A daughter’s voice

Gurvinder Singh

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Ratna Vira, who has won acclaim for her debut novel, Daughter by Court Order (DBCO), doesn't mince words. Talking about her novel, she says that this is a story of not one girl, but of almost every girl in India as discrimination between a girl and a boy happens across all sections of society in this country, though the degree and nature may vary.

Daughter of noted journalist Nalini Singh, Ratna feels that such bias in favour of males in society must end.

“I had a difficult relationship with my mother because of these reasons. Such discrimination exists among the educated and rich people as well,” she says.

Talking about the social conditioning that expects women to follow certain ‘rules’, she says, “Though our society has become more literate, but the number of females has gone down in the past 30 years, thus distorting the sex ratio. It is not just the poor or uneducated people indulging in female infanticide and foeticide, but so-called educated and high-class society is too is part of it.”

However, gender bias is not a by-product of patriarchal society alone, she says, “Even though North-Eastern society is matriarchal, discrimination happens there also, but in a different way.”

“The social conditioning and bias is so deep-rooted that we don't even recognise the problem, and women are not able to break the mould that goes on from one generation to the other,” she says.

Daughters must be treated right and equal to sons. And to break this mould, women must get educated, and educate their daughters well. They must find their voice and must have the courage to stand up for themselves and be themselves, she says.

“I want parents to empower their daughters, give her all the confidence and support even after she is married off,” she says.

Ratna has been writing since her college days and her corporate career has also been about communication and writing. But the idea of writing about this issue was at the back of her mind for long, and it took about two years for her to write this novel.

Daughter by Court Order has drawn appreciation from unexpected quarters and has been part of the bestseller’s list since it was released in May last year. The response has been far from what people used to tell her. “I was told that debut novels don’t do well and you have to write many books, before people start noticing your name and start reading you,” she says. “It has featured in best of publications, and even Prime Minister Modi appreciated this book,” she says.

She is planning to form the DBCO Forum for Women to support women facing inequality and discrimination.

Currently she is working on her next novel, which is based on society and relationship.