JLF, Women authors, world of booksLiterature is one of the most significant and interesting expressions of social life. With umpteen stories, thousands of memoirs and reams of poetry, literature has addressed every issue, maintaining a balance between the poignant and the harsh depiction of life. It is true that in the past and at the present, literature has always shown the path towards progressiveness and modernism. But with the passage of time, there is always a page, which needs to be filled again to portray the the modern scenario. As booklovers and authors gathered at the Jaipur Literature Festival to celebrate literature, feminism turned out to be the most discussed, debated and loved issue on the whole. Women authors highlighted their own journey, experiences, anecdotes and opinions for the betterment of 50 per cent of India's population. From Chitra Banerji Divakurni to Aishwarya Rajnikanth, the festival was filled with these authors, who showcased feminism through their books in umpteen ways.

Expressing ideas on empowering women, the women authors at JLF attracted a huge attendance. With their words, stories and speeches, the authors not only gained applause but also brought attention towards the novel ways of addressing feminist issues. With no male bashing, the authors painted their story with colours of creativity, talent and courage.

Depicted here are the experiences of some women authors:

'I want women at the centre of my canvas'

author Chitra Banerji Devakurni, famous for her novels Mistress of spices, Palace of illusions and Before we visit the Goddess, said women will always be the centre of her canvas. Her latest book Before we visit the Goddess talks about how three generations of women ~ a grandmother, mother and daughter ~ come together then grow apart and come back together again. Talking about her work, Devakurni said tragedy comes in the most unexpected ways. "My stories are not a complete portrayal of my own experiences but being a woman I completely relate with them. In the present scenario, where weapons get more space than women in newspapers, someone has to touch their emotions too," she elaborated.

Devakurni's most famous novel Palace of Illusions, in which she re-narrates the Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view, was also the most talked book. In her session, conducted by Shrabani Banerji, she elucidates that it is a blessing that Indian epics are still alive both at the social and political discourse. Draupadi represents the emotions of every single woman and the idea of narrating Mahaharata though her point of view was a challenging task but was important too, she added.

'If there is no fear, there is lot of progress'

Filmmaker Aishwarya Rajnikanth launched Standing on an Apple box, memoirs and memories, in which she talked about her career, her family and most importantly, relations with her father, superstar Rajnikanth. Highlighting the attitude of women not taking much interest in their life, she elucidated that sometimes women are not cheerful about their life. It is important to change this, she suggested. Stating that this decade had changed many things, she spoke of her current work on her third film, which was not possible if she had not picked up the courage to put efforts into film making. "If there is no fear, there is a lot of progress," she said. In her session she also discussed the pros and cons of social media. She described it as a huge channel, where one does not know how much to keep open and how much to hide. It would be better to limit yourself a little rather than keeping completely away, she felt. The filmmaker, who was also appointed as the United Nations advocate for gender equality, said the present society is full with rumours and criticism and one must find a way to accept and challenge all these societal norms. Keeping commercial cinemas completely deglamorous was not possible, she noted, adding that it should also be noticed that the audiences are now welcoming new content, which must be appreciated. "We must keep moving forward. Contradictory opinions must be respected but it is not important what they feel about you." Turning to her relations with her husband Dhanush, she said, "My husband has always been supportive and I owe a lot to him. He believed in me when no one else did . He was at the peak of his career when I was making my directorial debut. He could have easily given his dates to some other director but he pushed me into filmmaking and the result is good." Asked about an ideal fan, she responded, "A fan should respect the artist, not idolize him or her. My fans have given me a place in their home and treat me as their own sister and daughter, which is really overwhelming."

Pages from Mumma ki Diary

Writer, journalist and short film maker Anu Singh Choudhary brings out a powerful story of a working woman, her relations with her son and many personal memories through her book Mumma ki Diary. While it teaches women to manage their expectations, it also teaches men to play a much larger role in family households.

"Change in time also witnesses change in attitude. Men are no longer the sole bread winners of the family and women should no longer be the sole home makers". With this centrepiece, the book unfolds the realities of societal expectations, which places much more burdens on a woman than a man. Anu Singh Choudhary perfectly strikes the chord through her writing by presenting realities in a hard hitting way, without trying to romanticise it.

"There will be people who'll try to change you to suit their needs, but for each of these, know that there are others who'll help you change to better yourself," Choudhary contended. "Learn to recognise the difference. It took me ages… you won't always find people exactly like you, but no matter who you're with, be yourself. I want you to read To kill a Mocking Bird and watch Life is Beautiful." The author also shared an excerpt from her book at the JLF.

'Those who read my novels don't issue fatwas'

Describing about the plight of Muslim women across the globe in her novel Ae Mere Rehnuma, journalist and author Tasneem Khan sends out a clear message of feminism. Speaking at the session titled Women's Voice: New Writings from Rajasthan, Tasneem said, "If your family supports you, you don't need to answer the society. I am lucky that my father worked really hard for my education. He always supported my views, which enabled me to come up with my writings. The liberty of expressing your own ideas in your family opens your wings to fly and scale greater heights."

Recalling an incident, Tasneem narrated, "After going through my novel a reader from Madhya Pradesh called me and told me that someone might issue a fatwa against me. Listening to this, I told him that those who read and understand my stories will never issue a fatwa and those who issue fatwas are the ones who will never read my story. It is a very dangerous job to find fault in one's own society but truth has to be told. 'When a woman becomes economically stable the problem ends' ~ this statement is partly true. The problems actually don't end here but they turn different. We don't need a 'rehnuma' in our life but we just want others to become 'sahyogi'."

From culture to modernism

Author Manisha Kulshreshtha is one of those who took Hindi story writing to the Internet. Beautifully portraying the stories dealing with khaap panchayats in her novel Kathputli, Manisha is an acclaimed Hindi writer of modern times. Her novel Swapn-paash brings out the story of patients suffering from schizophrenia in a very subtle and poignant manner.

In conversation with D P Agarwal, Manisha said, "New women-oriented writings are not male bashing and they also include bad women characters as well. We have to understand that the notion is not to degrade someone but to upgrade everyone. We cannot detach completely from our culture, it is better to bead culture and modernism with the threads of literature."

Malnourishment and inequality still haunt girl child

Indian actress and child right activist Nandana Sen brought forward the disparities and unequal treatment meted out to girl children in Indian families that lead to their undernourishment and ill-development. "In India, a girl child is at 50 per cent more risk of death. Not only nourishment but she also gets trapped under gender discrimination. Right from birth, the boy gets better nutritious food as compared to his sister. An under-nourished girl gets married and becomes mother at a very young age giving birth to under nourished child, hence the situation worsens. We need to work on the mantra: Educate girls, through which mothers will be aware of basic sanitation and nutrition that will lead to betterment of the whole family."