Walking Towards Ourselves

Editor: Catriona Mitchell

Paperback | 1 April 2016 | Edition Number 1

In Delhi in December 2012, a 21-year-old girl was raped on a moving bus. Millions of young Indians took to the streets in furore, demanding the death penalty for the rapists and forcing the government to review its lax rape its laws. In one of the world's most patriarchal societies, an unprecedented revolution is taking place – one in which women will no longer be silenced. Walking Towards Ourselves gets behind the headlines and finds out what it means to be an Indian woman today – from the foremost Indian women writers and thinkers.

Walking Towards Ourselves is an anthology that explores the gender revolution taking place in India today through personal narratives and mini-memoirs written by incredible Indian women writers. These are real, lived accounts from women, which seek to get 'under the skin' of India, go beyond the headlines and give us insight into different aspects of Indian culture. Contributors are exploring themes including love, sexuality, motherhood, career, money, education, and definitions of success for women, in addition to power, politics and patriarchy.

Authors include Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, award-winning author of The Mistress of Spices, The Palace of Illusions, Shadowland and Oleander Girl; Justice Leila Seth, the first woman appointed to the High Court in Delhi and member of the committee constituted to review rape laws after the 2012 bus rape; Deepti Kapoor, acclaimed author of A Bad Character; Ira Trivedi, best-selling author of The Great Indian Love Story and India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st Century; and Tisca Chopra, Bollywood actress and memorist.
 
Other contributors include: Anjum Hasan, Sharanya Manivannan, Margaret Mascarenhas, Annie Zaidi, Tishani Doshi, Nirupama Dutt, Anita Agnihotri, Salma, Ambai and Namita Gohkale.