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Facing the mirror: Lesbian writing from India
Penguin Books Australia Facing The Mirror: Lesbian Writing From India
409 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 11, 2020
Facing the Mirror is the first book that is based on Indian lesbian experiences. It has more than ninety compositions in the form of verses, articles, short narratives. Ashwini Sukthankar edited and compiled them into a book. The tales don't have a particular theme, some are about the first crush, love, or sexual experiences. While some are about heartbreaks, confusion, and forced marriages.
I agreed that lesbians are facing issues, and we need to accept them and things are slowly progressing. It also provides them a platform to showcase their feelings that is commendable. This volume is a one time read, and I left the decision of reading it; or not to you.
Read the detailed review here -https://www.bookscharming.com/2020/06...
I agreed that lesbians are facing issues, and we need to accept them and things are slowly progressing. It also provides them a platform to showcase their feelings that is commendable. This volume is a one time read, and I left the decision of reading it; or not to you.
Read the detailed review here -https://www.bookscharming.com/2020/06...
January 7, 2022
‘We will not be shamed into pretending we do not exist.’
Originally published in 1999, this groundbreaking anthology was the first to comprehensively bring together writings that gave voice to the experience of being lesbian in India—an experience that had long been ignored, denied and altogether hidden.
These pieces—a collection of short fiction, poetry, memoir and essays—go as far back as the 1960s and culminate in the 1990s, making this a truly invaluable archive of a time when the queer movement in India was still a fledgling endeavour, when being gay or lesbian was still routinely derided or openly mocked in popular culture (and cause for much private anguish), when it was impossible to even imagine that homosexuality could and would be legalised one day in India.
It is important to consider this volume in context: this is not intended as a compilation of 'high literature', but rather an archive of experiences that history had either forgotten about or deliberately suppressed. Women who had never been encouraged to live their truth now had a chance to channel their hopes, fears, yearnings and perspectives into a diverse range of testimonies. In her excellent, insightful introduction (which not only articulates the challenges of bringing this collection together but also the vital importance of bringing this work into existence), Ashwini Sukthankar eloquently says: ‘Living without a history of your own kind is like living without the reassurance of a reflection in the mirror. Every lesbian who claws her way into self-awareness in a society that insists upon heterosexuality has surely experienced the horror of that complete alienation from herself, the perilous feeling of being the only one . . . The time had come to make ourselves heard.’
There is a raw, unvarnished appeal to many of the pieces, but despite their tonal unevenness and narrative inconsistencies, the fact that this volume exists is a miracle, and the fact that it is as wide-ranging as it is (despite its limitations) is immensely laudable. Reading it feels as though one is listening to voices that have not had a chance to speak before, voices bursting with pain or rage or desire or guilt, ranging from wry and poignant to unflinchingly matter-of-fact and unnervingly deadpan. The result is a curious sensation of confessional intimacy, of being made privy to lives lived in the shadows. It is this intensity of feeling that speaks to the present moment when a lot might have changed but a lot more remains to be done in the struggle for queer rights.
Originally published in 1999, this groundbreaking anthology was the first to comprehensively bring together writings that gave voice to the experience of being lesbian in India—an experience that had long been ignored, denied and altogether hidden.
These pieces—a collection of short fiction, poetry, memoir and essays—go as far back as the 1960s and culminate in the 1990s, making this a truly invaluable archive of a time when the queer movement in India was still a fledgling endeavour, when being gay or lesbian was still routinely derided or openly mocked in popular culture (and cause for much private anguish), when it was impossible to even imagine that homosexuality could and would be legalised one day in India.
It is important to consider this volume in context: this is not intended as a compilation of 'high literature', but rather an archive of experiences that history had either forgotten about or deliberately suppressed. Women who had never been encouraged to live their truth now had a chance to channel their hopes, fears, yearnings and perspectives into a diverse range of testimonies. In her excellent, insightful introduction (which not only articulates the challenges of bringing this collection together but also the vital importance of bringing this work into existence), Ashwini Sukthankar eloquently says: ‘Living without a history of your own kind is like living without the reassurance of a reflection in the mirror. Every lesbian who claws her way into self-awareness in a society that insists upon heterosexuality has surely experienced the horror of that complete alienation from herself, the perilous feeling of being the only one . . . The time had come to make ourselves heard.’
There is a raw, unvarnished appeal to many of the pieces, but despite their tonal unevenness and narrative inconsistencies, the fact that this volume exists is a miracle, and the fact that it is as wide-ranging as it is (despite its limitations) is immensely laudable. Reading it feels as though one is listening to voices that have not had a chance to speak before, voices bursting with pain or rage or desire or guilt, ranging from wry and poignant to unflinchingly matter-of-fact and unnervingly deadpan. The result is a curious sensation of confessional intimacy, of being made privy to lives lived in the shadows. It is this intensity of feeling that speaks to the present moment when a lot might have changed but a lot more remains to be done in the struggle for queer rights.
April 2, 2023
"ஃபேசிங் தி மிர்ரார்" ( facing the mirror ) Lesbian writing in india
அஸ்வினி சுக்தான்கர்
ஓர் இன செற்கையாளர்கள் பற்றிய தவறான தரவுகளே அதிகம் உள்ளது, அவர்களின் உலகின் மீது என்றுமே ஒரு பயம், கேள்விகள், வெறுப்பு தான் இச்சமுகத்துக்கு. ஏன் நாம் சக மனிதர்களை புரிந்து கொள்ள பிரயத்தனம் கூட செய்வதில்லை.
என்றுமே ஒரு பிம்பத்தை உருவாக்கி அதை நாம் பின்பற்றுகிறோம். முட்டாள்தனம், வெறுப்பு, அசூயை இதில் தான் நாம் பயணிக்கிறோம்.
இயற்கையை கண்டுடைந்தது நாம் தான் என்ற போலித்தனமான வாழ்க்கை.
புத்தகம் முழுதும், பெண்களின் ஒர் இன சேற்கை உலகு தான்.
காதல், காமம், அன்பு, பரிவு, ஏக்கம், குழப்பம், வேறுபாடுகள், அங்கிகாரம் அற்ற வாழ்வு.
அவர்களின் எந்த ஒரு செயலையும் பூதக்கண்ணாடி கொண்டு நோக்கும் உலகில் எப்படி அவர்கள் அவர்களாக நிலை நிருத்திக் கொள்ள முயல்கிறார்கள் என்பதே பெரும் போராட்டம் , வலி.
இப்புத்தகம் எனக்கு தந்தது அந்த வாழ்வின் மிக சிறந்த படிப்பினைகளை. அவர்களே அவர்களின் வாழ்வைப்பற்றி எழுதியிருப்பது மிக சிறப்பு.
புத்தகத்திலிருந்து:
Maqbara
Did I think relinquishing you
Would be easy?
Eons have passed...
Did I say Love
Was my birthright?
Illusion, memory, dream ...
Trying to release you
Trying to connect
I swallow the knot of loneliness
In cities, lanes, ancient forts
I hear echoes of voices
Waves of a restless sea
Suddenly, this silent mausoleum
Is drenched with your fragrant touch
My failing tears the essence of you
-- Shaka
உடல்வழி உரையாடல் அதற்கே உரித்தான சுகம் தருவது, ஆனால் அதில் ஒரு அலுப்புதன்மை உண்டு. அதனால் தான் நான் எனது மொழி, சொற்களின் வாயிலாக என்னை வெளிப்படுத்துவது பண்மடங்கு அலாதியானது என்னை அதுவே இன்பமுற செய்கிறது.
பெண்களுக்குயிடையே ஆன எந்த ஒரு உரிமை போராட்டம் இல்லை என்ற போது தான் நான் உணர்ந்தேன் நான் பெண்களை நேசிக்கிறேன் என்று
எங்கள் மொழியை கற்றுக்கொள்ளுங்கள், எங்களுடன் வாழ வேண்டுமென்றால்
உன்னை நீ நேசி, அப்பொழுது தான் உன்னால் மற்றவர்களை நேசிக்க முடியும்.
Torn, tormented and troubled by the pleasure-giving pain called love
But be what you are. Make your own identity. Try and forgive people, even when you know it's hurts- you aren't God, you haven't made them
I dreamt
I dreamt that
You were a poem
You were a flower
You were a house
You were a dream
You were a book
I dreamt that you were the women you were before you loved me
Before you accepted
Your love for me
It takes me too long to learn your love.
A lifetime to read.
A moment the know.
அஸ்வினி சுக்தான்கர்
ஓர் இன செற்கையாளர்கள் பற்றிய தவறான தரவுகளே அதிகம் உள்ளது, அவர்களின் உலகின் மீது என்றுமே ஒரு பயம், கேள்விகள், வெறுப்பு தான் இச்சமுகத்துக்கு. ஏன் நாம் சக மனிதர்களை புரிந்து கொள்ள பிரயத்தனம் கூட செய்வதில்லை.
என்றுமே ஒரு பிம்பத்தை உருவாக்கி அதை நாம் பின்பற்றுகிறோம். முட்டாள்தனம், வெறுப்பு, அசூயை இதில் தான் நாம் பயணிக்கிறோம்.
இயற்கையை கண்டுடைந்தது நாம் தான் என்ற போலித்தனமான வாழ்க்கை.
புத்தகம் முழுதும், பெண்களின் ஒர் இன சேற்கை உலகு தான்.
காதல், காமம், அன்பு, பரிவு, ஏக்கம், குழப்பம், வேறுபாடுகள், அங்கிகாரம் அற்ற வாழ்வு.
அவர்களின் எந்த ஒரு செயலையும் பூதக்கண்ணாடி கொண்டு நோக்கும் உலகில் எப்படி அவர்கள் அவர்களாக நிலை நிருத்திக் கொள்ள முயல்கிறார்கள் என்பதே பெரும் போராட்டம் , வலி.
இப்புத்தகம் எனக்கு தந்தது அந்த வாழ்வின் மிக சிறந்த படிப்பினைகளை. அவர்களே அவர்களின் வாழ்வைப்பற்றி எழுதியிருப்பது மிக சிறப்பு.
புத்தகத்திலிருந்து:
Maqbara
Did I think relinquishing you
Would be easy?
Eons have passed...
Did I say Love
Was my birthright?
Illusion, memory, dream ...
Trying to release you
Trying to connect
I swallow the knot of loneliness
In cities, lanes, ancient forts
I hear echoes of voices
Waves of a restless sea
Suddenly, this silent mausoleum
Is drenched with your fragrant touch
My failing tears the essence of you
-- Shaka
உடல்வழி உரையாடல் அதற்கே உரித்தான சுகம் தருவது, ஆனால் அதில் ஒரு அலுப்புதன்மை உண்டு. அதனால் தான் நான் எனது மொழி, சொற்களின் வாயிலாக என்னை வெளிப்படுத்துவது பண்மடங்கு அலாதியானது என்னை அதுவே இன்பமுற செய்கிறது.
பெண்களுக்குயிடையே ஆன எந்த ஒரு உரிமை போராட்டம் இல்லை என்ற போது தான் நான் உணர்ந்தேன் நான் பெண்களை நேசிக்கிறேன் என்று
எங்கள் மொழியை கற்றுக்கொள்ளுங்கள், எங்களுடன் வாழ வேண்டுமென்றால்
உன்னை நீ நேசி, அப்பொழுது தான் உன்னால் மற்றவர்களை நேசிக்க முடியும்.
Torn, tormented and troubled by the pleasure-giving pain called love
But be what you are. Make your own identity. Try and forgive people, even when you know it's hurts- you aren't God, you haven't made them
I dreamt
I dreamt that
You were a poem
You were a flower
You were a house
You were a dream
You were a book
I dreamt that you were the women you were before you loved me
Before you accepted
Your love for me
It takes me too long to learn your love.
A lifetime to read.
A moment the know.
November 4, 2011
My problem with the book was that it seemed to try too hard to be a political statement without actually making a statement at all. Other than homosexuality, there was nothing that binds the book together, not even love, because some stories are not even about love, but were about possession, and there were characters whose behaviour I despised, but I felt like I had to condone it.
The writing itself was ordinary, striving more towards a voice rather than any real literary quality. Some of the works were quite good, others quite a bore.
The writing itself was ordinary, striving more towards a voice rather than any real literary quality. Some of the works were quite good, others quite a bore.
June 11, 2016
I'm sure this is a groundbreaking collection and it's impressive that Sukthankar has put this together in her mid-20s, but I'm actually quite disturbed by some of the contributions? The narrator in the second story causally relates that she sexually assaulted her 'maidservant.' There are a few other contributions that were uncomfortable to say the least.
August 5, 2024
In today's world of almost sanitized and templatized positioning on how queerness is supposed to be, this book brings forward authentic, raw, messy, problematic; very real lives and stories of people from different backgrounds.
July 25, 2020
This is collection of lesbian writings from India.
August 31, 2022
It was important that a book like this exists to give a platform to the queer experiences in india but also some stories were an uncomfortable read, sometimes boring.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews