Sharing the cover page of the paper back, book, 2020, Divine Sounds from the heart:Singing unfettered in their own voices, from Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book is about the women saints from 12 th to 17 th cen. and how they negotiated patriarchy and created an alternative space for themselves through the medium of religion.
Corona has changed our word and turned it topsy turvy. Will it ever be the same again. I am not sure. Today, as I went around the campus on my regular routine, a feeling of sadness enveloped me. I have never seen our campus so deserted and lonely and devoid of life. After all what is a campus without the hum and noise of the students in the library, in the class room, canteen at the Gop’s, the tea stall and in the corridors. The buzz of the faculty and the non-teaching staff is also totally absent. Today it just looks a wild place with hardly any one around. Earlier we had to struggle to get a parking place but today, I had the luxury of parking my car where ever I felt like. I had joined the University in 1984 and saw the campus for the first time in February, 1984, when I came in for an Interview. It looked huge, almost a jungle away from civilization and the madenning crowd and today also we call the other part of Hyderabad outside our campus as City. There were just trees, trees and more trees and a wide expanse before me,an expanse that spread over 2800 acres at that time. Over the years one fell in love with the campus, its greenery and the wild flora and fauna.I saw so many buildings coming up and the University growing in stature on one hand and the Government taking away our land and giving 185 acres to IIIT and 225 acres to the Sports Village. Today, I had to do some running around the administrative building to submit the exam question papers. Every nook and corner wore a sad and deserted look. Only Rizwan Ahmad my Ph.D student and Prasad and Kotiah from the Centre were there for Company. I just could not help but hum these beautiful lines lines which are very close to my heart, from the film, Umrao Jaan (1981) Yeh Kya Jagah Hai Doston, and though in a different context, I could see a lot of similarity. This song reminds one of the loss, the happiness, sadness and the uppermost feeling is of confusion. I only hope and pray that we and our University is back to normal soon and all this is behind us.
Yeh kyaa jagah hai doston?
Yeh kaunsaa dayaar hai?
Had-e-nigaah tak jahaan, ghubaar hii ghubaar hai
Yeh kis maqaam par hayaat mujhko lekii aa gayii?
Na bas khushii pe hai jahaan,
na gham pe ikhtiyaar hai
What place is this, friends?
What kind of world is this?
Where, as far as the eye can see, there are only dust storms.
To what realm has life brought me?
In this place I have no control over my happiness, and no choice in my sorrow.
In the Webinar on Gender Eqyuality and women's rights, I am speaking on the three G's, Gender Equality, Gender rights and Gender violence and the relationship between the three.
The Centre for Women's Studies in the University of Hyderabad is organising an International Webinar on the theme, Transnational Widening Gender Inequalities amid Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown’. on 17th July at 1.00. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Z0cN2sp6EeA0iYzspvzw0Jv4LRhJP9W3NkZFVDx5lsg/prefill
Besides me, our three main spekers and the themes that they will speak on are as follows:
1. Monika Banerjee, The Situation of Women Waste Workers in Delhi.
2.Kristina Hametner,Corona as Crisis for Women’s Health in Austria
3. Melinda Tankard Reist, COVID-19 and the Sex Industry Virus in Australia.
Thanks a lot to my family, friends, well wishers and students for their wishes for my birthday. I am overwhelmed by the response of all of you and it really touched my heart. So many of my students many of them from the past connected to me over phone. My what's app group for connecting with students for the compulsory course that I teach this semester got converted into a birthday platform with each of my sixty two students competing with the other to give me their wishes. Some of my Ph.D students refused to pay heed to the circumstances and reached home with a cake and there was a small celebration. Thanks Rizwan and Pavithra for taking this trouble in these difficult times. Then my neighbours daughters came with a lovely self made card and we ended the day with a party. Thanks every one for making this day a special day.
The day ended with a beautiful gift from my youngest son Varun in the U.S and his friend Ankit Chauhan who spent a lot of time as a labour of love and gifted me a web site which I can call my own space in my own domain.
https://indiaseed.in/
http://rekhapande.indiaseed.in/
Participated in an International Webinar, organised by the Social Science & Health Research Institute (SHRI), Haldwani (Nainital),Uttarakhand, on the theme of, Management of Life with Covid- 19: Perspectives and prospects. In this webinar, one was connected to a large number of Public Health and Medical doctors who spoke of the differnt dimensions of the disease. The section on Socio Economic Consequences had academicians from Allahabad, Rurkee, Haldwani and myself. It is nice to see that now it is so easy to connect with scholars across the world to deliberate on issues. This webinar had speakers from USA, London, Madhya Pradesh, Rurkee, Haldwani, Allahabad, Thissur, Bangalore , Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. An interesting day.
I am very happy to report that a third student of mine Sankarsan Malik who is an Assistant Professor in Behrampur University, Odhisa, successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis today and was awarded the degree. There were some network issues and at times the signals became weak but it was amazing to see Hyderabad being connectd to Brehrampur and Pondichery. Thanks Prof Chandrika and Bhangya , for the support and Dr. M.N. Rajesh, who is ever ready to provide technical support. All this would not have been possible with out the support of the University and a big thankyou to my University, which during this pandemic has not allowed the work to stop and make the students go through a period of anxiety, stress and uncertainity. The work of the University is going on and we are getting a lot of support from our CEO, Devesh Nigamji. Sankarsan, very happy to announce you as a proud member of my team of Ph.D. scholars of History and Gender Studies and becoming my 19th Ph.d Scholar. Indeed a very happy and proud day for me with a great sense of achievement. Congratulations Dr. Sankarsan Malik.
