By: Alice,
on 5/3/2015
What would it be like driving overland from London -- East of Suez and over the Khyber Pass -- to India ? Day by day and mile by mile, we found out, recording our impressions and experiences of people, landscape and encounters as we drove a 107" wheel base Land Rover from London to Jaipur.
The post Destination India appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Alice,
on 7/15/2014
To analyze the personal, political, and intellectual trajectory of Akbar Jehan—the woman, the wife, the mother, and the Kashmiri nationalist, not simply an iconic and often misunderstood political figure—has been an emotionally tempestuous journey for me. The Kashmiri political and social activist is my maternal grandmother. I am so interested in studying her life and work because, to my mind, there is a historical value in challenging the historical narratives about the political actors of pre-and post-1947 Jammu and Kashmir and the movement for an autonomous and pluralistic Kashmir. I have attempted to steer clear of delimiting and constricting narratives about her life and work in my recent book. It is important to reshape the collective historical memory so that it includes the humanitarian and pluralistic endeavors of leaders of the movement at that critical time after the partition of India.
While teaching classes on Women’s and Gender Studies at the Universities of Nebraska and Oklahoma, I realized that history has done a rather inadequate job of memorializing the contributions of women political and social activists. Akbar Jehan’s work of sustaining the community, caring for the marginalized and disempowered at a turbulent time, has not been captured by professional historians, who have peripheralized the work of women in rebuilding societies following armed conflict.
With the oral and historical resources available to me, I investigated the impact of Akbar Jehan’s work on the legal, social, and economic status of women in Jammu and Kashmir. She was a passionate advocate of women’s education who sought to place girls—including those of impoverished backgrounds—in the modern and vibrant world of intellectual and scientific pursuits. Working with Lady Mountbatten, wife of the first Governor General of post-Partition India, Lord Mountbatten, Akbar Jehan advocated for repatriating young women who had been forcibly removed from their families during the partition of the country. According to my mother Suraiya and her older sister Khalida, Akbar Jehan also worked to restore the honor of those women who had borne the brunt of communal vendetta. Following the partition, she helped to form the Relief Committee and served on the chair of the Food Committee, which sought to address economic losses resulting from the collapse of the tourism sector and the subsequent rise in the cost of living. Later, Akbar Jehan founded the institute Markaz Behbudi Khawateen, still in operation today, which imparts literacy, training in arts and crafts, health care, and social security as tools of empowerment.
All of these efforts constitute a powerful rebuttal of the tendency among Western observers to conflate Islamic norms with practices. Western feminist epistemologies in particular, as I have observed in Islam, Women, and the Violence in Kashmir, can impair the research paradigms, hypotheses, and field work on women in Islamic societies. Akbar Jehan believed that women citizens should be accorded equal rights with men in all fields of national life—economic, cultural, political, and in government services. She reinforced the idea that women should have the right to work in every line of employment for terms and wages equal to those for men; women would be assured of equality with men in education, social insurance and job conditions, though she argued that the law should also give special protections to mothers and children. In contrast to many Western feminists, however, Akbar Jehan gave equal credence to the path-paving work of women within religious, familial, and communal frameworks. Moreover, she sought to motivate education within minority communities (as opposed to state-controlled education), and above all she recognized culture and history as sites of political and social struggle.
Akbar Jehan understood that reforms and consciousness-raising could occur most decisively at the grassroots level, not in the corridors of power in New Delhi, nor in the plush halls of parliament. I would venture to say that the many harangues, digressions, dogmatic statements, and red tape of parliament could not intimidate an activist who had worked in the trenches and walked shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of the anti-monarchical, anti-colonial, and Independence movements of the Indian subcontinent. Akbar Jehan was of the opinion that enfranchisement of both women and men, and assuring women of equal opportunities in education, are not empowering in themselves, but would cause a momentous shift in traditional gender relationships. To address these political obstacles, women who were active in politics in the 20th century sought not only to improve the position of their particular organizations but also to forge connections between the various women’s groups. One of their major accomplishments came in 1950, when the government of Jammu and Kashmir developed educational institutions for women on a large scale, including the first University, as well as a College for women. There remains much scholarly work to be done in exploring how women in civic associations and in government led the way toward a peaceful pluralistic democracy.
By virtue of her status among the major Kashmiri institutions, Akbar Jehan earned the authority to make major policy decisions. Thus, she enjoyed a privilege that other intelligent visionary women did not have. For example, she represented Srinagar and Anantnag constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian parliament from 1977 to 1979 and 1984 to 1989, respectively. Akbar Jehan was also the first president of the Jammu and Kashmir Red Cross Society from 1947 to 1951. She was the first lady of Jammu and Kashmir from 1948–1953 and again from 1975–1982. So, it would be difficult to deny that making one’s vision a reality, particularly for a woman in the South Asian context, is contingent, to a certain extent, on socioeconomic privilege and political clout. And though Akbar Jehan’s critics have pointed out that her elite position gave her visibility and access to the echelons of power, this by no means diminishes her legacy.
Nyla Ali Khan is a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma and member of the Harvard-based Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, and The Life of a Kashmiri Woman. She is also the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir, a contributor to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women (2013), and a guest editor for Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
Oxford Islamic Studies Online is an authoritative, dynamic resource that brings together the best current scholarship in the field for students, scholars, government officials, community groups, and librarians to foster a more accurate and informed understanding of the Islamic world. Oxford Islamic Studies Online features reference content and commentary by renowned scholars in areas such as global Islamic history, concepts, people, practices, politics, and culture, and is regularly updated as new content is commissioned and approved under the guidance of the Editor in Chief, John L. Esposito.
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The post Akbar Jehan and the dialectic of resistance and accommodation appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Aline Pereira,
on 8/10/2012
The South Asia Book Award, administered by the South Asia National Outreach Consortium, is given annually for up to two outstanding works of literature, from early childhood to secondary reading levels, which accurately and skillfully portrays South Asia or South Asians in the diasporas, that is the experience of individuals living in South Asia, or of South Asians living in other parts of the world. Up to five Honor Books and Highly Commended Books will also be recognized by the award committee for their contribution to this body of literature on the region.
PaperTigers congratulates the recently announced 2012 South Asia Book Award winners:
2012 Winners
Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw (Henry Holt and Company, 2011). Pen Pals Elliot and Kailash discover that even though they live in different countries—America and India—they both love to climb trees, own pets, and ride school buses (Grade 5 & under).
Island’s End by Padma Venkatraman (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011). A young girl trains to be the new spiritual leader of her remote Andaman Island tribe, while facing increasing threats from the modern world(Grade 6 & above).
2012 Honor Books
Sita’s Ramayana by Samhita Arni, illustrations by Moyna Chitrakar (Groundwood Books, 2011). The Ramayana, one of the greatest legends of ancient India, is presented in the form of a visually stunning and gripping graphic novel, told from the perspective of the queen, Sita (Grade 6 & above).
Following My Paint Brush by Dulari Devi and Gita Wolf (Tara Books Pvt. Ltd, 2010). Following My Paint Brush is the story of Dulari Devi, a domestic helper who went on to become an artist in the Mithila style of folk painting from Bihar, eastern India (Grade 5 & under).
No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2011). Valli has always been afraid of the people with leprosy living on the other side of the train tracks in the coal town of Jharia, India, so when aa encounter with a doctor reveals she too has the disease, Valli rejects help and begins a life on the streets. (Grade 6 & above).
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By: Becky Laney,
on 11/6/2007
Chappell, Crissa-Jean. 2007. Total Constant Order.
Frances Isabelle Nash (Fin) is a teen under pressure. Within the past year, she's moved from Vermont to Florida, her parents have divorced, and she's feeling overwhelmed with urges to count and draw. These 'strange' compulsions to flick light switches, to draw objects with a certain number of points, or draw things a certain number of times, have been increasing over the past few months. Fin is also finding it more and more difficult to sleep.
Under much duress, Fin starts seeing a therapist who prescribes Paxil. But Fin discovers that prescription medications can sometimes have side effects that just aren't worth it. Around the time that she's trying to come to terms with having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), she meets a boy who changes how she views everything: Thayer.
To read the rest of the review where I discuss how much Thayer impacts her life....visit The Edge of the Forest October/November edition. If you're reading this posting later...after the fact...then look for it in the Edge of the Forest archives.
By: Becky Laney,
on 6/5/2007
McCaughrean, Geraldine. 2007. The White Darkness. (First U.S. edition, 2007; originally published in 2005).
What can I say about The White Darkness? Really? It was strange. Odd. One-of-a-kind. There were moments when I was really loving the oddness of it. After all, how many writers begin off their novel like this:
I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now--which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and then the age difference won't matter. Besides he isn't dead inside my head. We talk about all kinds of things. From whether hair color can change spontaneously to whether friends are better than family, and the best age for marrying: 14 or 125. Generally speaking, he knows more than I do, but on that particular subject we are even. He wasn't married--at least he wasn't when he died, which must have substantially cut down his chances. (1)
Who is Titus Oates? Why has he--though dead--captured this young teen's heart? He was an Antarctic explorer in Robert Scott's expedition in 1911/12. Her uncle fueled her interest in the Antarctic through books and dvds. Now, she is mesmerized and a tad obsessed. It must run in the family.
Her family. Also odd. There is her father who died after months of strange behavior. There is her "uncle" Victor who while no blood relation, takes the family under his protection. And there is the mother. The mother who is almost always silent. The author has almost chosen to give her no voice in this novel. And then there is our narrator, Symone. She is odd. She is to some extent deaf. She cannot hear anything without her hearing aids. That doesn't make her odd necessarily. I'm not suggesting it does. But wearing hearing aids at such a young age, does make Sym--as she calls herself--feel a little out of place with her peers. That and the fact that she is almost constantly in conversation with a dead man. Sym and Titus. An odd combination of narrators. He does play a vital role in the story. But whether that is because he provides some relief and normalcy from the other actually "real" characters...or if he is just proof of her insanity...is debatable.
The story. What happens. Uncle Victor surprises Sym with a trip to Paris. But this isn't an ordinary trip to Paris. Without telling anyone--her mom, her school, etc--he is planning to head off to Antarctica with his "niece." Symone doesn't know either, not at first. And when she does find out, she tries to contact her mother--but there always seems to be some circumstance blocking her. The phone doesn't work. The radio is out. The two, Victor and Symone, are part of a group of tourists--or are they??? What is Uncle Victor's real motivations in dragging his "niece" all this way? And why is Symone only now beginning to see just how strange her uncle truly is?
I hesitate to describe any more of the novel. I don't want to spoil the plot. But I do want to say this. The further into the novel I read, the more uncomfortable I became. The less charmed I was by the quirkiness of the narration. It became evident fairly early on that we were talking of a severe case of mental illness. The narrator's mental status also being up for debate. The other characters? All equally strange and unexplainable. There was no one normal. No one trustworthy. No one that you could actually relate to or like. Everyone was either odd, weird, strange, quirky, or eccentric.
Do I like the novel? Not really. Why? I found the characters a little too odd. Too extreme. I just didn't connect with them. Yes, I kept reading the story. Yes, I suppose I wanted to know what happened. But it was more about closure--I didn't want to leave them stranded out on the ice without learning how it was resolved. I didn't like the characters. I thought they were all crazy.
Other readers may have a different take on the novel. It may appeal to them in a way that it doesn't for me. I can only say that this novel wasn't quite my style. We didn't really click that well.
By: Becky Laney,
on 5/5/2007
Holmes, Sara Lewis. 2007. Letters from Rapunzel.
Note: Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom First Fiction Contest
First Impressions: The cover of the book is, in my opinion, somewhat deceptive. With the long-haired Rapunzel gazing out the tower window, it could be just another fractured or retold fairy tale. It could be. But it isn't. Whether that is good news or bad news depends on the expectations of readers. Although I must say that while Rapunzel and her tower feature predominantly on the cover, there are rows of houses--modern-day houses--on the cover as well. So there are some clues that it is contemporary. The book is described thusly, "an enchanting debut novel [that] is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel's quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in."
When "Rapunzel" finds a scrap of a letter in her father's chair addressed to "Box # 5667", she begins an unusual correspondence with one of her father's inspirational muses. Her father, a poet, has been hospitalized with clinical depression. Rapunzel, however, is too young to really understand that diagnosis. All she knows is that her father is under an evil spell. She hopes by writing her father's friend--his poetic guide--that she will somehow break the spell. That she will be rescued from her tower--the horribly yucky after-school Homework Club. And that her father will be rescued from his tower--the hospital. (Or clinic, or institution--I can't remember if the book was too specific in saying where the father was being kept).
Who is Box #5667? A mystery that won't be solved until the final chapters. I certainly won't tell--or even hint. But the correspondence isn't so much about "Box #5667" as it is about a young girl's inner thought life. Her joys. Her concerns. Her worries. She can be funny. She can be entertaining. But she can also be quite serious. She wants to do anything and everything she can to help her father. But there is nothing she can do. School and the homework club are just two of her troubles. Homework--so isn't fun. Teachers--so don't understand her sense of humor. Classmates--don't understand where she's coming from.
Letters from Rapunzel is an enjoyable read. The characters are well-written, and the story is heartfelt.
http://saralewisholmes.com/
By: Becky Laney,
on 4/29/2007
Mitchard, Jacquelyn. 2007. Now You See Her.
Jacquelyn Mitchard's first novel for young adults, NOW YOU SEE HER is an excellent example of an unreliable narrator. Unreliable narrators are great for adding suspense. What's real? What's imagined? What's the truth? What's a lie? Perception is everything. Can you unravel the mystery and discern "the truth" before the final page? That is the game of it. As you might have guessed, I really enjoyed this novel.
Opening lines: "Hope is vanishing. Does that sound too dramatic? Okay, fine. It's really just barely dramatic enough. Maybe not even enough. I don't mean "hope" the way they think. How could I explain it to them? They're beyond stupid. They're clueless and retarded. All of them. I hear my mother and father say, "She doesn't realize the gravity of all this..." and I want to yell, Are you crazy? Are you on crack? I'm the one it happened to. So I, like, sort of understand the gravity." (3)
"Hope Shay" is the stage name for Bernadette Romano. She has THE GIFT. Born to be an actor. Born to be the star of the show. She is pushed, pulled, and dragged into the dramatic world of theatre by her mother. Perfection is not only expected, it's demanded. Forced to perform all of her life, to please others, to be the perfect portait of the person her parents expect her to be, it's no wonder that Hope ends up in a "special" place like Miss Taylor's. (Miss Tylers). As Hope's story unfolds the reader really doesn't know who to believe. Did she really fake her own kidnapping? Or does it only seem that way? Was Logan her boyfriend and co-conspirator? Or is he just her delusion. As Hope's world crumbles, everything begins to fall into place. Can she ever just be herself? Can she ever be normal?
NOW YOU SEE HER is very well-written. It's exciting, suspenseful, dramatic, and a real exploration of a psychotic breakdown or episode.
http://jackiemitchard.com/blog/
By: Becky Laney,
on 4/19/2007
Hopkins, Ellen. 2007. Impulse.
Impulse is not particularly the kind of book you want to pick up (or post about) the week of the Virginia Tech Massacre. Like all of Ellen Hopkins books its theme is dark and depressing. That is not to say it isn’t honest and authentic. Impulse has this honest feel about it. These are characters that feel real. The pain they’re describing, they’re living, feels authentic. It feels genuine. The secrets, the lies, the hopes, the fears, the worries, the stress, everything. It is the story (fictional) of three teens who have attempted suicide. Two boys and one girl. They, all three, find themselves at Aspen Springs a mental institution for juveniles. Each teen has a story. Each teen has a journey. One tried to overdose on drugs. One tried to shoot himself. One slit her wrist. All have obstacles to overcome. All have secrets. All have quirks. Tony. Vanessa. Conner. Three teens who are walking the same self-destructive path. Can they find help in time? Can their lives be changed? Can there be hope where formerly there was none? Can broken lives find healing? It is a harsh story. Hopkins doesn’t hide the hard, bitter, dark pain of suicidal thoughts. But amidst all the pain and suffering, redemption may be just within reach.
Hopkins writing is once again powerful. Not every reader will want to journey down this dark tunnel with these three characters. Even if there is light shining at the end of the tunnel. For readers in search of "problem novels" or "edgy novels" or novels about suicide, cutting, drugs, or dysfunctional families in general, this book may be a perfect fit. It is a powerful, authentic verse novel.
Cloistered
I can't remember
when it has snowed
so much, yards
and yards of lacy ribbons,
wrapping the world in white.
Was it three years ago? Ten?
Memory is a tenuous thing,
like a rainbow's end
or a camera with a failing lens.
Sometimes my focus
is sharp, every detail
clear as the splashes
of ice, fringing the eaves;
other times it is a hazy
field of frost, like the meadow
outside my window.
I think it might be a meadow.
A lawn? A parking lot?
Is it even a window
I'm looking through,
or only cloudy panes
of vision, opening
on drifts of ivory
linens--soft cotton,
crisp percale--
my snow just
a blizzard of white
noise?
From IMPULSE by Ellen Hopkins, p. 17-18
http://www.ellenhopkins.com/
Readers may also enjoy It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon, and Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. I haven't read Twisted yet, but based on what reviews I have read...it seems like this would be a good match.
By: Becky Laney,
on 4/17/2007
Wemmlinger, Raymond. 2007. Booth's Daughter.
Booth's Daughter is a fictionalized account of a troubled family in America's past. Edwin Booth and his daughter Edwina have not had an easy life. Haunted by the actions of her uncle, John Wilkes Booth, Edwina is trying to embrace her family legacy--acting--without being crushed by the family legacy of notoriety. Will anyone ever see her for who she is? Will she forever be either the niece of that mad assassin, John Wilkes Booth, or the daughter of that world renowned actor, Edwin Booth? Can't a girl just be herself? Have her own wants and interests? Edwina Booth is a girl that can't say no. She can't disappoint her father. She can't disappoint her stepmother. She can't speak her mind in fear of causing one of her parents to slip into a 'dark' mood. She is forced into the role of caretaker. She is responsible for making sure her parents stay sane. After her stepmother's death it becomes even worse. She is now the sole person responsible for taking care of her father's moods and tempers. Taking care that he doesn't get upset. Taking care that he doesn't spiral down into depression or rage. But it's a heavy burden. She needs someone to share her load. Is there anyone who can understand her and love her for who she is?
Booth's Daughter is one woman's quest for love and acceptance. Edwina is a very sympathetic character. It's a lonely life. After all, one mustn't advertise the fact that her father's generous, magnanimous spirit is a show. One couldn't let slip the fact that he is jealous, selfish, and at times capable of irrational rage and dark depression. How can a woman balance taking care of her own needs while caring for the needs of others. It isn't an easy journey, but Edwina is a determined soul who doesn't give up easily.
I'm not sure how many readers would go out seeking a book about Edwina Booth...unless they are big fans of GOOD BROTHER, BAD BROTHER...but it is a good book nonetheless. Whether the reader is interested in the acting/theatre angle, the love triangle aspect, or the psychological aspect of dysfunction and mental disorders...Booth's Daughter offers something for everyone.
Miss Erin's review of Booth's Daughter
Chasing Ray's Review of Booth's Daughter
This sounds...interesting...!