det gör deras föräldrar.Detta med rätten till sin egen kropp och rädslan för att bli utnyttjad har blivit en del av det offentliga samtalet i Indien, och det finns en massa filmer som den här på nätet. Att frågan är på tapeten beror på den mycket uppmärksammade gängvåldtäkten på en buss i Delhi 2012. Kvinnan dog av sina skador.Hur märks då det här nya sättet att prata om kvinnors rätt till sina kroppar inom kulturlivet? Förläggaren Urvashi Butalia svarar:- Den stora skillnaden efter 2012 är att det skrivs mer om offret och med betoning på att det förvisso är fruktansvärt men att livet inte tar slut. Det finns ett ord på hindi, zindalash, som betyder att efter att någon blivit sexuellt ofredad så blir hon som ett levande lik. Det här protesterar människor mot nu, säger Urvashi Butalia.Naila Saleem naila.saleem@sverigesradio.se