book excerpt

In the final days of the Mughal dynasty, the Emperor was well-known as a champion of the common people, protecting them, as shown by this book excerpt.

Indian classical dancer and Guru Sonal Mansingh has had many highs and lows in her life. A notable low was when she suffered major injuries in a car accident in 1974, but she refused to give in to despair.

In this excerpt from Disability, Gender and the Trajectories of Power, edited by Asha Hans and published by Sage Publications, Malini Chib, disability rights activist and author, who has cerebral palsy, shares her experiences and observations of the time spent while she got around to developing a strong disability identity that she wants to “celebrate” rather than reject.

Whereas all mothers are expected to be selfless and caring, those who are confronted with mothering a disabled child have to literally find their ‘salvation’ in untiring care and sacrifice. Here’s a look at how autism mothers cope in the face of their double-burden, in this excerpt from Embodying Motherhood: Perspectives from Modern India, by Anu Aneja and Shubhangi Vaidya, published by Sage Publication’s Yoda Press.

There are many facets to the person that was Mahasweta Devi, who passed away at 90, active till recently doing what she loved best – giving voice and power to the people through her activism and her writing.

This excerpt from Suchitra Sen: The Legend and the Enigma by Shoma A Chatterji looks at Sen as the quintessential working woman, who effortlessly portrayed the dedicated professional woman in many of her films, someone who attempted to create a balance between the demands of love and romance and work.

The excerpt from the book 'My Half Of The Sky’ by Indrani Raimedhi talks about Birubala Rabha who has been crusading against witch-hunting for several years now. She went door-to-door to spread awareness about the cause and became architect of the country’s most stringent laws against witch-hunting recently enacted by Assam.