Women writers gather and discuss various narratives in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Volga. The firebrand writer aka P Lalita Kumari has rocked the literary world busting myths bringing alive historical female characters who are feminists in their own right. She was speaking at ‘SheThePeople Women Writers’ Fest’ held on Saturday at The Park, Somajiguda.
Prof T. Vijay Kumar was in conversation with her taking the audience on a fiery ride and riot of words. Talking about 50 years of her writing, Volga said, “Also means 50 years of struggle from across all classes and areas which includes rural regions as well. Of women who cannot read or write. It also means 50 years of feminist writing in Telugu literature.
It’s a celebration of women’s writing. Different people understand feminism differently. For me, feminism is understanding the inequality in the society. Within women there are inequalities including sexual preference. Feminism is analysing society through the lens of gender not just for women but men as well.”
Volga was a committed leftist writer. Prof Vijay asked her as to what made her leave leftist politics and enter feminist political writing? Volga quickly responded, “I studied Marxism and learnt social and political aspects of society, writing for those who think like me. Though there were female writers, women weren’t considered intellectual by the thinking men. They were treated as subaltern and not leaders. This troubled me a lot. I began to question the democractic set-up within the organisation. That’s when I decided to leave.
On her novel Swechha, her former colleagues were bitter ly critical. Vijay asked if it was a right decision to leave?
The book was already in the market with one lakh copies while it faced much criticism from leftists. The 69-year-old author added, “These were stories of common women with a lot of ideas. She’s married to a good man of her choice but she leaves him in the end. The women wanted to live as citizens. Take part in movements. The husbands wanted her to be a mother. A woman. That’s all there is for her in a marriage. In my tales there are women in live-in relationships. The ‘good people’ got very angry decades ago. It’s the readers who decide what they want to read not the ‘progressive’ critics.”
Conversation is very important in her writing, especially among women. When women come closer it’s easier for them to discuss and connect. “Among women, there is always feminist sisterhood. Brotherhood has an ideal. The conversation among women disturbs men, especially a conversation between Sita and Surpanakha who actually should have been enemies. In one of dance ballets, they dance together. It’s a war between Aryans and Dravidians. Surpanakha is this beautiful Dravidian woman. Draupadi was also there. Doordarshan wanted to showcase it and they didn’t accept the character of Surpanakha. They wanted to remove her from the story.”
She later wrote three more stories. There’s another one on Ram who’s trapped in his own loneliness. It’s later translated as The Liberation of Sita. Her recently-translated book is Yashodhara on Gautam Buddha’s wife. How did she see Yashodhara as? The Sahitya Akademi awardee author replied, “People can easily identify with Sita and Draupadi. It’s all about power dynamics in understanding and operating the society. Maybe Yashodhara gave reason to Buddha for becoming a sanyasi. How is it possible that he decides to leave the palace and the wife doesn’t wake up? She is not the victim. Maybe she was the strength behind Buddha’s decision. It’s time they are not seen just as poor victims.”
And the narratives by women writers and poets
FOOD FUNDA
The panel ‘Food Trends 2020: From Kombucha to Keto’ was moderated by city-based food writer Shivani Mohan and saw gorgeous actor-author Tara Deshpande speaking on the same as she said, “How many of us know the real Roghan Josh? A lot of restaurants fool the consumer by adding tomatoes for getting that typical red colour. In fact, Mawal flowers are used for the colour and not any other alternative colouring agent. After this Shivani shot the question, “What are the five ingredients you would like to see in kitchen in 2020?”
And the other panelist Seetha Anand replied, “Breakfast should consist of lots of food. Fill your fridge with fresh vegetables. Salad doesn’t mean slices of cucumber and onions. You should look at it and your mouth should water.” Shivani suggested that the whole family should come together for preparation of food to which Seetha replied, “Get children to eat healthy and include them in the preparation. We eat for various reasons. Not just one reason.” And then there was the eternal fusion question. Tara chuckled, “Fusion can be confusion. Who would have thought of blueberry bagel? A Jew would be tearing his hair. Burgers trend started in the forties. Fusion food has been there from a long time. For example: Vada Pav. The bun is Portuguese. The potatoes are Portuguese.”
EVERYDAY STORIES
The session ‘Women’s writing: Chronicling the everyday’ was moderated by author-blogger Kiran Manral. Author Shilpa Suraj elaborated on romance writing saying, “People mistake women’s writing as fluff. It’s not. Writing is the rut of life which is processed.” Kiran asked authors if male romance writers are outselling female writers? Shilpa responded, “The real work begins when your book is out. Men somehow write from a relatable perspective. That’s why they sell more.” Kiran asked writer Sophia Lorena Benjamin as to how difficult it is to correlate what a woman goes through especially the protagonist? “My book ‘Claudia’ is on historical romance is set in Goa. When the Portuguese left Goa, they must have left behind a lot of relationships. I couldn’t find much material on that, but wrote on it. Claudia falls in love and goes through it all. Younger audience relate well because the protagonist also finds solutions and does not just sulk.”
THE SONG OF POETS
The poetry session ‘When Words Sing: Women’s Journeys Through Verse’ saw six women poets from the city reading in English and Telugu. The poets not only read their verses but also talked about their journeys of writing. Poet Shikhandin shared about her different childhood of being a third unwanted child. But how she was also surrounded by animals and birds which seeped into her writing. Poet-teacher Jhelum Chattaraj talked about how her stay in Hyderabad has shaped up her writing as she read a poem on nail paint and eating fish, while poet Nabina Das explored socio-political aspects through her poem ‘They Are Kissing’. Telugu poet Shahjahana, who’s gone through much in life especially when it came to men, spoke about it reading a lyrical poem. The audience enjoyed the poetic evening as an attendee Nivedita N said, “This session just woke us up. We need more evenings like these.”