Space of Her Own

Focusing on relationships between women of different generations in India, this book comprises of narratives demonstrating how each contributor established her own personhood through engagement with a wider kin group. Did the women portrayed in the narratives find space for themselves within orthodox structures? Or, were they so constrained by the social roles of the greatest importance to their families - as wives and mothers - that ending these roles meant some kind of death? How did their lives mould those of the narrators of these life histories? Showing that women need not always be seen as victims, these are stories of women who found strength, success and independence from the inspiring lives of their mothers and grandmothers. "What impresses me the most about these narratives is the perceptiveness, emotional depth, and openness of personal feelings they display. The volume makes engrossing reading, is thematically well integrated, and provides abundant food for thought." -- Sylvia Vatuk

Introduction - Carolyn M Elliott The Wind Beneath My Wings - Nabaneeta Dev Sen A Heritage of Heresy within Tradition - Vina Mazumdar A Daughter of Awadh - Zarina Bhatty A Struggle for Space - Hema Sundaram The Tyranny of Tradition - Leela Gulati Wings Come to Those who Fly - Maithreyi Krishna Raj The Times that are A-Changing - Priti T Desai Uneven Earth and Open Sky - Saroja Kamakshi Abode of Colour - Vijaya Mehta Striking New Roots - Sushil Narulla Matriliny within Patriliny - Jasodhara Bagchi Three Generations of Women - Mary Roy Afterword: The Colonised Coloniser - Arlie Hochschild Select Bibliography