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	Title : Bina Das: A Memoir Author : Dhira Dhar (tr.) Publisher : Zubaan Year : 2010 Pages : 128
Best known as a young revolutionary who took up arms against the British establishment, Bina Das numbers among the heroes of Indian history – alongside Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Preetilata Wadedar – who took up arms against the colonisers. This short memoir movingly recounts the story of her involvement in the shooting of the British Governor of Bengal, Stanley Jackson, at the Annual Convocation Meeting of Calcutta University in 1932, her subsequent incarceration, and her growing involvement in politics. Despite her importance in Indian history, Bina Das disappeared from public view in later life and is rumoured to have passed away in Rishikesh in early 1997. This account captures the early years of her life and gives insights into the context and history of the times that inspired Bina to take the path that she chose. *[from the back cover]*

	Title : Kaifi and I: A Memoir Author : Shaukat Kaifi (ed.) Publisher : Zubaan Year : 2010 Pages : 165 Contents : Acknowledgements. Introduction. Foreword. Translator’s Note. 1. Growing up in Hyderabad. 2. Making My Own Choice. Living in a Commune. 4. In Search of a Home. 5. Heartache and Fulfilment. 6. Red Flag Hall. 7. Treading the Boards. 8. The Silver Screen. 9. Janki Kutir. 10. Shabana and Baba. 11. He Was an Unusual Man. Epilogue. Glossary.
From the heart of a well-known family of Hyderabad to life in a single room with the barest of necessities, Shaukat Kaifi's memoir of her life with the renowned poet Kaifi Azmi speaks of love and commitment. As young people Shaukat and Kaifi fall desperately in love with each other but are soon parted. For Shaukat’s family, a card- holding communist, a poet with no source of income, is hardly the kind of person their daughter should be marrying. Yet Shaukat’s father, a liberal man and a loving father, takes the bold step of putting his daughter’s happiness before social opprobrium, and brings the two lovers together. A marriage of over a half a century, a life steeped in poetry and progressive politics, continuing involvement with the Indian People's Theatre Association, the Progressive Writers Association, Prithvi Theatre... all of these and more inform this beautifully told tale of love. Shaukat Kaifi's writing details life in a communist commune, a long career in theatre and film and a life spent bringing up her two children, cinematographer Baba Azmi and actor Shabana Azmi. Nasreen Rehman's deft and fluent translation brings this luminous memoir alive with warmth and empathy. *[from the back cover]*

	Title : Making Babies: Birth Markets and Assisted Reproductive Technologies in India Author : Sandhya Srinivasan (ed) Publisher : Zubaan Year : 2010 Pages : 141 Contents : Preface. Introduction: Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Needs, Rights and Choices. 1. New Reproductive Technologies and India’s Transitional Health System. 2. ARTs: Voices from Progressive Movements. 3. The Commerce in Assisted Reproductive Technologies. 4. Emerging Genetic Technologies and Research: The Interlinkages with ARTs. 5. The Regulation of Oocyte Donation and Surrogate Motherhood in India. 6. The Brave New World of Neo Eugenics. 7. Eugenics of the Everyday. Annexure. Notes on Contributors.
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) are usually publicised as ‘miracle cure for infertility.’ However, the social and economic context in which these technologies are developed and promoted have a strong bearing on their use or misuse. Carefully packaged in the garb of ‘modernity’ and ‘choice,’ the efficacy of these technologies is difficult to challenge. On a deeper analysis, their costs seem to heavily outweigh the benefits. A chain of adverse effects on women’s and children’s health, commodification of their bodies, commercialisation of the reproductive process, unabashed encouragement to sex selection, obsession about biological progeny and eugenics are only some of the concerns that ARTs bring to the fore. This book is an attempt to look into various aspects of ARTs – their social, medical, legal and economic implications on women in particular, and society at large. The book comprises seven essays by eminent activists and academics, each exploring a specific aspect of ART.[from the back cover]

	Title : Memories of a Rolling Stone Author : Vina Mazumdar Publisher : Zubaan Year : 2010 Pages : 183 Contents : Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. The First Twenty Years 1927-1947. 2. The Second Twenty Years 1947-1967. 3. The Years in Berhampur. 4. The University Grants Commission, the Committee on the Status of Women and After 1972-1980. 5. In the Midst of the Women’s Movement. 6. The Last Twenty Years 1987-2007. Afterward.
This endearing, witty, self-deprecating memoir documents the life of one of the leading feminists of the contemporary Indian women’s movement. Vina Mazumdar, one of the key researchers and writers of the landmark report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India, Towards Equality, here documents her early life, her gradual politicization in a household of liberal, educated Bengalis, and her involvement in women’s issues and the women’s movement. Brought up to be outspoken and frank, Vinadi, as she is affectionately known, began by becoming involved in university-led politics in Bihar. Marriage and a young family did not prevent her from pursuing her studies and her career, in the teeth of considerable opposition from relatives but with constant support from her mother. On her return to India, Vinadi first moved into the field of education, and then, with her involvement in the research and writing of Towards Equality, was catapulted into the women’s movement. An activist and institution builder, Vinadi set up the Centre for Women’s Development Studies in Delhi, one of the leading research and outreach institutions for women in the country. In this rare memoir, Vinadi provides a rich history of the contemporary women’s movement in India. *[from the back cover]*

	Title : Participation of Women in Games and Sports: A Sociological Study Author : Akshay Kumar Shukla Publisher : Himalaya Year : 2010 Pages : 210 Contents : Preface. Acknowledgement. 1. Introduction. 2. Review of Literature and Research Methodology. 3. Factors Facilitating and Restraining Participation. 4. Perception of Married Women Players and Male Players. 5. Respondents’ Suggestions and Incidental analysis. 6. Force Field Analysis. 7. Findings and Recommendations. List of Tables. List of Figures. Appendices I-IX. Bibliography.
Winning medals, trophies and championships at international level is not merely meant for making headlines of media, but it reflects the total personality of citizens. Looking at the present scenario of games and sports in the country with a population of more than 120 billion, we find that we are lagging behind in terms of medals tally at the global sporting events. A common feeling among us is that it is due to government policies, lack of financial support, poor sports facilities and infrastructure. Whereas in other countries leading in sports, sports are a social phenomenon a way of healthy living and are integral part of sociology of leisure, it is not so in India. First Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru once said, “To awaken the people, it is the woman who must be awakened. Once she is on the move the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves” There has been considerable interest in recent years in studies related to women but little attention has been paid to the role of women in sports as an area of research, though there prevails a mass of divergent observations and judgments on the subject of women’s participation in games and sports. This book is an attempts to identifies all those factors and fictions prevailing in the world of women sport which impact participation of women in games and sports. Given the fact that the sociological characteristics of women all over India are the same and women players everywhere face almost the same sort of problems the findings of the book have a much wider application and the suggestions can be successfully implemented in all parts of the country. *[from the back cover]*

	Title : Rukmini Deve: A Memoir Author : Leela Samson Publisher : Penguin Year : 2010 Pages : 243 Contents : Preface. Acknowledgements. The Early Years. Adyar and Annie Besant. Marriage and After. Exploring Theosophy and Dance. The Rebirth of Sadir. An Academy of Arts. The Kalakshetra Bani. Stirrings Within. Thiru Valmiki Oor. Between Kalakshetra and Parliament. The Spreading Banyan. The Last Years. Epilogue. Glossary. List of Dance-Dramas. Bibliographical Note. Index.
On 30 December 1935, thirty-one year old Rukmini Devi created history with her performance of Sadir, later known as Bharata Natyam, which had until then been confined to temple precincts and was the preserve of devadasis. A celebrated artiste and dancer, she was also a Theosophist, a composer of acclaimed dance-dramas, an educationist, an animal welfare and child rights activist, and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. This rich biography illuminates her many lives. Rukmini’s early life was in the districts of Madras presidency where her father, an engineer, was posted, and it took many dramatic turns: her marriage in 1920 to George Arundale, a Theosophist and family friend, caused public outrage, particularly among the Madras brahmins. She was closely associated with Annie Besant, who became her mentor, and her meeting with Anna Pavlova inspired her to learn dance. Rukmini went on to establish Kalakshetra, an academy of arts, in 1936, which grew and flourished, and is renowned to this day for its classicism in dance training and performance—a tribute to her skill as an institution builder. Rukmini revered traditions but did not hesitate to innovate, whenever necessary. She re-interpreted traditional natakas for some of her dance-dramas; she introduced women to nattuvangam, traditionally a male preserve, and adapted the traditional Kerala theatre, the kootambalam, to modern needs of performance at Kalakshetra. Her liberalism was not confined to the arts. Believing in oneness of all living creatures, she successfully piloted a bill which became the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in 1960. She was also president of the Indian Vegetarian Congress in 1957. Leela Samson draws on the oral evidence of Rukmini’s family, friends, associates and stalwarts of dance and music, the reminiscences of such luminaries as Annie Besant, J. Krishnamurti, C.W. Leadbeater, Maria Montessori, C. Rajagopalachari, Tagore, Pandit Nehru and the Dalai Lama, as well as hitherto unseen personal correspondence and photographs. The book offers an intimate and rounded portrait of an extraordinary woman and Indian, whose life embodied a vision of a modern India, while also celebrating its rich civilization. *[from the back cover]*
	Title : Sarpanch Sahib: Changing the Face of India Author : Manjima Bhattacharjya (ed.) Publisher : Harper Collins Year : 2009 Pages : 152 Contents : Preface. Introduction: When the Best Man for the Job is a Woman. A Suitable Candidate/Deepanjali. Small Wonders/Chinapappa. Sarpanch Sahib/Sunita. The End of a Term/Maya. The Ballet Dancer/Maloti. The Mukhiya of Loharpura/Veena. The Night Before the Elections/Kenchamma. About the Authors. Acknowledgements. References.
The book talks about seven gutsy women in seven far flung villages of India: Deepanjali, the adivasi graduate sarpanch treading new waters in Kalahandi; Chinapappa, the non-literate panchayat president in Tamil Nadu making education accessible to children; Sunita, struggling against a corrupt system in Madhya Pradesh; Maya, comingg to terms with sudden electoral defeat in the hills of Uttarakhand; Maloti, finding innovative ways of governing her constituencies in tea estate in Assam; Veena Devi, young widow and seasoned politician, navigating the criminalized politics in Bihar; and Kenchamma, the first Dalit woman president of Tarikere panchayat in Karnataka.[from the back cover]
	Title : Sikhism and Women: History, texts, and Experience Author : Doris R Jakobsh (ed.) Publisher : Oxford University Press Year : 2010 Pages : 383 Contents : Preface. Introduction:Sikhism and Women-Contextualizing the Issues. 1.The Guru, The Goddess: The Dasam Granth and Its Implications for Constructions of Gender in Sikhism. 2.Tracing Gender in the Texts and Practices of the Early Khalsa. 3. Shameful Continuities:The Practice of Female Infanticide in Colonial Punjab. 4. The Novels of Bhai Vir Singh and the Imagination of Sikh Identity, Community, and Nation. 5. Phulkaris: The Crafting Of Rural Women's Roles In Sikh Heritage. 6. Lowly Shoes on Lowly Feet: Some Jat Sikh Women's Views on Gender & Equality. 7.Changing Identities and Fixed Roles: The Experiences of Sikh Women. 8. Why did I not light the fire? The Refeminization of Ritual in Sikhism. 9. The role of Sikh women in their religious institutions: A contemporary account. 10. Sikh Women in Vancouver: An Analysis of their Psychosocial Issues. 11. Making Sikh Women Refugees in 1990s U.S.A. 12. By an Indirect Route: Women in 3HO/Sikh Dharma. 13. Transnational migration theory in population geography: Gendered practices in networks linking Canada and India. 14. Transnational Sikh women's working lives: place and the life course.
Sikh identity involves intermeshing of several historical and present strands of consciousness. As in other religions, the situation of Sikh women and their experiences are conditioned by multiple factors including identity, socio-economic status, and the political context. The collection focuses on three distinct themes—texts, conditions of Sikh women in India, and women in diasporic contexts—dealing with women's lives and religious experiences. The essays discuss the way aesthetics and religion merges in the unitary experience of the sacred in Sikh tradition. They also explore gender in Sikh theology and society. One of the first works of its kind to bring together ‘women’ and being ‘Sikh’, this volume engages with issues like religion, rituals, literature, sexuality, and nationalism and their link with identity-formation of Sikh women. It analyses significant issues of gender and religion and provides an empirical as well as theoretical structure to the debate. In their introduction, Doris Jakobsh and Eleanor Nesbitt explore the myriad themes of studies on Sikh women—an emerging area for historians, sociologists, and anthropologists alike. They outline major developments and also break new ground with empirical evidence from their research. A unique interdisciplinary collection of meticulous research and originality, this book will interest scholars, teachers, and students of Sikhism, women’s studies, history, religion and sociology. *[from the back cover]*
	Title : Women in Malayalam Cinema: Naturalising Gender Hierarchies Author : Meena T Pillai Publisher : Orient BlackSwan Year : 2010 Pages : 242 Contents : Acknowledgements. Part I: Introduction. 1. Becoming Women: Unwrapping Femininity in Malayalam Cinema. Part II: Historical Mappings of Gender. 2. Gender Equations in Malayalam Cinema . 3. Film, Female and the New Wave in Kerala. 4. Engendering Popular Cinema in Malayalam. Part III: Representing Women? The Sexual Contract. 5. Marriage and Family in Malayalam Cinema. 6. Women of a Different Republic. 7. Malayalam Middle Cinema and the Category of Woman. Part: IV: Contemporary Crossings: Foiled Promises. 8. The ‘Laughter-Films’ and the Reconfi guration of Masculinities. 9. Women’s Friendships in Malayalam Cinema. 10. The Real-Reel Dichotomy of Rape. 11. Soft Porn and the Anxieties of the Family. Bibliography. Film Index. General Index. Notes on Contributors
Drawing on contemporary critical theories and academic debates, Women in Malayalam Cinema: Naturalising Gender Hierarchies analyses Malayalam cinema and the question of women from different perspectives. In its focus on woman-cinema interface, as depicted in a century of Malayalam cinema, this book addresses a wide range of themes crucial for a nuanced understanding of Malayalam film culture—gender stereotyping, marriage and family, the aftermaths of matriliny, caste and gender relations, hegemonic patriarchy, female friendships and soft porn. These diverse concerns are held together by a key focal point: the paradox of regressive modernisation in Kerala’s cultural politics. While the widely discussed and extolled ‘Kerala Model’ has yielded much grist to the statistical mills of Left-liberal developmental sociologists, questions concerning more precise connections between the impressive developmental indices and the cultural politics that shape the lives and subjectivities of women within this ‘model state’ have remained relatively unexplored. Deconstructing patriarchal dominance in Malayalam cinema, mainstream and avant garde, this collection elucidates how films offer stereotypical images of women conforming to subordination. Be it Vigathakumaran (1928), or Sthree (1950), or a more recent one Achanarangathaveedu (2005)—there is a constant failure across films to look beyond the portrayal of woman as someone ‘who loves to cook and clean, wash and scrub, shine and polish for her man’. This volume, a first of its kind on Malayalam cinema, has diverse contributions from litterateurs, film critics and screenwriters, and will be of interest to scholars of film, media and gender studies. *[from the back cover]*
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