Arshilata: Women’s Fiction from India and Bangladesh

Give a woman a comb and a mirror – and a little leisure – and she will arrange her hair, perhaps put kajal in her eyes, a tip on her forehead, or a touch of read on her lips. Whom is she beautifying herself for? Her lover or her husband? Or is she looking at the woman she sees in the mirror? And is she pleased with what she sees? The twenty stories in this collection from Indian and Bangladeshi writers show women their own faces. Separated by language, by food, by religious rituals, by experience, by social status, these women still have something in common. They share the political and social consciousness common to the subaltern or third world writer, but, in addition, they bring to their stories a feminist sensibility that questions gender-based discriminations and deprivations. While some stories show a society in translation, many of the stories seem almost timeless. Using striking details or humour, deeply felt emotions or metaphysical questionings, this small sample of contemporary stories in English or translated from Bangla, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, and Oriya provide a glimpse into the mirrors of women’s multifaceted experiences.