Fifteen representative stories presenting women’s questions by five contemporary
Bengali women writers of India
in Bengali language make this
anthology. Ashapurna Devi, Mahasweta Devi,
Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Bani Basu and Suchitra Bhattacharya’s stories cover a wide
spectrum of women living inside their homes as well as who have come out in the
open. Ashapurna Devi, of the older generation, has woven stories around her own
world within the four walls. In “The Red Saree”, a symbol of bridal
attire, she casts an ironical eye on patriarchal
society’s norms and in “Please
Forgive Me” she pictures the life of a virtuous woman who hesitates to run
away even with her own husband who has returned from a forced exile. Mahasweta
Devi is concerned with political activism. Her “Dhouli” is about the
exploitation of an untouchable girl by the Brahmins of the village and in “The
Divorce” the plucky Muslim protagonist outsmarts the guardians of society who
dictate that she stay estranged from her husband because he had orally, though
carelessly, pronounced triple talaq. In quite a few other stories the
problem of loneliness of the elderly in a rapidly changing urban India is
handled. Nabaneeta Dev Sen, in “The Kayak” presents the issue through the eyes
of young Kaushuki whose parents have emigrated to the West. In “Indir
Thakuruns” Suchitra Bhatachary writes about a woman forced to live in an
old age home. “In Bonds” she portrays the life of a lonely couple in a palatial
house bearing the weakening links with their brilliant sons who have settled abroad
and who have less and less time to be in touch. Bani Basu’s “Shirish” is
a metaphorical story of good and evil. The
anthology carries an introduction by scholar Tuntun Mukherjee that outlines the
origin and growth of women’s writings in Bengali.