Backflap

This book examines the Emergency and its aftermath from diverse perspectives — political, historical, legal, economic, philosophical, experiential and cultural, among others. Through 15 essays written by a cross-section of scholars from across the country, it explores how the Emergency transformed Indian polity, and shaped law enforcement and penal practices, the media, student movements, judicial responses, subaltern politics and literary expression.

This collection weaves together lived experiences of women in urban India who have been navigating severe mental health conditions, from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, complex PTSD, suicide loss and suicidality to trauma, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, OCD and ADHD. Each woman’s account holds up a mirror to society’s discomfort with mental illness-questioning biases, unlearning stereotypes and naming invisible strengths that often go unnamed.

Lyrical meditations on spiritual dispossession, these poems explore the unsettling truth that we cannot fully possess our lives, even as we live them, except perhaps through their recreation in art. They grapple with the paradox of beauty and transience: how to reconcile the splendour of life with its fleeting nature — vanishing sunsets, ephemeral lovers, and the impermanence of sailing stars. Every welcome carries, at its heart, an unspoken farewell.