The Inclusive Bookshelf | Urvashi Butalia
In this episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the importance of reading books that transcend and question boundaries of identity, and how reading is inherently a form of activism.
About the Guest:
Urvashi Butalia is known for her pioneering work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books, a feminist publishing house that is known for its pathbreaking and diverse work.
This series is hosted by Zinnia Sengupta, former literature collective associate at Belongg. Zinnia has always dreamed of making the world a kinder, more inclusive place than the one she was raised in. She has written for Pune Mirror, Verve, and other travel & lifestyle publications, and worked closely with several grassroots-level NGOs.
Books and authors in the episode:
- Versions of the Heer-Ranjha saga
- Rajinder Singh Bedi
- Mahadevi Verma (Poetry, Shrankhala ki Kadiyaan)
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Chandamama and Phantom comics
- Godaan by Premchand
- Nayantara Sehgal
- Anita Desai
- Kamla Markandaya
- Rukogi Nahi Radhika by Usha Priyamwada
- Amrita Pritam
- Krishna Sobti
- Mridula Garg
- Chitra Mudgal
- Gulshan Nanda
- Salma
- A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir by Baby Haldar
- Shareer ki Jankari (About the Body) by 75 women from Rajasthan, published by Zubaan
- The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Birth of the Maitreya by Bani Basu
- Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis
- Queeristan by Parmesh Shahani
- Kalpana Swaminathan’s detective fiction
- Karuna Ezra Parikh
- Peace Has Come by Parismita Singh
You can also listen to this and more by downloading Belongg’s app UnOther, spelt U_N_O_T_H_E_R which is available on both the Apple and Google app stores. To invite such experts to your organization for guest lectures or expert consultations, please also look at Belongg Circle, a platform that curates intersectional experts and makes it easy for a range of organizations to integrate such thinking in their work.