In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

I am very ambitious in my borrowings from the public library. I am fascinated by the extent of its collections, the ability to check out an e-book and read it on my Kindle, the neat stacks of books. But of course, I don't always manage to complete or even start the large number of books I check out. I realized a few days ago that I had Jhumpa Lahiri's latest book 'In Other Words' and it was due soon. Books as new as that are rarely available to re-issue. I opened it last evening only to realize that it was in Italian and English. It is the story of her love and learning of Italian, learning to speak, read and write in Italian. 

How to break a brown girl

I wrote this at https://quntfront.com/2016/05/10/how-to-break-a-brown-girl/
(Go read. With humor)

"Well for starters, you take her out of her (brown) country and put her in a white one. This way you make her realize she is brown, a lower-ranked pawn in the chessboard of colors. This is just the beginning. Repeatedly and loudly compliment her on her command of the English language, so that she does not forget that she is foreign, that language too is a colonial legacy, over which she has flimsy claim. Ask her if she learned how to speak so fluently from the movies or her parents (because they belong together on the spectrum of parenting)."

After A Long Pause

This has been one of my longer pauses. The days and weeks have been full.

Fraud Indian Woman

So I dug through the archives and found this. I wrote this but never shared it? I think it was probably because of it doesn't seem to make a clear point, just ask questions. But I still find it a useful compass, even if it is two years later. 

At this stage in my life, I find I have no choice but to talk about gender or being a woman. I am not going to get into how I am at this point or stage in my life but I find that I have to speak. There are so many levels on which I am tired of seeing how the world works against women. In this I include both men and women. It is not a one way street. As I moved to Minneapolis, I found myself navigating expectations of how I should be both as an 'Indian' and 'Indian woman'. I am not the first nor the last person to do this. I am just talking about my experiences, which for the longest time I have held back from sharing because I wasn't sure if there was anything new in it. That being said, not being new doesn't make it any less important. I have also often wondered how is it that people reach a point of incredible frustration and disappointment with stereotypes and expectations. I get it now. It is the timeless story of the last straw breaking the camel's back. You reach a point where you cannot take it one more time.

The Last Colony

"Women are the last colony. Other colonies have been liberated. A colony is a person or place whose resources you exploit, whose cheap labour you exploit. So our colonizer, our families, exploit our labour, exploit our sex, exploit our reproductive power, everything."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Harsh_Mander/the-last-colony/article4146418.ece

Life in Books

I've been reading. Often. For fun. I am so glad to be back to reading and for adapting to the Kindle. I don't want to accumulate books that I can't carry with me. I've had enough of leaving bits and pieces behind. Plus Kindle versions of most books are also now more affordable, allowing me to read more. The Kindle app across platforms means I am not stuck to owning a Kindle. Here's my list of recommendations, which surprisingly has more non-fiction than fiction. Usually I go the other way.

Seeing Like A Feminist by Nivedita Menon

The title is a dead giveaway. What I enjoyed most about this book is that it is a concise, pithy read about feminism(s) in India, its various spokespeople as well as its schisms. I've often lamented about my lack of knowledge about feminism in India and its appropriation as an all-round bad word. So it was really refreshing to read this book. I am going to leave you with some of my favorite lines.

"By gendering, I mean the ways in which people are produced as proper men and women through rules and regulations of different sorts; some of which we internalize, some of which have to be violently enforced."

The Blues

One of my Chicago resolutions is to find and watch plays and shows and other kinds of performances. I've heard about the Blue Man Group show for several years and I saw billboards in Chicago. Tickets are kind of pricey but I was able to get an almost half-price ticket from Goldstar for a day show. Going for a day show is important and you'll see why in a segue later in this piece. So the show. The show is very entertaining. It starts with advice to text your bff, update your status, read wikis and more.

Support Networks of Women in Higher Ed: A Crucial Pit Stop in Busy and Challenging Paths

"Women in higher education are navigating complex paths in academic fields, paths that see a steady increase in participation by women but still have more men in leadership positions. Support networks play a crucial role in helping women advance. Tessens, White and Web explain in “Senior Women in Higher Education Institutions: Perceived Development Needs and Support” that allocating resources, setting up of networks and gatekeeping for leadership positions is considered a gendered activity in academia.

Through my informal conversations with women faculty, staff and graduate students at the University of Minnesota, I saw how women in higher education engage with and react to support networks. The focus of my conversations was four-pronged: why women participate in support networks, what they get out of it, what makes the groups work and what are some of the tensions and challenges faced."

Read the rest of the piece here (I am the author :) and thus the link love) : http://qap2.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/whe.20193/full

On brownness and other things

Sometime in December, when I was back home, I remember drafting a piece, almost hastily, so as to not lose the words and sentences that had been floating in my head for a while. It has now been published.

Modern Indian Woman?

Results of a quick Google search

I've often wonder about what the term 'modern Indian woman' means, especially as modern can still be said with a hint, if not an overtone of derision. I have often heard the statement 'you are too modern' being thrown around, with the intent to insult and hurt. Often I've heard the modern used as a 'trait', 'an attitude', which women need to phase out as they grow older (read: arrive at a marriageable age).

Why talk about gender?

One of the aspects I felt was most neglected in terms of preparing teams for fieldwork was addressing issues of gender, race and more. These are topics that make the best of us uncomfortable and I think it often seems that a classroom setting isn't the best to have an honest conversation. My definition of what an honest conversation is a moving, evolving one but in recent times I think of it as one where we are okay speaking about the 'bad thoughts' that we have. The idea should be to generate constructive counterpoints and of course, there needs to be a base in a desire to change. I guess I see little point in saying "I dislike so and so because they are such and such and I will believe this till I die."

Suggestions welcome

I am working on a piece to understand what motivates women to seek an international graduate education. I'd like to speak to both current and past students (who are studying/have studied outside their home country) and have a chat to learn more about why they made the choices they did. I'm starting to ask around and if you'd be interested in speaking with me or guiding me to someone, I'd greatly appreciate it! I'll be happy to give more details if required. Thanks.

My two bits on the Delhi Metro

Source:
http://respectwomen.co.in/life-of-a-woman-in-delhi-metro/

I vividly remember my first encounter with the Delhi Metro. It had been recently set up and made functional (especially the blue line which I was using) and I decided to use it to visit a book fair at Pragati Maidan. On the way there or back, I can’t remember clearly now, I recall sitting in a busy coach. A man was uncomfortably close to me and coming closer. I was younger then, and perhaps rash, so I gave him a few swift kicks to remind him that this was not okay. In retrospect my behavior is not very commendable either, but I forgive myself because I have let things slide in such cases more than I wish I had. This man started yelling brazenly ‘this lady is hitting me’ and it did not seem like if things escalated, anyone would help me out (notice the word rescue purposely not being used).

After that I stopped using the metro during rush hours and then pretty much all. I was hardly alone in feeling that unwarranted touching and ‘accidental’ brushing was going on during busy hours and otherwise. Soon the Delhi Metro launched a ladies compartment and I think it changed the face of the metro. I don’t think of transport as necessarily gender neutral. Especially not in India, where gender issues are a big problem. Traveling in crowded spaces for women means dealing with not just the regular annoyances of being cramped or pushed or having to board and deboard moving vehicles risking your life but also dealing regularly with the gropers and molesters. You have to pick your battles especially if travel is part of your daily routine. I don’t think you can spend all your traveling time fighting and possibly screaming and shouting. Especially when you know help is not always forthcoming.