I recently got the opportunity to visit an enriching panel discussion by women (and male) authors, publishers, slam poets and poets. The event was organized by ‘She The People’ and was called Women Writer’s Fest. It was held in Fandom at Gilly’s. The women’s channel strives towards a better representation of women on TV and acknowledgement of their talent. The itinerary included a talk with Kubbra Sait, discussion on online and offline book publishing, a conversation on feminism and finally poetry reading.
Out of all the inspiring lecturers whom I encountered, I connected with and enjoyed the most when panelists were speaking of Feminism. Five very eminent personalities had taken the stage and threw light on their concept of feminism. The moderator of the discussion, Nandita Bose, lit up the entire room with her impactful voice and kick-started the talk. Among the speakers were: Aruna Nambiar, Devi Yeshodharan, Sajita Nair and Rachna Singh. Nandita Bose initiated by drawing reference from Sait’s jestful remark that she was elated to see a handful of men who had come down to hear these women “rant”. Bose was of the opinion that though Kubbra Sait said it jokingly, it has been the condition of the society, if men speak, they convey a hardcore material but if women speak its effects are mostly simmered down. Then she moved on to Rachna with the question of how feminism is such a misunderstood concept among the masses.
Singh, who is also a stand-up comedian by profession has written books recently- ‘Band Baaja Boys’ and ‘Mom’s gotta live’- said, that during the inception of Feminism, women mostly desired the physical space that was lacking in their lives. She took up the example of Virginia Woolf, one of the earliest feminist writers, to explain her point. In the present scenario, according to her, women are fighting for their “inner space”. She prefers to define feminism as “quality” and not equality. The author has been a survivor of breast cancer and while fighting this devil she found a blessing in disguise. At the hospital she was able to make a sick and frightened child laugh. This affected her trail of thoughts and she then realized that humour was her strength. From then Singh started concentrating on comedy and made it official. A part of her book was read out of by her and it left us rolling on the floor laughing. Nandita Bose exclaimed that we all got a little glimpse of her show amidst the discussion very different from it.
The moderator moved on to Devi Yeshodharan. Devi has been a chief strategy officer as well as worked for the government as senior manager in policy and communications. Working among the big shots of the country she understood the value of being strong and dependable. The character of Aremis in her book “Empire” shows a 12 year old girl in the form of a warrior, fighting battles and waging wars. This shows how a woman takes up an assumed man’s role in a man’s world.
Sajita Nair, who was the nex speaker, had a similar idea about women in a man’s world. Sajita served as the Captain in the army holding the position of Service Commission Officer (1994-1999). She was one of the firsts in the army since the Indian Army had started recruiting women officers only from 1993. Her opinion about differed from that of Rachna Singh. Nair impressed the idea of equality because of her army background. Everyone in the army was supposed to be treated equally and she could not have backed out or given a lesser physically taxing drill just because of her gender. Therefore, she had to strive evenhandedly towards qualifying and maintaining their positions. In a world of patriarchy, she says, women do look up to men in terms of bodily exertion.
Finally, the last speaker of the evening was Aruna Nambiar. She read a portion of her book “The Monsters Still Lurk” which mainly deals with humour and nostalgia. It also talks about social difference and is mainly a comedy of errors. Nambiar’s story is not essentially a feminist narrative but it has strong female which remains oblivious in most novels. It is focuses on a family saga with a man as the protagonist yet keeping in mind the importance and essence of having prominent female personalities. She has a reverse perspective of feminism where men feel vulnerable, where men feel relatable to women. People also have a notion that women writers lack in sense of humor so the author is trying to break this stereotype. She says that “feminism is to question what a woman can or cannot do or write about.”
In conclusion, I would like to say that it had definitely been enlightening and educational. The authors were very approachable when it came to taking questions and answering them. This event will again be held next and I am looking forward to attending it again.
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