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Tooba Towfiq

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th to 13th of February by The Women’s Development Cell,Miranda House, in collaboration with One Billion Rising, Men Engage, CFAR, WFS,CHSJ and other civil society partners. This synergy of various groups organised a critically aware,culturally tuned and a very carefully articulated event to celebrate the power of love and to accentuate Gender equality, Queer politics, the Rights of the LGBT community and issues such as the recognition and Rights of sex workers. The Mela also witnessed various cultural performances. Inaugurating the Gender Mela, Dr. Pratibha Jolly, Principal of Miranda House acknowledged that, “Colleges are spaces where we necessarily have to be reflective”. The need for the participation of men was also reiterated. The first session about “Gender, Masculinity and Sustainable Development” was presided over by Dr Bijaylaxmi Nanda, convenor WDC, Miranda House; Kamla Bhasin the spokesperson of One Billion Rising (OBR); Abhijit Das from Men Engage;  Smita Khanijow Project Officer Action Aid;  Dr.V.Rukmini Rao ,Executive Director of Gramya Resource Centre for Women and Rakhee Bakhshee,Director,Women’s Feature service (WFS). Explaining the issues of Gender, Masculinity and Sustainable Development, Kamla Bhasin, who has been very closely associated with WDC, Miranda House said, “Nature believes in diversity, not inequality or hierarchy. With inequality, development will not be sustainable”. Similarly, Abhijit Das explained that Men being in positions of power find little need to bring a change or be sensitive towards the cause of equality of sexes. It was emphasised that it is imperative for men to participate in bringing about a change. Numerous stalls were also put up by CFAR, Cequin, NASVI, Kriti, CHSJ, UN Women: He For She campaign. The stalls sold recycled products which included mugs, jewellery, t-shirts with witty quotes using attractive puns related to ‘Masculinity’ and thereby facilitating an understanding of the politics of Gender. A Debate with the motion proposing, ’Religion Adversely Affects Women’ was conducted, in which students from various universities participated. In addition, a very engaging seminar called, “Understanding Queer”, examined “Queer” and its politics. Jaya Sharma, a Queer Kinky Activist elucidated that, “Queer is not about our desires but about understanding the politics of our desires; about breaking rules shamelessly towards justice”. Aditi Angiras, a Queer poet and Rituparna Borah also exposed the inadequacy of the societal obsession with binaries and heteronormativity. The discussion gave insights into the flexibility which being Queer is committed to and a corollary of the session left everyone in retrospection, “Are we Queer Enough?” Various other events and discussions were also organised such as, “Multiple Masculinities in an Urban World and implications on struggle for Gender Justice”. The first evening of Gender Mela concluded with a performance by Goonj;The Sufi Rock Band. The Second day of Gender Mela started with a Round Table Discussion with the campaigners of contemporary social movements. Representatives from youth led movements like Happy to Bleed, The Pinjra Tod Campaign, The Rohit Vemula Campaign and the North East Network were invited. All the campaigners and participants agreed that the space of dissent is fast diminishing. However, the pressure has led to an equally powerful emergence of numerous student movements. It was observed that students and people from various walks of life are forming alliances.Student movements now do not merely see participation from a few parties. But individuals and autonomous movements are fast growing. An inter college street play competition, “Nukkad p charcha hai ki….”  was also organised. Memesis, The Theatre Society of Daulat Ram College won the first prize for their street play, “Humai Maramat ki Zaroorat hai”. Films such as ‘Mardistan’ and ‘The Danish Girl’ were also screened. A flash mob also happened as a part of the One Billion campaign, which is a global movement aiming to raise awareness in order to end violence against women. The Mela stretched into the evening with a performance by song writer and singer, Dhruv Vishwanath. The last morning of Gender Mela 2016, was charged with a distinct kind of energy to give it’s vision a powerful articulation. The highlight of Gender Mela, was a seminar “To Understand the Perspectives of Sexual Minorities”. This session was presided over by representatives from the communities of Sex workers. Ms Kusum, President of All India Network of Sex Workers (AINSW), Ms Tripti Tondon (Lawyers collective), Ms. Abhina Aher (Transgender Right Activist) and others closely associated with the Rights of Sexual Minorities and Sex Workers. The discussion was set into the right direction from the beginning, when the President of AINSW very powerfully asked the audience, “What do you think about us? What do you think about sex workers?”. The panel highlighted the unjust stigmatisation of the sexual labour of sex workers. They emphasised the need of recognising sex work as labour, it’s decriminalisation and their inclusion. It also called to attention the exploitation of Sex workers and the need for the recognition of their rights. The discussion raised awareness about the role of Sex workers as Health workers in helping the government in their HIV programmes and their efforts to stop trafficking by organising a Self regulatory Board. An independent series, “I Am a Girl”, by Rebecca Bary was also screened. The Mela witnessed yet another play, Dayar-e-Ulfat by Hansraj College. Simultaneously,another Round Table on issues of Marginalisation, intersectionality, Literature, Culture and History was conducted. The circle of participants included social activists, researchers, Writers and Practitioners like Rakhi Bakshi, from WFS (Women’s Feature Service), Ms Kalpana Mishra (Author of ‘Love Forever @Rajpath), Ms. Vinita Bakshee and Ms. Mansi Mishra. The Gender Mela concluded by a musical evening with Loknaad (people’s voice) ,the activist couple, who use the energy of music to express the plight and power of people.   Tooba Towfiq [email protected]]]>

The Reasearch team of the innovation project 2015-2016, Miranda House, Department of English and Elementary Education held a workshop, “Children’s Picture Books: Rethinking history, Story telling and Pedagogy” on the 15th of January. Some of the most renowned figures from the publishing industry were invited as speakers such as Deepa Agarwal, Indira Mukherjee, Sonika Kaushik, Bhuribai, Parul Kaushik, Navin Menon and Bharati Jagannathan.

Only Indira Mukherjee, Sonika Kaushik, Navin menon and Bharati Jagannathan could participate in the workshop. Shweta Sachdeva Jha from The Department of English, Miranda House was also one of the speakers.

The workshop was centered around childrens literature especially picture books. The discussion was engaging and it held the attention of the interactive audience for a long time. During the course of the workshop various observations were made. For instance, It was highlighted that wordless picture books need not necessarily have a text. The illustrations speak for themselves and their interpretations are also dependent on the socio economic background of the child reader. An analysis of the Adivasi Artists was also prompted by Indira Mukherjee.

A series of illustrations also suggested a possibility that modern art could evolve out of tribal, child and folk art.

Similarly other speakers, highlighted a shift from popular Soviet Children picture books to Iranian and South Asian ones in recent years. Issues such as irregular grading patterns, the moralising and didactic nature of Children’s literature were adequately discussed. A lot of interesting questions and observations were also pitched in by the audience. They narrated various accounts of their encounters with child readers of various age groups and their subsequent inferences.

The Reasearch team is still working on their project. They can be followed on their official blog, “Children’s Picture Books in India” Innovation project 2015-2016: https://childrenspicturebooksinindia.wordpress.com

 

Miranda Lit Fest1

 

Image Credits: Miranda House, Department of English and Elementary Education

“The Bird of Time has but a little way To fly — and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing”, said the Persian Philosopher Omar Khayam.
If you are in the second semester, this quote will make sense to you very soon. Second semesters fly! and are a dramatisation of your absurdist nightmares. Life is fast pace, so is this semester.
Winter semesters are undoubtedly more exciting than the summer ones. Here is a list of some of your future actions, with their future implications predicted:

1) The Coming Backs:

You are just back from your vacations. The new vacations had new friends to miss. When you get back to college, you get too busy meeting them and trying to love them more.  Because yes, you are not just in college now, you are into it.

2) The Department Fests:

One of the most entertaining yet tiring work is preparing for the department fest. You put your creative skills to work. Your department patriotism is in action and you are just too fueled up to put your energies into it and become oblivious towards academics.

3) The Fests:

After having read the list of the best fests of DU, you are now looking forward to them. February literally flies like butterflies with crossroads, Mecca, Tempest and the like. You are too awestruck having now seen celebrities performing in your neighbourhood. It is a war; how many will you be able to attend?
You don’t have to lose! There is no missing out.

4) Antardhwani ( The Delhi University Festival) 

North Campus students generally doze off because they get a day off from college for Antardhwani. South campus peeps usually attend it because they get to feel the ‘northern vibe’.

So days and nights pass while you are exploring. You are too involved in exploring the newness that you forget the reality.
The real hits you when the all pervasive internal exams and assignments burst your ephemeral bubble. The month of March is a struggle. You fight with the humongous syllabus which had become obscure in your exploration. While you tackle with the assessment, you are left with no time for self studies or any studies at all.
When you are recovering yourself from the swoon, the date is the day, ” ten days before the exams”.
If the winter semester is a wizard, swish and flick:

” Knock, knock!”;
” Whose there? “;
” May”,
” May who?”,
” Exam, May I?”

Image Credits: memegenerator.net

Tooba Towfiq
[email protected]

In an event where speakers were talking about the meaning of ‘passion’, it was Kaustubh Khade who had me sync a beat with his. I was so glad to have heard his speech. He talked about dolphins and dangers which were a part of the splendour of his passion.

Khade has been Kayaking for five years and has many accomplishments to his name including having represented India in two Asian Championships; finishing 5th at the Asian Sea Kayaking Championship for solo kayaking and winning two silver and one bronze medal at the Asian Dragon Boat Championship. In March 2015, he achieved an exceptional feat by Kayaking (Paddle Hard) from Mumbai to Goa to raise money for Magic Bus, a non-profit organisation for underprivileged children and youth.

I couldn’t let go of the moment to fuel up my passion with an account of his journey.
Here is what I asked, and what he said:

Question – 1.) When did you happen to come across kayaking?

It was in 2010 when I went to Goa with my friends. We took a motorboat because we wanted to see Dolphins but, then we realised that the motorboat was scaring away the Dolphins. So, we decided to take a double Kayak. It was then that I had it in me, I started liking it. Although, I never saw the dolphins, but my friends did.

Question – 2.) Kayaking doesn’t seem to a layman anymore than just a source of recreation. But, how was it that you started pursuing it as a sport?

During the same trip to Goa, I happened to see a boat shore with Kayaks in Panjim. So, I went there and decided to buy one for myself. I wanted it to be delivered to Bombay. However, everyone was taken aback and they asked me, “Do you even know how to kayak?”
And so, they suggested a centre in Bombay for me to first learn kayaking.
Now that I come to think of it, I think that I was lucky enough to make an acquaintance so quickly. I started it off as an experiment but it blew up into a whole new array of passion.

Question – 3.) When you pursue your passion, you need to convince a lot of those who are close to you, especially your family. Your passion for Kayaking was both risky and dangerous. It is a very rare kind of passion. How did your family respond to that?

I have been lucky to have parents who have been very supportive. They are really pro sports. In fact, when I was studying in IIT, they used to ask me to give some time to sports. As far as Kayaking is concerned, in order to convince them I had to fake it a bit. Initially, I did not to tell them how risky it was.  In fact, it is only when they saw the videos of my expeditions, that it had them exclaim, “Oh! It looks like it’s dangerous!”
But then, they have been with me through this and have been really supportive.

Question – 4.) Indians are very passionate about cricket. Do you think you faced some problems because of the uniqueness and rarity of the sport you were pursuing? How well did the government support you? 

Most of the sports which are not cricket need attention at the grass-root level. Yes, to some extent bureaucracy and corruption eats up the sport. And indeed, we need some recognition for Kayaking. People are not aware of it. However, trends have changed too. Comparatively now, more people are showing interest in Kayaking.

Question – 5.) Pursuing mainstream jobs will lead you to mainstream success professionally. Passion is not considered to be feasible unless it makes you meet certain ends. In this context, is it important for your passion to fund you?

It is quiet tough to answer that. I try to keep my passion fuelled up and I think that’s something important. And also, it comes down to a certain mind set. You really need to weigh what is more important to you. For me a 9 to 5 stable job wasn’t as important as kayaking.

Question – 6.) Even after being an IIT-grad, nothing could keep you from following your passion. What is your message to some of those students who have their minds elsewhere? Those of us who are probably reading a book which they never wanted to read and would rather have their lives doing something they love? 

The students should realise that it is okay to be different. It is very important at the academic level that you realise your talents and interests. Because, it is at this level that some students are staled-off. Hence, we need to discover a lot. In college particularly, exploring is imperative.

Image Credits: http://i.ytimg.com/

This Unquiet Land: Stories From India’s Fault Lines
Published by Aleph Book Company, a nonfiction By Barkha Dutt.
Priced at Rs 599 (Hard Cover)

We loved the sheer adventure of it, the opportunity to be chroniclers of history as it unfolded” – Barkha Dutt, This Unquiet Land.

Barkha Dutt chronicles history that she witnessed and seeked to decipher in her non-fiction, “This Unquiet Land”. The book is divided into seven parts: The Place of Women, The Cost of War, A Chronicle of Kashmir etc, each dedicated to her encounter with “India’s fault lines”.

The book, to begin with, is extremely gripping. The blessing of “the anticipation of adventure ” which she credits to journalism is felt throughout her narrative. When we read “Roll”, I shouted, pushing him (Camera men) in panic, “Roll!” one inescapably feels the thrill of the moment.
The account about gender is particularly impressive. She starts with her years as a student of Delhi University which becomes interesting as it is quite relatable. She also recounts her experience with sexual abuse at less than ten years of age. Through the stories of Bhanwari Devi, a Dalit who had been raped by a group of the ‘upper caste’ men, Barkha foregrounds “I became acutely aware of how much the class I belonged to had protected me”. In addition, she admits that through her knowledge of the oft ignored caste dimension of feminism, her “feminist preoccupations began to feel more text-bookish than fully thought through”. 

Barkha is indeed a rightful Chronicler of Kashmir,  because ” It’s beauty, it’s scars, it’s hostility, it’s warmth, it’s danger, it’s tragedy” account for her well known attachment to the state. It is one of the best accounts of Kashmir that I have read so far. She abundantly states the trauma that the state has suffered and pays homage to the army too. No matter how many times you dismiss her account for being too much in favor of the army, she would lure you back with her account of the brutal and unforgivable human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir. But one cannot overlook the “our” tone in her narrative. “Our” some of us would think is a voice which she gives to herself and Kashmir (because of her unswerving devotion to the story of turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir), but she means to associate herself with her Indian Identity rather than her Kashmiri empathy. Whether it is apt or insensitive is tough to decide.
If her pronouns betray a sense of support to the kashmiri cause, her account restores our faith in her journalism as far as Kashmir is concerned. She admits that the complexity of the truths, “creates pressure to take sides and be boxed in by simplistic labels of for and against” . 

The book is jam packed with present and past taken together. She covers contemporary stories from Modi to Mohammad Akhlaq and issues from War to Religious Fanaticism.
A revelation made in the book about a secret meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi last year which was facilitated by the business tycoon Sajjan Jindal, has now been confirmed by the presence of Jindal in Pakistan for Sharif’s birthday, when Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore.
With such interesting retelling of past, an impressive commentary on the present and a few surprises, the book is quite engaging.

Tooba Towfiq
[email protected]

Image Credits: The Quint

I made an exit from the Vishwavidyalay Metro Station. I was tired, because that’s what a packed metro ride does to everyone. I saw a guy I recognised from the packed metro compartment next to mine, sitting in the E Rickshaw I was walking towards. He looked comfortable after having found a place to sit. However, once I approached, the rickshaw driver asked him to give me a place to sit instead. He was made to leave his seat and adjust next to the Rickshaw driver. I felt horrible, but I felt unable to stop him before the visibly tired guy dutifully made space for me. I did voice my concern to others sitting in the rickshaw, and they agreed.

“Why should he be made to vacate for me?” I wondered. I could have shrugged it off, it was only a humane gesture. But it wasn’t; it was a gendered one. While I am thankful for the seat and I feel guilty that he had to give up his, I do realise that I am not to be blamed. 

Though this happens very commonly, I find this “etiquette” to be quite contrary to how I have understood feminism. I do not mean to talk about a situation where the people compared are unequal and in dissimilar circumstances, for instance, a pregnant lady. I mean to talk about those who are quite similar in their situations and strengths.

Gender roles have created ways, moors and etiquettes which are seemingly “respect” giving but are actually patronising towards women and negative to both men and women.  While it might seem ‘proper’ for men to give women a seat, this can translate to deeming women inherently weak. A ‘gentleman’ in this case would paradoxically make you a victim of his apparent favour which is implicitly chauvinistic. Worse still, men are bound to follow such rules, because if they don’t, the same gender driven society will dismiss them ‘uncivil’. It is situations such as these which starkly elucidate the ways in which gendered etiquettes affect both men and women negatively.

It is imperative for us to be careful. Now that we are aware, we must also be observant. If we know our Gilbert and Gubar, Virginia Woolf, Gloria Stieman and Ismat Chugtai, we must also know how to execute our feminism. In times when we find our feminism being questioned and mocked at as something as ridiculous as “feminazi,” it is significant that we execute and endure the egalitarian spirit of feminism which we claim.

I promise to make sure to wait for another vehicle, rather than making someone leave his comfortable seat only because I happen to be a woman. If that’s the only rickshaw I have to board, I will make sure I occupy the seat next to the rickshaw driver. Once, an acquaintance on an E rickshaw said to me jokingly, “Ladkiyan bagal mani baithaingi toh Rickshaw walay ke mazay hojainge!” to which I retorted, “For how long? Ek din mazay, do din mazay hojainge ge.” If this becomes a trend, it would be normal seeing women occupy the uncomfortable seats which rickshaw drivers insist on having occupied. Nevertheless, this acquaintance was pleased, having heard something which made sense to him. It was a feminism he understood.

To all the men in line with me for a vehicle, leave me a seat if you see me as a tired human, not as a weak woman, because that I am not, none of us are! If you are equally tired, you don’t let archaic definitions of a gentleman hold you back. Let’s be kind because it’s human to be kind and not because it is manly to leave a woman a seat or feminine to accept that.

 

Image Credits: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/