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Short Takes
Her story in figures
Randeep Wadehra
Gender Realities
by Manvinder Kaur &
Ameer Sultana. Abhishek Publications, Chandigarh. Pages 187. Rs 395.
 Statistics can never tell
the whole story. Yet they lend authenticity to scholarly averments. In
this case one is impelled to reflect on the status of women in our
society. The ratio of females per thousand males fell from 972 in 1901
to 933 in 2001, and that of female child from 976 to 927 during the same
period. If this is not horrifying enough, there is gap of 21.7 per cent
between the two genders in the literacy rate; violence against women is
on the rise even as she repeatedly loses out in her attempts at
concretising her material aspirations. The authors have enumerated
various endeavours towards empowering and emancipating women, and the
degrees of impact of such endeavours. The book is worth a read; budding
scholars ought to have it on their reading table.
 The Other Voice
by Nandini Sahu Authors Press. Pages
xii+137. Rs 150.
"...and poetry flows
/ from the hedges of the mind / breaking the parapets". The very
first poem in this book of verse tells you that you are in for long
moments of reflection. The poems here suggest Sahu’s desire to come to
terms with the restrictions and responsibilities imposed on her gender
as epitomised in On All Those Who Suffer from Sleeplessness. Yet
she yearns to come out of her cocoon and realise her "lost
dreams". Most of the poems are rich in imagery, and you would like
to read these in solitude. However, the edition suffers from sloppy
proofreading.
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