[Reader-list] Embracing paths, feminist and spiritual

[Chintan Girish Modi]

From
http://chintangirishmodi.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/embracing-paths-feminist-and-spiritual/

“I adopted two seemingly disparate liberatory paths, feminism and spiritual
practice, to survive and make sense of what I was going through; that I, who
was neither consciously feminist nor spiritually inclined, became both; that
this personal revolution couldn’t have happened any other way, for *me*, is
something I’m just beginning to grasp,” writes Nighat Gandhi in her book *What
I Am Today, I Won’t Remain Tomorrow *published by Yoda Press. The book is
deeply powerful, sharing the author’s own transformational journey,
intertwined with her sensitive portrayal of encounters with women survivors
of abuse.

It is easy for urban dwellers, especially well-intentioned ones, to make
victims and martyrs out of the suffering of common folk, and glorify them
for what it’s worth. However, Nighat treads carefully. She is acutely aware
of the privileged position she enjoys in relation to the ‘subjects’ she
attempts to represent. There is a sincerity about the questions she asks
them, born perhaps of the desire to share their narratives as truthfully as
possible, never degenerating into voyeuristic curiosity. What’s most
beautiful is the constant self-examination on her part, never assuming that
her own life is perfect while other lives are fraught with problems and
fissures.

Here is an interview with Nighat, who I had the opportunity to meet in
Varanasi in April 2010, soon after spotting her other book *Ghalib at
Dusk*at store near Assi Ghat. We found that we were both staying on
the same
campus at Rajghat Besant School; she as a writer-in-residence, I as a
workshop participant. It’s amazing how our paths crossed, and how a
friendship was born over walks and conversations.
To read the interview, check
http://chintangirishmodi.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/embracing-paths-feminist-and-spiritual/