These are stories from the field, stories that became part of Nirantar’s Pitara as pieces of fiction that had an uncanny resemblance to lived realities. Each story is shared with women’s collectives in the rural and semi-urban areas, to spark off unlikely, sometimes unnerving conversations.
A teacher walks the aisle of the classroom with a stick in his hand, waiting to use it on anyone who falters in their dictation test. Bhisham Sahni opens this scene of a classroom in his story ‘Imla’ where the same teacher when positioned outside the classroom changes his walk and talk. How do the structures of power change around the same teacher?
In this new episode of Bolti Kahaniyan, Dipta Bhog narrates ‘Hekdi’, a story by writer Vijaydan Detha. This story is taken from the Hindi translation of his anthology ‘Batan Ri Phulwadi’ published by Rajasthani Granthagar.
In this series, we bring you gender stories from Nirantar’s archives as well as from the Hindi fictional world at large. These stories have been used in facilitation by various gender groups, and are also great conversation starters for difficult, tricky and conflicting issues that emerge while working with communities.
In this episode of Bolti Kahaniyan, Swati Kashyap narrates a transcreation of Maitri Pushpa’s story ‘Tum Kiski Ho Binni?’. When Binni’s mother becomes pregnant after having given birth to two girls, everyone believed that it would be a boy but instead, it was Binni. This is what happened next.
In the third episode of the series Bolti Kahaniyan, we bring to you the story—Aate Sane Haath. Everyone has the Right to Education, but what difficulties does a girl face in order to complete her education?
In Episode 2, Listen to Beta Kiska, which gives birth to a metaphor you’ll never forget.
Where Anita brings us stories from the field, stories that became part of Nirantar’s Pitara as pieces of fiction that had an uncanny resemblance to lived realities. Each story is shared with women’s collectives in the rural and semi-urban areas, to spark off unlikely, sometimes unnerving conversations.
