Home Truths, the first book of its kind, focuses on single mothers and explores their lives, with their attendant dilemmas and challenges. The author details a phenomenon that is fast becoming common. Deftly using a free-flowing narrative, she raises questions about marriage, children and relationships. In the vast canvas that the author explores are the stories of seventeen ‘single mothers’ – women rearing their children outside the ‘normal’ structure ...
For nearly a century, Nautanki reigned as north India's most popular form of entertainment, and Gulab Bai shone as its brightest star. Fusing dance and dialogue, music and romance, humour and melodrama, this travelling folk theatre was a precursor to Bollywood. In cities and villages, people watched all night, drawn into a world of fantasy and make-believe. Gulab, a 12-year-old girl from the Bedia caste, joined Nautanki in 1931. Reputed to be the first female ...