Scribes Of Other Histories

Mrinal Pande April 03, 2000 00:00 IST Scribes Of Other Histories -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

There is perhaps no senior woman journalist who has not been asked if she thinks feminism has failed in India. And there is perhaps no major Indian newspaper that does not have a gender column which takes a diametrically opposite view, running alarmist articles on the growing militancy of westernised Indian women and the need for women to be 'feminine'.

The two trends are a good illustration of the phenomenon Ammu Joseph's book describes. Women are being simultaneously described as too weak and too strong. Too meek and too militant. The truth, however, lies somewhere in between. This book, as the author makes clear in the preface, is "not meant to be a who's who of Indian women in journalism (but)...an exploration of the world of journalism in India through the eyes of women situated at different vantage points in the profession". It is, in other words, an honest effort to look into the 'in-between' areas and see what makes the women journalists' world tick.

The material gathered in the fourteen chapters of the book is largely based on interviews with...