Book, Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands

 Today early in the morning on 29th December, I received by post  the book, Education in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands which is edited by Hema Letchamanan and Debotri Dhar published by Bloomsbury, U. K. I have an article on Madrasas as an enduring space for Muslim girls in this. This is an interesting book which has articles on Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka Comoros Island, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zanzibar on contemporary education. It will take me some time to read all the articles but the book certainly looks very gripping. I have written in many books and keep getting books at regular intervals but I am very excited on being a part of this book for Debotri is the daughter of a very dear friend of mine from Allahabad days. Debotri has emerged as a bright up coming scholar of Gender studies with some very interesting work on Gender and currently teaches in the University of Michigan, USA. I have yet to meet her. Ratna Dhar  her mother and I were class mates in Allahabad in BA. and in MA I joined history and she English Literature. We were neighbours and would often  drive our cycles to meet each other and discuss everything under the sky. She stayed with her grandmother and I have some lovely memories of that beautiful house where we would sit and chat for hours together. We were also very concerned about the future and in which direction it would take us. I did  not know then that Feminism could be a discipline which one can study for it never existed though the things happening  around us related to women and  girls did affect us and we were very much sensitive to these and many other issues. Ratna little did I imagine then that I would be writing  a chapter for a book edited by your daughter. So proud of you and her.

Kalu ram Bamaniya and Kabir bhajans

 An exhilarating eveningon 19th November, 2018, with Kalu ram Bamaniya and Kabir bhajans. The Sarojini Naidu School in  our University is celebrating thirty years of its existence and it ushered this through an evening of Kabir bhajans, under the  title, Kahat Kabir, sung by a folk artist Kalu ram Bamaniya from the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Kalu ram has a beautiful style of singing as well as explaining the padas and dohas of the Bhakti Saint poets  and placing  them in  the present day. He gave a large variety of examples from our day to day life  and explained them in the context of Kabir. As, a historian and an Indian, I feel very happy for this syncretic tradition of India. That this tradition of a 15th Century poet is so relevant even today, six hundred years after his death is indeed heart warming and that many young people can relate to it even today is amazing. . The highlights of the evening  were his rendering of Man laga  fakiri Mai, man maast Hua, gadi dhire se hanko and jhini jhini chadar. He also sang a Mira Bhajan. I really want to salute our students who enjoyed the evening  and were in full spirits ad so well behaved, that even Kalu ram remarked that here the audience is excellent for they  understand and know these verses. and are enjoying them. Indeed a great cultural evening and the songs of Kabir make so much sense in today's world where there is so much strife, antagonism, divisions and hatred. Thanks a lot Sarojini Naidu School for giving us such a beautiful evening and thanks to Prof. Tirumali, Vinod and Kanchan K. Malik from the School.

Day Two at at Bangalore University

 Day two of the Conference at Bangalore University. Prof. Indira , Jayshree  from Dharwar University, Ruth Manorama and Ann who had come down from Leister University in UK from the same University as my friend Prof. Gillian Youngs and she  sent her a message that she was with her friend Rekha and Gillian responded immediately through what's app saying How exciting and say hello to Rekha. Indeed technology has bridged the distances and changed communication completely and today in seconds we, can connect to different continents. The social media  may have some negative side but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Prof. K G. Uma

 It was wonderful to meet an old friend, Prof. K G. Uma who was the earlier  Director of the Centre for Women's Studies in Bangalore University, and we did so many programs with her when we were much  younger. Great meeting Uma, and Mani mekhalai who is the present Director of the Centre for Women's Studies in Bharatidasan University in Tamilnadu.

Conference on Vision for an Inclusive Society

 The inauguration of the Conference on Vision for an Inclusive Society is about to begin in Bangalore University on 14th November, 2018. This is a great event to catch up with old and new Feminist friends, Anita Ghai from Ambedkar University, Delhi,  Manimekhalai from Bharati dasan University, Tamilnadu, Shweta Prasad from Benaras Hindu University, R. Indira(President Indian Sociology Association) , Sudeshana Mukherjee from Bangalore University, Gita Chadha and Joseph from Mumbai University . Most of them are from Sociology and I told them that Women's Studies all over the world  is now being dominated with Sociology, though I consider myself a sociologist too with the kind of work I am involved within my teaching and research for the past four decades. Feminism is the bridge that connects  us all.

Bangalore University Validectory Address

 I am in Bangalore University on 13th November, 2018, to give the validectory address for the two day National seminar on, Vision for an Inclusive Society-a Feminist perspective, being organised by the Centre for Women's Studies. Prof. Manisha Desai, the Head of the Women's Studies in the University of Connecticut, USA will be giving the key note address, and I was very happy to meet   her, an old friend after many years.Though her flight reached nearly two hours before me she waited at the airport for me and we had fun catching up on the long ride from Bangalore Airport to the Guest house and exchanging notes. Bangalore University has a beautiful environment and all around I can see  a large number of trees. The whole area is covered with many varieties of trees and almost looks like a jungle in patches.  The beautiful  green cover surrounding this area makes it much cooler than the rest of Bangalore. It was a great gathering for the evening dinner with Sudeshana Mukherjee , the Director of the Women's Studies program and Shweta Prasad from Benaras Hindu University and the Ph. D student Priyanka, who has  very efficiently managed the mails and other logistics of the Conference.

Osmania University Course on Gender Sensitisation

 Osmania University, MHRD is organising a one week course on Gender Sensitisation. I delivered two lectures on the opening day of this course on, 12 th November, 2018, on what is gender Sensitisation and why we need it and the other one on Gender Violence. Most of the teacher participants are from Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Had some good discussion with the Director Bala krishnan and RanjitaMadhuri the course coordinator , who are taking a lot of interest in this course.

Gender and Law Fest

 Finally the Gender and Law Fest organised by the Centre for Women's Studies in collaboration with Dean Students Welfare and supported by the National Commission for Women concluded today on 9th November. The Vice Chancellor of our University Prof. Appa Rao graced the occassion and we had a talk by Prof. Amita Dhanda a legal luminary  and Faculty of NALSAR  on, Failures of Legal protection:Me too and More. We had organised an online Quiz related to awareness on laws related to women on 29th October. A debate on Supreme Court verdict on the entry of women into the  Sabarimala temple, was also organised on 5th November. I was very happy to see that many of the prizes in the Quiz and debate were won by History students. A big congratulations to all these winners who won cash prizes and certificates of appreciation. I really need to thank the Simbiosis Law school, especially Dr.Sukhvinder  Dari the Deputy Director , Rahul and Ambrina Khan, who helped us conduct some of these competitions. Padmaja from the Centre for Health Psychology and the Deputy Dean Students welfare was a real support. Dr. Vasuki had helped us create the web site for the competition.

Deepawali, 2018

 On 7th Novemeber, 2018, a  lovely Deepawali celebration with my students, neighbours  and their friends. A great and memorable evening.  All of them made up for my  children who are not at home to celebrate Deepawali with us.A very happy Deepawali to one and all. May the lights of Deepawali dispel the darkness and ignorance and make the world one and a happy place where there is peace and prosperity.