Women writers today are respected and celebrated for their ideas, beliefs and thoughts, all of which have shaped much of our world. People everywhere draw inspiration from their struggles and lives, their examples, and their bold literary works. This year, we would like to recognise Indian authors who have been responsible for some phenomenal work.
1. Sheetal Ohri
Sheetal Ohri, Author of the Custodial Battle and Entrepreneur
Sheetal Ohri is an experienced and successful entrepreneur, an accomplished communicator and most recently, the author of an award-winning book, Custodial Battle: Chronicles of an Immigrant Mother who was Delayed Justice in Family Law due to Immigration Status, which has been nominated for awards in the US and UK. Sheetal believes that by sharing her life story, she can make a difference to others. She seeks to use her newfound determination, and her experience of court battles and dealing with family-law cases, to make non-immigrant parents aware of their rights when it comes to the custody of their children. Sheetal is committed to guiding and helping mothers and fathers who are victims of family law due to their immigrant status, and who end up suffering through their efforts to navigate the complex system. Her resolve comes from a decade-long struggle to get custody of her own son under the American judicial system.
Available on: Amazon.com worldwide and www.sheetalohriauthor.com, (The link takes to Amazon site)
Price: 743 INR
2. Rouble Nagi
Rouble Nagi – The author of The Slum Queen
Often referred to as the ‘slum queen’, Rouble Nagi is the founder of the Rouble Nagi Art Foundation (RNAF) and Rouble Nagi Design Studio. She is an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed Indian artist with over 800 murals and sculptures to her credit, and more than 150 exhibitions worldwide. Her book, The Slum Queen, primarily talks about the initiatives undertaken by her NGO, Rouble Nagi Art Foundation, for the betterment of the lives of the underprivileged across India. The book details the many workshops and other programmes that RNAF has organised over the years, and in particular focuses on the initiative known as ‘Misaal Mumbai’, which later expanded into ‘Misaal India.
Price – 349 INR
Available on:
Garuda books: garudabooks.com/the-slum-queen
Flipkart: dl.flipkart.com/s/RWDZtMNNNN
Amazon: amzn.eu/d/4YcWLAW
3. Nisha Susan
Nisha Susan
Susan’s debut book, The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories, tells 12 very different tales – one minute the reader is inside the head of a sexist editor in a newsroom, and in the nex, they are witnessing the breakdown of a lifelong friendship between three women. The stories are stamped with Susan’s unmistakable signature – the wry humour and keen observations that readers familiar with her writing will recognise immediately.
4. Meena Kandasamy
Meena Kandasamy
Meena Kandasamy is an Indian poet, fiction writer, translator and activist who has published two collections of poetry, Touch (2006) and Ms. Militancy (2010). In 2001 and 2002, she edited The Dalit, a bi-monthly alternative English magazine of the Dalit Media Network. She is a fearless and uncompromising delineator of the many injustices that continue to bedevil India.
5. Aditi Patil
Aditi Patil
Conservationist Aditi Patil’s debut book, Patriarchy and the Pangolin: A Field Guide to Indian Men and Other Species, is part memoir, part field research. It’s the story of two women making their way through Gujarat’s farms, fields, forests and bureaucracy. Here, they are faced with every species of intractable Indian male as they seek to unearth stories usually left behind by statistics and data: women farmers, non-human life, indigenous peoples.
