Sawnet sitenavigation

Articles by & about South Asian women

gif of lady writing

  • Greetings, Aunt Flo. Aravinda Pillalamarri writes about the comfort and practicality of menstrual cups. In Manushi and IndiaTogether.

  • I like women like me!. Sruti Bala writes about the first and only Palestinian gay women's association Aswat, how it tries to link together different forms of discrimination, and how this could be relevant for the Indian/South Asian context. In countercurrents.org

  • Samina Ali interviewed by Shauna Singh Baldwin. May 2005.

  • Tsunami Help -- a list of organizations accepting donations, plus links to news reports and blogs.

  • In Memoriam: Shama Futehally. Anu Kumar in the Economic & Political Weekly.

  • Survival Guide for Write-at-Home parents, by Sujata Massey. The author of 8 mystery novels and parent of two toddlers talks about survival strategies.

  • Strength through SEWA. A women's cooperative in Lucknow. The Hindu.

  • The Hijab and I. The word 'Hijab' is relatively new for me. It was not a part of my vocabulary as I was growing up. I learned it much later, when I began to read literary and religious Urdu texts...C.M. Naim in OutlookIndia. 2 Sep 2004.

  • Out of India. Anita Desai talks about why she set her new novel in Mexico, and how she missed out on feminism -- twice. The Guardian, 2 Sep 2004.

  • Through the Looking Glass. Sangeeta Ray writes about diasporic writing, in the Diaspora issue of India Seminar.

  • A question of pronouns. Shauna Singh Baldwin reviews Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.

  • The Legacy of Women Sherpa Mountaineers. Lhakpa Sherpa has scaled Mt. Everest twice, and is aiming for a third time. Pasang Lhamu, one of Nepal's 15 national heroes, died in an earlier Everest expedition. PBS Frontline.

  • A Rebel in the Mosque. Asra Nomani writes about her attempt to get equal accomodations for women in her mosque in West Virginia.

  • Stranger in a familiar land. Kamila Shamsie in Madras. The Guardian, 18 Feb 2004.

  • The Failing Light. Why did a rising young poet plunge into despair, taking her own life and the life of her 2-year-old son? An article about the memorial service for Reetika Vazirani, in the Washington Post. 15 Feb 2004.

  • Dowry and demands: Beloo Mehra summarizes a discussion on dowry from the IndDiaspora e-group.

  • How do you determine the sex of a writer?. Shreekumar Verma discusses the new women authors like Abha Dawesar and Shinie Antony who do not fit into neat categories. NewIndpress.

  • With contempt or love?. Shauna Singh Baldwin discusses exoticization in diasporic Indian writing. Montreal, 24 May 2003.

  • Feminist Representation, Feminist Practice: Perspective from South Asian Anthropology Ravina Aggarwal in womencrossing.org.

  • Message to Vijay: tee off, don't sound off. Roopa Unnikrishnan writes a response to Vijay Singh's dismissal of women in golf. Rediff, May 21 2003.

  • Uganda: a personal viewpoint on the Expulsion, 30 years on, by Jameela Siddiqi in Information for Social Change. Summer 2002.

  • An Assessment of Human Rights Violations in India as a result of Son Preference. V.G. Julie Rajan.
  • Sex-selective abortion in India. A lengthy analysis summarizing a mailing list discussion on the topic, which highlights the responses to this issue in the Indian-American community. Beloo Mehra, in Sulekha.

  • Indian women continue to be abused in the US. Rediff special on domestic violence. March 2003.

  • Having survived for ages, is the sari dying?. The demand for salwars is far greater than for saris. Outlook, Jan 2003.

  • Sita's Garden of Epic Longing. Nabaneeta Dev Sen in Outlook.

  • Women farmers in India. Ground Beneath her Feet. Indian Express, 1 Sep 02.

  • The God of Literary Trends. "Wanted: South Asian beauties to pen delicious tales of kitchen squabbles and sparkly saris, imbued with quirky, food-based exoticism." Noy Thrupkaew writes about literature, exoticism, and the new South Asian writers, in Alternet.

  • "Saving" Afghan women Sonali Kolhatkar points out that activists who claim to be speaking on behalf of Afghan women often have their own agendas. Zmag, 9 May 02.

  • The Hijras of Pakistan, a photo essay by Dennis Drenner in Queer.

  • Women in Business. Renuka Viswanathan discusses the opportunities and obstacles for women entrepreneurs in India. At indiatogether.org

  • The Myth of Matriliny. Empowerment still eludes Meghalaya's women. At Indiatogether.org.

  • The Whole She-Bang. Women film directors in India. From Outlook.

  • English, inter alia. Is it my writing that's rootless, or is it I? A letter to some fellow-writers, by Shashi Deshpande. See also the At home in the world photoessay, with a marvellous picture of Githa Hariharan, Nayantara Sahgal, and Shashi Deshpande.

  • Dispersed Radiance: Women Scientists in CV Raman's laboratory. By Abha Sur, in Meridians. Reproduced here with permission. PDF file, 3.2 Mb!!.

  • Creating a stir wherever she goes. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, profiled in the New York Times. Quote "nostalgic identatrianism of the metropolitan migrant."

  • Shall we leave it to the experts?. Arundhati Roy in The Nation.

  • Behind the Veil. A photojournal about women in Afghanistan, with accompanying commentary by Ruth Fremson, the photographer. Requires signing on at at the nytimes.com website, unfortunately.
    The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Arundhati Roy in the Guardian, 29 Sep 01. See also counterpoint by Salil Tripathi.
    I told a Pakistani friend not to stand up in the plane. Kamila Shamsie in the Guardian, 27 Sep 01.
    I'm not the enemy. Reshma Memom Yaqub in the Washington Post, 13 Sep 01.
    I want to be protected from the intolerant. Radhika Yeddanapudi in Rediff, 13 Sep 01.

  • Aravinda's Photographs. Aravinda Pillalamarri is a longtime activist for AID and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. A collection of her photographs from the Narmada area.

  • Sri Lankan author Mary Anne Mohanraj talks about her erotic writing. in Masala.com

  • I was sold to a man... Pakistan's military ruler has failed to combat the murder of women who resist forced marriage. Guardian, July 2001.

  • The trouble with thin. Eating disorders in the South Asian diaspora, from masala.com

  • "Only the setting is Indian". Abha Varma responds to Kai Friese's contention that recent Indian English books tend to exoticisation.

  • "Indian writers are now writing with confidence", says Anita Desai in an interview.

  • Impact of violence against women in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Amnesty International Report, 2001.

  • We're so Sari. Kai Friese writes about NRI writers, in Village Voice.

  • Women of Sindh: an American journalist returns to Larkana. Arnold Zeitlin writes about his experience running a seminar on journalism for women in Sindh. From the News, 8 Feb 01.

  • Scimitars in the Sun. N. Ram interviews Arundhati Roy in Frontline, Jan 2001.

  • Bisexuality: the sudden reveal. Sheela Raval and Anshul Avijit on the emerging bisexuals in Bombay. India Today.

  • Queering Gender: Trans Liberation and Our Lesbigay Movements. P. Seshadri and L. Ramakrishnan in Trikone, July 99.

  • Human Rights Researcher for focus on Dalit issue. Smita Narula, a senior researcher with the Human Rights Watch Organization, wants the issue of discrimination against the Dalits to be discussed at the World Conference Against Racism in Sep 2001.

  • Why on earth would an Indian choose to write poetry in English?. An article by Arundhathi Subramaniam.

  • Nazia Hassan's song is reborn. Remember 'Aap jaisa koi..'? Nazia Hassan's 80s hit is reborn in a hugely popular Caribbean chutney-soca mix, 'Real Unity'. You can even hear it online.

  • Let thos who have not sinned.... A three-part Rediff special by Shobha Warrier on prostitution in India.

  • First Ladies of IT, a Rediff article about the wives of the Indian IT leaders.

  • Frail ties unite us. Anders Sjöbohm writes a moving essay about being the father of an adopted Sri Lankan boy.

  • Culture-inspired clothes dispute. Another article on 'appropriation', from the Detroit Free Press.

  • Going home. Surina Khan writes about going home to Pakistan when her mother developed cancer, and how coming-out as a lesbian has changed (and not changed) her relationship with her family. In Boston Phoenix, Oct 99.

  • Was it me or was it my sari?. Shoba Narayan writes about wearing a sari for a month in New York City. Newsweek, Mar 00.

  • Uncertain Objects of Desire. Chitra Divakaruni on the changes in marriage ads in the last 3 decades. Atlantic Monthly, Mar 2000.

  • Video clips of Mahasweta Devi. Parts of an interview with Devi about tribal welfare, courtesy of Betsy Delmonico.

  • Women writers of diaspora create a big impact. Rediff.

  • Life in the US. Shobha Narayan reflects on immigration, choices and being a model Indian, in Rediff.com. [More about Narayan at the SAJA site]

  • The Habit of Ex-nomination: Nation, Woman and the Indian Immigrant Bourgeoisie, by Anannya Bhattacharjee. At the Women of Colour Web, Harvard U.

  • From here to Poland, by Nina Mehta. An essay about growing up bicultural and biracial, at the SAJA site.

  • Crime or Custom?. Violence against women in Pakistan. A report from Human Rights Watch, Aug 99.

  • The Dilemma of the Woman Writer, by Shashi Deshpande. Excerpted from 'The Fiction of Shashi Deshpande'.

  • Sleeping Arrangements. Jaishri Abichandani thinks that adultery in the Indian context may be reasonable. Ms magazine, April 99.

  • A far-flung clan gathers online to put Aunt Sheila to rest. Shoba Narayan describes an internet memorial service. New York Times, 19 Aug 99.

  • Uncle Sam's Sisters. Article on three women authors of Indian origin -- Jhumpa Lahiri, Sujata Massey, Bharti Kirchner. India Today, 21 June 99.

  • Bharati Mukherjee on Mother Teresa, as part of Time's 100 important people of the century.

  • The Greater Common Good. An article about the Narmada Dam, in the distinctive Arundhati Roy style. Originally in Outlook India, May 2000.

  • Largescale trafficking of Bangladeshi women

  • Is there any hope for women in Pakistan? -- Tabinda Aufaz in Dawn.

  • Good Girls and Bad Postures -- by a Pakistani woman who lives in New York City.

  • To Sex or Not to Sex. Junglees and Behnjis in South Asian America. Ginu Kamani.

  • The End of Imagination -- Arundhati Roy on India's Nuclear Bomb. Outlook, Aug 98. (There used to be a critique and counteropinion in Earth Times, Oct 98, but the link is now dead).

  • Rediff interview with Mahasweta Devi, in which she talks about her work with the tribals.

  • Rediff columns by Kamala Das, Manjula Padmanabhan, Farzana Vecsey.

  • What I've learned from Writing, Shauna Singh Baldwin's keynote speech at the Great Lakes Writers Conference, June 1998.

  • Muslim Rituals: Practices and Social Problems in Ontario. By Abdullah Hakim Quick in Polyphony.

  • Working Indian women in Toronto, by Prabha Khosla in Currents.

  • Arundhati Roy on Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen -- a pair of controversial articles that led to a court case, after which she retired (temporarily) from public life to write her book.

  • Rushdie on India and World Literature, Aug 1997.

  • What is a valid South Asian struggle? -- a report on the annual SASA conference, by Sunu Chandy.

  • Women, Sex and Marriage: Restraint as a feminine strategy. By Madhu Kishwar in Manushi

  • Pakistani Women in a Changing Society

  • Last Will of Prof. P.C.Sen -- This scholar left an unusual will asking that his wife ignore the behavioural customs for widows.

  • Holders of the World -- an interview with Bharati Mukherjee in Jouvert.

  • A wife's letter to her husband -- letter and followups about arranged and green-card marriages that appeared in Dawn, the Pakistan daily, in June 1997.

  • The South Asian Woman's List of Good Resolutions, by Bisakha Sen and Shauna Singh Baldwin.

  • A Terrible Hurt, by Ginu Kamani. About Mircea Eliade's book 'Bengal Nights', and the rebuttal by Maitreyi Devi 'It Does Not Die' -- two versions of their interactions in the early 30s in Calcutta.

  • AIDS among the middle-class in India -- an article from India Today, Feb 97.

  • Shobha De's new book, Surviving Men, has just been released in Madras.

  • American Dreamer -- Bharati Mukherjee in Mother Jones. Accompanied by a photo of Ms. Mukherjee draped in a sari made of the American flag.

  • Towards Stronger Women -- Shamita Das Dasgupta talks about domestic violence, immigration and westernization. Femina, 15 Sep 96.

  • Indian writers writing in English are gaining acceptance in the west as well as in their home country. But how good are they? An article from the Week

  • Sex and Indo-English writing -- an article about Shobha De from the Week.

  • A Pretty Penny -- how much do writers like Shobha De and Vikram Seth earn? From the Week.

  • Plagiarism and Mystery. Indrani Aikath-Gyaltsen was a promising novelist who destroyed her career by plagiarising an entire book by Elizabeth Goudge. She died in suspicious circumstances.

  • NRIs: Newly Returned Indians. An uncomplimentary article about NRIs who return to India, from India Today. (1 Dec 96)

  • Living Identities vs. Acquired Ones -- about the process of defining and identifying oneself as a woman or man, a Punjabi, a Hindu, a Muslim and all the other multilayered identities. By Madhu Kishwar, from Manushi.

  • When India "Missed" the Universe -- about beauty contests, Miranda House politics, westernized elite in colleges, perceptions of beauty, and the mother-sister role for women in India. By Madhu Kishwar, article from Manushi with permission.

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