Author: Aparna Basu
Shailaja Kalelkar Parikh/
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Jagadeep Parikh/Shailaja Kalelkar Parikh etc
Publisher: Stree
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 320
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8185604711
Description
Vinodinee Neelkanth, whose life spanned most of the twentieth century (1907-1987), was in today’s language an empowered woman who lived her life according to her own beliefs and convictions. Born into one of the leading reformist families of Gujarat, she made bold and unconventional choices in her life and she began writing in 1928. Whereas her essays are milestones in Gujarati Literature, her short stories and novel focused mainly on women. Most of her journalistic writings aimed at encouraging women to speak up for themselves. Insofar as she strove to give women a sense of identity, she may be regarded as a precursor of feminist literature of Gujarat.
The first part of the volume is a brief biography of Vinodinee Neelkanth, placing her life and writing in a historical perspective. Part two consists of translations of selected pieces of her writings from all genres, giving an insight into the social change Vinodinee was attempting to bring about. The volume will be of interest not only to students and scholars of gender and feminist studies and sociology, but also the general reader.
COMMENTS
Vinodinee Neelkanth’s novel Kadaleevan is an imaginative creation of a gifted author: It is a precursor of women’s emancipation and its contribution towards liberation from the twin evils of divisive social order and untouchability is very significant.
-Niranjan Bhagat, Poet, noted litterateur, National Sahitya Academy award winner
Vinodinee Neelkanth has made a signal contribution through her lyrical essays, which are written in a rich, elegant and evocative style resonant with an acute sense of secular Sanskrit literature. She also provides the best examples of personal essays, which portray the social structures and mores of the times.
- Padmashri Bholabhai Patel, Essayist, critic, National Sahitya Academy award winner
Vinodinee Neelkanth always strove to gain justice for women and to give them a rightful place in the social hierarchy. She had a rare insight into and understanding of the ever-present conflicts in the fragile social structure of Gujarati society, steeped as it was in orthodoxy and rigidity.
-Raghuveer Chaudhari, Novelist, poet, national Sahitya Academy award winner.
Contents
Foreword
Contributors and Translators
PART I BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Family Tree
1.Introduction
2.Social Milieu and Family Background
3.Education and Development
4.Travel and Marriage
5.As a Writer
6.Family Life
7.Afterword
8. Reminiscences
A Chronology
Sources
Photographs between
PART II TRANSLATED WORKS
Journalistic Writings
9. Who is Akhanda Saubhagyavati?
10. At the beside of the Sick
11. An Educated Daughter
12. Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks?
13. Geetabai
14. Who is Poor?
15. Rites and Rituals: At What Cost?
16. Mutual Charge Sheets
17. As Good as a Son
18. Lalita
19. the Daughter: A Millstone?
20. She Deserted Her Baby
21. The Daughter-in-law Is Always the Culprit
22. The Curse of the Dowry System
23. From Beggar to Business Woman
24. Mudra Puts the Train Back on Track
25. Social Service
26. Rejoicing in Death?
27. Wild Flowers
28. Long-faced Wife: Why Am I So?
29. Jamnabai Finds a Vocation
30. Mother-in-law Becomes Self-Reliant
31. A Unique Courthouse
32. Sumitraben: A Unique Mother-in-law
33. Snap Judgments
34. Crying over Spilt Milk
35. “The Gandhian Couple”
36. A Daughter Has her Revenge
37. Selfless Love
38. Two Sides of the Same Coin
ESSAYS
39. The First Glimpse
40. Kashmir
41. Dalhousie
42. The Splendour of Spring
43. Sabarmati in Spate
44. The First Day of April
45. Nostalgia
46. Yearnings
47. “The Day”
48. The Ultimate
A CHAPTER FROM THE NOVEL KADALEEVAN
49. Hasmukhbhabhi
SHORT STORIES
50. The Noble Heart
51. Bakari Id
52. Wild Winds
53. The Witch
54. The Chameli Flowers
55. Som and Mangal
56. “Luckily”
57. Vibhavari
58. A Bird of Two Nests
Complete List of Published Works
Index