Vol. X | Issue 10 | March 2023

From the Editor’s Desk

It is the 8th of March, universally celebrated as the International Women's Day. There are many questions that arise in our minds as we celebrate this day, perhaps because it still comes with a lot of baggage. As we move towards a gender fluid world today, one would have thought that the problems concerning women would be a downhill slide. And yet, women in Iran continue to protest about the Hijab, while Dalit women continue to be raped without justice. The question one must ask perhaps is, have the struggles changed? Are our fights better, more relevant to progress instead of survival?

Jacinta Kerketta, poet and Adivasi activist, in her interview to me summed it up rather beautifully, when I asked her what she thought women in this country needed the most today. Kerketta says, 'knowing oneself, understanding one’s circumstances and one’s dreams, that is important for us as women. Since childhood, women are taught about others. They are taught about the house, the family, society, state, country, tradition, religion- the only thing they are not taught about, is themselves.'

Our March issue is by women, and comprimes of pieces by an all women team of writers, poets and essayists. Annette Higgs writes for us, an essay titled 'Starting Late - Reflections on becoming a Writer'. This sensitively done piece, covers the dreams, ambitions and realities of a middle aged writer, who while keeping her dreams alive doesn't deny the realities of being a middle aged writer.'Broken Glass' by Anjali Venugopal, opens up a robust section of short fiction with the chilling and unexpected tale of a mother-daughter relationship. As for the poets, we have a beautiful and vibrant selection of poetry. Esther Sadoff writes in her poem 'We Wear names like Bracelets'.

Names like earrings,
like perfume dotted behind each ear.
Names come and go like seasons,
names paired together like ingredients.
The room is crowded with possibilities.
I pretend to know how to laugh,
give a knowing quip,
to say It was all a joke,
I wasn't even trying,
That wasn't even me,
In dreams, I am always opening
someone else's locker.
My name stays in my own mouth.
I say it over and over until it means something.

To all of you who celebrate a woman today, love them and cherish them, A happy International Women's Day

Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury
Managing Editor, The Bangalore Review