The right to equality regardless of gender or caste is fundamental in India. Yet even the Indian government has acknowledged that the institutional forces arrayed against this right are powerful – and, what's more, that they shape people's mindsets i...

Using the classic short story form with surprise endings to great effect, Urmila Pawar brings to life strong and clever women from all classes of society: heroines who are brave in the face of caste oppression, strong in opposing their in-laws, defia...

Originally published in Marathi in 1989, this contemporary classic details the history of women's participation in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Dalit movement for the first time. Focusing on the involvement of women in various Dalit struggles since the early...

Even in a realm that would seem to be as far removed from issues of gender as natural resource management, gender bias is pernicious and persistent, especially in India. Genderscapes looks at the reasons for this bias from a number of angles, includi...

From her home in a small village in the Kutch district of Gujarat, Dalit artist Radhaben Garwa has documented the rural women's movement in Western India and beyond through her drawings. Her images – more than two hundred of them gathered here – tell...

Post-independence, a generation of Indian women entered career fields such as architecture and design that had previously been closed to them. These educated professionals emerged as a pronounced political force – becoming important patrons of art, a...

What are the underlying causes and consequences of gender-based violence in public spaces? Who defines what comprises the "public space"‌ – and why are those spaces so often barred not only to women, but also the poor, transgender people, and others...

In "Suki", Suniti Namjoshi weaves a witty and delightful tapestry from threads of longing, loss, memory, metaphor, and contemplation. Taken as a whole, the picture she draws is a stunning evocation of the love and friendship shared between herself an...

On a rainy afternoon in Cherrapunji, the postman arrives with a letter for fourteen-year-old Saphira, and her life will never be the same. Dalinia, meanwhile, seems to have the perfect life: successful husband, cute children, a beautiful home. But he...

The powerful short stories in this collection are set against – and frequently driven by – the picturesque yet often violent backdrop of Assam, a province in India's northeast. In one, a young man attempts to escape the confines of middle-class aspir...