March is special, as the world celebrates Women’s Day. Gulmohar Centre had organized three days with specially curated events to celebrate this special day.
On the evening of the 8th, the first day, there was a visual exhibition titled ‘Women In Modern India.’ Curated by Zubaan, a selection of posters from the 1970s onwards covered approximately 40 years of activism, focusing on issues such as health, literacy, political participation, health, religion and caste. These posters described the subjects the women’s movement was concerned with and provided us a visual history of the women’s movement in India. Women played a major role in the making of modern India. Whether it was in politics, or in the making of institutions like the All India Medical Institute or the Adyar Cancer Research Centre, or in looking after the refugees who came in after Partition, or in education, medicine, crafts, and so many other fields . Not many people know, for example, that there were fifteen women involved in the making of the Indian Constitution. Or that it was two Indian women, Hansa Mehta and Lakshmi Menon, who were key in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This exhibition honoured a small number of women makers of modern India.
9th evening started off with a fascinating interaction moderated by Radhika Bordia, a well-known journalist, titled ‘The Work That Women Do.’ Ms.Mrinal Pande, a veteran journalist, broadcaster and author, spoke on the lesser known women characters in the Hindu myths. Her talk was titled ‘ Devi: The Goddess In Our Time.’
Dr. Ruma Satwik, Senior Consultant, Centre of IVF and Human Reproduction, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Associate Professor, GRIPMER, spoke on ‘Reproductive Choices and The New Womanhood.’ She made a compelling presentation on medical issues faced by women over 40 which do not get talked about or not paid attention to even in the medical world. It was an engaging session and appreciated by the large number of people present. This was followed by a musical hour with vocals by Vidya Shah, a classical singer of repute.
“Women on Record” was the theme on which Vidya Shah presented her musical rendering. Songs sung by famous women singers of the early 20th century when records came into being were beautifully sung by Vidya Shah. She shared many interesting anecdotes of that bygone era. This programme was collectively curated by a group of women from Gulmohar Park, Anjali Hegde, Radhika Bordia and Urvashi Butalia, days one and two gave guests a lot to savour and they enjoyed every moment.
Day 3, 10th March, was an action-packed day. A mela was laid out in the Centre’s front lawn with an array of creative talent on display. From silver jewellery to designer clothes to lacquer boxes and tarot card reading, the stalls were provided free to women from Gulmohar Park.
In the evening, there was an engaging story reading session with women bringing their personality into reading of women-centric self-written or stories written by existing authors, in Hindi or English. There was pathos, romance, humour and a lot of food for thought. The eminent panel of judges comprising Dr. Meera Kant, Ms. Kanta Joshi and Dr. Subhash Vasishtha were quite impressed with the high quality of the performances and the audience agreed with them wholeheartedly when the winners were announced. 1st prize was awarded to Dr. Shweta Mathur Lall, for her self-written story of agony of Kashmiri families and their trauma when they had to leave their homeland. 2nd prize went to Mrs Prabha Mehta for her story about how people have double standards in life. 3rd prize went to Mrs. Geeta Jha , for a story written by her about a mother and child and how for a mother the only concern is her child and his life.
