CHENNAI: Words matter. Some more than others. Especially when it comes to women or the narrative that surrounds them. Ambition. Anger. Guilt. No. Rebel. Rights. These six words, and 34 others, have been used by two Bengaluru writers, Jacintha Jayachandran and Shreya Krishnan, to draw up a dictionary of sorts, one that attempts to rewire the language one must use while talking to, of or at a girl. Recently
released by Notion Press, Words Matter was conceptualised, penned and published in six months.
“Language has an all-encompassing effect on experience, and we wanted to see if we could change the words a girl speaks or listens to,” says Jayachandran. The meaning these words convey have also been written as short notes from the word itself to the reader.
For instance, the write-up for ‘anger’ reads: “Don’t repress or suppress me or underplay me but use me to make the world better for you and your kind.” Similarly, ‘fight’ tells the reader, “I am worth it because I have a rich, proven history of becoming the trigger for change.”
Krishnan remembers the phone conversation that started it all. A few months back, she received a call from Jayachandran, an entrepreneur and her friend for over five years. It took all of four minutes for Jayachandran to get Krishnan on board.
“When my daughter was born six years ago, at least four people approached my mother or mother-in-law to express how a son would have been better. I didn’t want my daughter to go through the same story. In some ways, I wanted the book to speak to her too,” says Krishnan, who works at an insurance brokerage firm.
And that’s what Jayachandran wanted the book to achieve as well — to help girls find a voice. She recalls an instance from a self-defence class she helped organise for girls of a government-aided school. “A 13-year-old asked me how she was supposed to kick someone when girls aren’t allowed to raise their leg. The idea of things a girl is not supposed to do is deeply ingrained,” she adds.
But the book isn’t just for girls, the authors clarify. “It’s gender agnostic. Men might relate to it in the context of the women in their life,” explains Krishnan. Interestingly, this book for women has been produced by a team of women, across three age groups. Forty-nine-year-old Jayachandran wrote the prose sections of the book while 34-year-old Krishnan penned the poetry. Each word is accompanied by an illustration, made by 23-year-old Priya Pai.
Though just released, the response has already been heartwarming, with readers referring to the book as a friend or calling its contents therapeutic.
The women don’t want to stop here. Already plotting their second book, they plan to get this one out in multiple languages, including Tamil and Kannada. “A former male colleague offered to do the translation. That’s exactly what we want. To have men be a part of the movement as well,” says Jayachandran.