Magical women cast their spell

Gurnaaz Kaur

As the Chandigarh Literature Festival (CLF 2019) turned to its second day, we found women being the focus. From Magical Women by Sukanya Venkatraghavan, The Faith Butterflies by Nayantara Sahgal to Tawaifnama by Saba Dewan, there were tales of the women by the women.

After her debut novel, Dark Things, Sukanya thought of highlighting the state of the world we live in. The growing women’s voice became the centre point. “I believe women have the ancient magic and wisdom. It’s something we have forgotten about but it’s time to reclaim the magic; it’s time to talk about it and hold back the control.”

With the same conviction when she spoke to her writer friends, the passion project stemmed from there on. There were some who instantly said yes, those who were happy about it but needed time to agree, some even dropped out, but eventually we had a collection of 14 stories by 14 writers.

“Most people have this image of authors being aloof, surrounded by books, locked in their den but the truth is a writer cannot exist without the community. We all need each other’s support and I am lucky to have had it for Magical Women.”

What took her almost one-and-a-half years to bring together has been welcomed and applauded. In Chandigarh, the love has been endearing. So, if she had to pick a story that was closest to her heart, she feels being put in a spot but nevertheless comes up with something relevant to this time. “There is a story called Earth and Evolution Walk into a Bar. Earth is a woman and is very upset at the way evolution has destroyed the planet. It mirrors the anger of people who are fighting to save the planet.”

At a deeper level, she explains, the story also highlights how women are dismissed, especially those who are in power. Reflection of today’s time is also in Gul, the first story in the book and in Girl Who Haunted Death.

Personally, for Sukanya, existing in this current time as a woman is a very strange contradiction. “After a long time, we are finally reclaiming our power, speaking up, believing and doing everything that supposedly a man does. At the same time, it’s very unsafe, unpredictable and terrifying as we women are trying to figure out our identity.” She says every day is a struggle to balance these two truths, and all women do it. The balance is still quite skewered. No wonder in her editor’s note, she mentions. “The world is afraid of a female who is powerful.”

Saba Dewan, a documentary filmmaker, who has some notable works under her belt, including Dharmayuddha, Nasoor, Sita’s Family, Barf, Naach and The Other Song, has been always interested in shedding light on women’s life, their struggle and contribution in history. After so many successful films, she debuts in the world of writing with Tawaifnama. And this is because, “The field of investigation is wider, the reach too is. Cinema limits the story because of its time constraint. I’ve been working on this subject for past 18 years and that comes out of my interest in working on issues related to gender, sexuality and culture.”

This story on courtesans is exhaustively researched and brings out the social and cultural functions performed by these women, otherwise restricted to be mere entertainment.

Nayantara’s emphasis is on why democracy has been squeezed between fascism and new liberalism. “When Mahatma Gandhi died, I made a promise to myself that I will never let his thoughts and beliefs die. All my books reflect the same thought process,” she says.

Power-packed sessions

Day 2: The day began with a conversation between critic Meenakshi Deddy Madhavan and author Mahesh Rao.

It was followed by a discussion between Jai Arjun Singh and author Sukanya Venkatraghavan. Next we had the author of Jahangir, Parvati Sharma, in conversation with Samhita Arni. Annie Zaidi held the next session with author Amitabh Bagchi and there was the author of The Fate of Butterflies talking about democracy with critic Rumina Sethi. The last session between Poorna Swami and author-filmmaker Saba Dewan revolved around her book Tawaifnama. The day ended with a performance by Jyoti Dogra.