Volume 15, No. 2 – 2015

Articles

• Introduction by UMA CHAKRAVARTI AND SHAD NAVED Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Articles This selection of women’s writing does not claim to be exhaustive, but is an attempt to approach ‘women’s writing’ from a supra-national(ist), non-regionalist, and non-periphalist perspective of South Asia. We are not looking for national representatives here or even regionalist… Continue Reading

Fiction

• Neipayasam by KAMALA DAS Posted in: Fiction A man returning home at night from a simple cremation, having thanked everyone: we could simply call him Achhan. Because, only three children in the city know his value. They call him Achha. Sitting in the bus among strangers, he… Continue Reading
• The Night by TEMSULA AO Posted in: Fiction It was a night she would remember all the days of her life. It was the night before the day when the fate of the baby in her womb would be decided. As though it also sensed the turmoil in… Continue Reading

Poetry

• Poems from Ms Militancy by MEENA KANDASAMY Posted in: Poetry SHOULD YOU TAKE OFFENCE... You are the repressed Ram from whom I run away repeatedly. You are Indra busy causing bloodshed. You are Brahma fucking up my fates. You are Manu robbing me of my right to live and learn… Continue Reading
• Poems: A Selection by LATHA Posted in: Poetry 1 The speeding mind overtakes past events and races past the vehicle. A journey of many years for me and for the road. The uniformed guide standing on the first step delves into the month of May and rambles on… Continue Reading
• Poems: A Selection by MONA ZOTE Posted in: Poetry WHAT POETRY MEANS TO ERNESTINA IN PERIL What should poetry mean to a woman in the hills as she sits one long sloping summer evening in Patria, Aizawl, her head crammed with contrary winds, pistolling the clever stars that seem… Continue Reading
• Poems from Tattooed with Taboos: an Anthology of Poetry by Three Women from North-East India by SOIBAM HARIPRIYA Posted in: Poetry ANOTHER POLISH FOR MY NAILS promises and promises give it a miss It's unsure why you promised me the moon and, doted on my nails the black stain of your promises I live with the regret yet another five years… Continue Reading

Translation

• A Trip to Delhi by RASHID JAHAN Posted in: Fiction, Translation ‘My sweet sister, do let me come in, too,’ said a voice from the verandah and, along with it, entered a girl wiping her hands with the edge of her kurta. Mallika-begum was the first amongst her friends to travel… Continue Reading
• Sita Betrayed by QURRATULAIN HYDER Posted in: Fiction, Translation The rest house was on a rise, in the middle of a dense forest; below it, over a flat bed filled with purplish rocks, rushed the Kalini Ganga, filling the air with noise and spray. The birds returning to roost… Continue Reading
• Some Other Man’s Home by JEELANI BANO Posted in: Fiction, Translation All the houses look terribly alike – I’m afraid I might end up in some other man’s home. That fear kept haunting me as they took me away from the hospital. The doctors at the hospital had said I had… Continue Reading
• Poems from four Walls and a Black veil by FAHMIDA RIAZ Posted in: Poetry, Translation THE SOFT FRAGRANCE OF MY JASMINE The soft fragrance of my jasmine Floats on the breeze Plays with the hand of the wind, Is setting off in search of you. The soft fragrance of my jasmine Has curled around my… Continue Reading
• Parveen Shakir: Twelve Poems by PARVEEN SHAKIR Posted in: Poetry, Translation A SIMPLE REQUEST Lord, I know the duty of a hostess, but please let it be that this year either rain clouds visit me or my loneliness. OBSTINATE Why should I be the first to phone? He knows too: last… Continue Reading
• Excerpts from Abhiyatri: One life Many Rivers by NIRUPAMA BARGOHAIN Posted in: Fiction, Translation Chapter Fifteen The acclaim and the adoration was almost too much for the young woman, but on that memorable day something else happened that would stay with Chandraprabha forever. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy’s speech followed Chandraprabha’s, and she was spellbound,… Continue Reading
• Poems from love Poems of Taslima Nasreen by TASLIMA NASREEN Posted in: Poetry, Translation THE STRAIGHT ROAD If you want to fall in love with me, do. I’ve put out my well-rounded hands, see. If you want to hold them, do. I’ve no time to stand on the road. If I have to pull… Continue Reading
• Excerpts from Sangati by BAMA Posted in: Fiction, Translation My Paatti kept on going out to work until she was quite old. Although she lived on her own, she went out and gathered firewood, lit her own hearth, and cooked and ate her kanji. Her hot kuzhambu flavoured with… Continue Reading
• Poems: A Selection by KUTTI REVATHI Posted in: Poetry, Translation ANGELS WE ARE NOT I Trees stand upright, devoid of airs Birds roam aimlessly Clouds, one of their species, Are afloat without wings It is certain now that the time of rain’s begun Horses are deep in their practice run,… Continue Reading
• Ellamma Is Distressed by GOGU SHYAMALA Posted in: Fiction, Translation “This year the grain harvest has been good. There are five bags more than in other years. This was possible only with the blessings of Eedamma,” Ellamma said as she gazed at the bags – nine rows of them –… Continue Reading
• The Make-Up Box by SHAHEEN AKHTAR Posted in: Fiction, Translation A never-ending funeral march Looping itself around the cluster of hijal trees, a hairthin line ran parallel to the riverbank, cutting across the ground. Inside it were a few derelict huts, an empty field, a few date palms and the… Continue Reading
• Kumkum Is Doing Fine by ZAHEDA HINA Posted in: Fiction, Translation My darling Dadima, Namaskaar ! Today when after weeks I came back to Kabul, the post was waiting for me. Besides yours, I have received other letters from home: Mom’s, Brother’s, Uma Didi’s and Sushmita’s. But sweetest letter is yours,… Continue Reading