Three miraculous events have happened on this earth: the birth of three men of great purity of soul (mahashuddhatma), many years apart in time—and in countries far away from each other. They taught the world a mantra of immense significance.
Meera Kosambi’s earlier collection of essays, Crossing Thresholds: Feminist Essays in Social History (2007) had introduced us to the writer Kashibai Kanitkar (1861-1948). This reviewer had been particularly intrigued by Kosambi’s section on Kanitkar’s utopian novella Palkhicha Gonda (The Palanquin Tassel, written in the late 1890s but published in 1928).
The structures of the institutions of family, society and the state acquire new dimensions when seen from women’s perspective. Factors like religion, social values and hierarchies intertwined with patriarchy play an important role in moulding women’s lives.
This collection of articles reflects in essence the dark brooding face of Kerala: the violence faced by women of all classes, castes and communities, experienced within families, at workplaces, and several institutions. What the studies also do emphatically is to extend what is already being established over several years now: that in addition to a socio-economic paradox,
It is a truism to say that the index of the civilization is the status of its women. The honour and manhood of the state also rests on its capacity to shield and protect its women particularly the weak and the vulnerable. The Indian widow has for long been a metaphor for the humility and capacity for self sacrifice to inspire the Indian fighting for the freedom of his country thanks to Mahatma Gandhi.
This book as the title implies, covers three of the most important issues in development namely gender, food security and rural livelihoods. Finding enough to eat still remains a major concern for at least a third of the Indian population despite high levels of growth and substantial investment in rural development.