Opening Chapters

I first heard of Celestial Bodies by Jokha Al-Harthi when it was long-listed for the Man Booker International Prize and was talked about by  @arablit  on Twitter. Translated from Arabic by Marilyn Booth. The book went on to win the prize which was something I wanted initially for sentimental reasons (having grown up in the Middle East).  At the heart of Celestial Bodies, are the stories of three sisters: Mayya, Asma and Khawla. We read about each of them through their pastimes, their married lives and so on. The story is a postcolonial, multi-generational narrative that takes us through different people. These chapters give the reader of picture as Oman changes from a collection of feudal, nomadic tribes to the Sultanate of Oman following the exit of the British. We learn about the effects of the British occupation that’s percolated different parts of society, the slave trade that was vibrant till the early twentieth century and how its society changed as globa...

Firstly, I would like to thank Vivek Tejuja and Penguin India for a copy of The Begum: A Potrait of Ra’ana Liaqat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s Pioneering First Lady written by Deepa Agarwal and Tahmina Aziz Ayub. In the 21 st century, it is more than clear that feminism comes in a plethora of forms. She comes in skirts or jeans, long or short, in shoes or heels, with a hijab or without. What is important is this – it is her choice. So it is, seventy odd years after the bifurcation of the Indian subcontinent, I set out to read about a lady whose identity could be defined in multiple ways – Ra’ana Liaqat Ali Khan who was born Irene Margaret Pant to a family that had converted to Christianity from Hinduism. It was quite an odd time for me to read this book, with the rising tensions between India and Pakistan looming above all our heads. However, to read about a feminist figure from across this border that is not even a hundred years old, leads the reader to realize that as women, ...

  This is the first of the reviews I have done on the shortlisted books for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction for the year 2017. The shortlist was announced on April 3rd, 2017. For more reviews, subscribe! Every day, there seems to be more reports coming out about the various injustices done to a woman – or rather someone who is not a man. There are the girls brutally defiled and violated on the streets in public. The child who has been repeatedly raped by her male relatives. The grandmother who was murdered in cold blood because she refused to fund her grandson’s various activities. And don’t you wish, if only things were different, if only you could do something about them. That is the premise of The Power by Naomi Alderman. Alderman’s latest has been gathering colourful reviews and has been shortlisted for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction 2017. This is the first of the six shortlisted books I have read, and I decided to pen down my th...

First of all, I would like to clarify that I abhor the idea of International Women’s Day. I hate the commercialism that is mainly associated with it. Discounts on spa packages; buy one nail polish, get another free; companies utilize this day to buy the women in their office chocolates and flowers when instead they could promote equality and provide better rights for their female employees, like perhaps better maternity leave options. But a lot of good comes from it, the main thing being dialogue.  The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) held the Women In Leadership Symposium at Abu Dhabi, UAE on 8 th and 9 th March 2016. I was lucky enough to be able to attend it for two sessions. It is definitely the most inspiring SPE event I have been to. And one thing I am definitely sure of: our stories are not unique. Everything I heard from the women is the same thing I have heard from my mother who works in the oil and gas industry as well.  For example, one of the...