Writings About The Ever-changing Demands Of The World

The anthology Khush Zubaan Bebaak Jigar' / 'Of Dry Tongues and Brave Hearts edited by Reema Ahmad and Semeen Ali brings together a collection of voices that uses various mediums to depict the issues/concerns that surround them at an individual level.

The Khush Zubaan Bebaak Jigar highlights the dynamics of the ghar-bahir, and tries to look into the varied ways in which the world has been depicted and to what extent is the self, able to face/deal with the ever-changing demands of the world. Excerpts from the book:

From the introduction

Between the many pegs of unlimited tasks that define the existence of an ordinary woman, the extraordinariness of her being seeks and finds expression. And as fleetingly as that expression takes form in thought, vision and voice, it disappears for lack of a label, a place, a corner and a home. Of Dry Tongues and Brave Hearts, hopes to be that home, even if its reach is limited because of the language it speaks in and the people it was able to reach — people whose lives found a place in it and those who may shelter it in their lives.

Varied voices belonging to seventy women find a place side by side in this anthology. Thus, a young woman who knew that butchering ran in her veins walks beside an emotionally broken mother standing over her dying daughter’s body. And a young artist who looks at women as if through a sieve of nightmarish dreams, sits in the sun with a woman who sheds the skin of gender in her writing and redefines her trans-ness. And these women embrace all the others in this book with an acceptance seldom granted to those who do not fit the popular description of what it means to be a strong woman, a purposeful woman, a useful woman. We have our value, all of us, even if that value is not recognised by the world. A woman’s value is not just her name or how woke she is. Her life is an act of courage.

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From The closing note 

There is always an invisible line that women or those who identify as women have to live with and within. But there are always exits that one can create — not necessarily taken but at least can be created. In this book, Reema and I have tried to bring together voices that are fresh as well as contemporary. Highlighting, that the issue never gets old nor can lose its relevance. There are various forms of expressing oneself and we have tried to incorporate them in this anthology. To edit an anthology in the Year of the Covid was an altogether new experience and all of us who have been a part of this book have been through a lot.

The book is a visual treasure with a mix of poetry, artwork, fiction, non-fiction and photographs. It is not just a collection of voices but nurtures a thread that runs across this book. I want the readers to find that thread — it is a beautiful one. Delicate and full of life.

Suggested Reading:

WhyIWrite: Why Are There So Few Women In Indian Science?

In this anthology of writings/visuals – the works included create alternative images from the stereotypical ones that have been in circulation. We are no longer in the phase of self-discovery or the phase of protest but we have now entered the phase of fighting. Fighting for a reality that comes out from one’s own creation. A woman “belongs” to a particular social configuration – we have through this anthology questioned those spaces – rewriting history as one claims a space for oneself- physically and emotionally. We have included works that give us an insight into the politics of everyday life in the form of poetry, stories, non-fiction, art work – whatever it takes to give vent to that self that has been resisting getting confined.

Excerpted with permission from Khush Zubaan Bebaak Jigar' / 'Of Dry Tongues and Brave Hearts edited by Reema Ahmad and Semeen Ali published by Red River.

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