by Namrata Chup: Breaking the Silence About India’s Women by Deepa Narayan is an immensely powerful eye opener for every Indian woman and lives up to the claim on its cover "This book will hold a mirror to every Indian woman." Deepa Narayan is an international poverty, gender and development adviser who has worked at the World Bank, the United Nations and in the non-government sector. She was named as 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine in 2011 and has some seventeen books to her credit. In author’s own words, she did not set out to do research or to write a book, but this book forced itself upon her. Deeply moved by the Nirbhaya rape case in 2012, the author decided to run a cultural question which explained both rape and everyday sexism. Her quest led her to interact with many young men and women giving her a glimpse of the huge difference between what we believed and what we practiced. What came out was shocking enough for her to modify her research pattern and embark on another journey altogether. One that involved people talking about what they believed in and till what extent they practiced it. The result was 8000 pages of notes filled with interviews from highly educated women living in cities. In talking to all these women the author came across a pattern. She noticed that "Our culture trains women not to exist". We are either killed before birth (female foeticide) or are trained kill our desires every single day just to exist. She further categorizes the various habits a woman is expected to inculcate to not exist. 1. Women don’t have bodies (Don’t be seen.) 2. Women shouldn’t talk or laugh loudly. (Don’t be heard.) 3. Women should always be accommodative in nature. 4. For women sexuality is a taboo. (Don’t have desires.) 5. Women should remain isolated. 6. Women should always be dependent. The need for women to be silent and trained to be so is what lends the title to this book. Further this book claims that every woman in India despite being educated, modern and independent held sexist biases. And goes on to prove, the extent to which we have been socially conditioned to believe otherwise. To be honest, I was shocked. As this book made me realize, how flawed my own analogy was. This book has to be the most difficult read for me by far. It challenges the very base of my existence making me question everything I ever believed in. I have been called a rebellion since my teenage, always being told to improve myself. That resulted in my growing up extremely low on confidence. After reading this book I concluded, if there is anything that I need to improve then it’s my thoughts about my own self. I should no longer be ashamed of laughing loudly, for speaking my heart out or having desires. Every time a woman uses “I am allowed / not allowed” it reeks of gender bias. The amount of women putting on with abuse for the fear of society they hold in their hearts is simply overwhelming. No individual deserves to exist like this. It must be noted that the research also proved that education has no role to play in your mindset. It is the society and its social culture which defines our thoughts, believes and practices. After a brief introduction, the author proceeds to talk about the above mentioned habits at length in different chapters with real life examples, quotes and snippets from interviews which are filled with grit and valor of these women. Every chapter ends with her observations and suggestions on how the situation can be worked upon. Finally in the concluding chapter, the author sheds light on what can we do as a society to remove the "dirt" of gender bias completely. As she says, that is something we need to keep cleaning every day, till it becomes a habit and is deeply ingrained in our psyche. Written in a lucid manner, the narrative has an air of honesty to it. She has no qualms in sharing her online test results which shows she is sexist to the readers. Deepa Narayan’s writing is crisp and well-articulated. The language is simple and highly relatable with so many women pouring their heart out in these pages. This book encapsulates the harsh reality of our society very well. In a time when India is striving to be the next super power, it is disheartening to see the plight of women in the country. This book should be the awakening call for all Indian women and should encourage them to do some self-introspection. Chup (loosely translated to "Silence" or "Be quiet.") should be the reason for breaking their silence and saying No Longer Chup! Buy "Chup: Breaking the Silence About India’s Women" by Deepa Narayan here.
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