Comments on: The Ballad of Baby Halder http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/ All that flavorful brownness in one savory packet Sat, 30 Nov 2013 11:11:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: urvashi butalia http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-170694 urvashi butalia Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:51:01 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-170694 <p>Hello, I was interested to see this and thought I might correct one mistake. Baby Halder's book is not published by Penguin but by Zubaan, a feminist house in India, in collaboration with Penguin. Baby is our author, and friend, and I was sorry to see that despite our logo being displayed on the book first, and our name being there, the reviewer had missed us out. I wasn't surprised though, it happens all the time that the small publsihers are rendered invisible, even by sympathetic journalists and the big ones get the credit! So just for the record, Baby's book is published by Zubaan and Penguin, and it has been translated by me. I work with Zubaan.</p> Hello, I was interested to see this and thought I might correct one mistake. Baby Halder’s book is not published by Penguin but by Zubaan, a feminist house in India, in collaboration with Penguin. Baby is our author, and friend, and I was sorry to see that despite our logo being displayed on the book first, and our name being there, the reviewer had missed us out. I wasn’t surprised though, it happens all the time that the small publsihers are rendered invisible, even by sympathetic journalists and the big ones get the credit! So just for the record, Baby’s book is published by Zubaan and Penguin, and it has been translated by me. I work with Zubaan.

]]> By: Navratan Kurma http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76948 Navratan Kurma Thu, 03 Aug 2006 21:24:50 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76948 <p>Thanks for the map siddhartha</p> <p>Njangalde nattilae pennungalae kandaalae ariyam... midukkimaar aanennu :-)</p> <p>Can't wait for the whole map to be dark green. My closest buddy is going to India to work hard on it.</p> Thanks for the map siddhartha

Njangalde nattilae pennungalae kandaalae ariyam… midukkimaar aanennu :-)

Can’t wait for the whole map to be dark green. My closest buddy is going to India to work hard on it.

]]> By: Saurav http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76849 Saurav Thu, 03 Aug 2006 06:26:23 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76849 <p>Folks interested in domestic workers and their lives might find <a href="http://www.domesticworkersunited.org/">the recent report</a> on them by Domestic Workers United / data center interesting. One of the constituent groups of DWU, I think, is <a href="http://andolan.net/">Andolan</a>, which is made up mostly of desi domestic workers.</p> Folks interested in domestic workers and their lives might find the recent report on them by Domestic Workers United / data center interesting. One of the constituent groups of DWU, I think, is Andolan, which is made up mostly of desi domestic workers.

]]> By: Tilo http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76820 Tilo Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:57:26 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76820 <p>the story was reported in 2004 soon after the bengali version came out. I was taking a class on South Asian lit. then and we had to read Taslima's biography.</p> <p>I loved the fact that she was working for the grandson of the great Hinddi-Urdu writer premchand, who encouraged her to read more and write.</p> the story was reported in 2004 soon after the bengali version came out. I was taking a class on South Asian lit. then and we had to read Taslima’s biography.

I loved the fact that she was working for the grandson of the great Hinddi-Urdu writer premchand, who encouraged her to read more and write.

]]> By: Dharma Queen http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76819 Dharma Queen Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:47:14 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76819 <p>This has got to be the beginning of a sea change....the voiceless in India have always had advocates, but now they are beginning to speak for themselves. What a thrilling story. How inspiring that nothing could destroy her desire for knowledge and self-expression. And what an absolutely beautiful man this Kumar guy is.</p> <p>As an aside - it's also a kick in the pants to aspiring writers who sometimes feel too lazy or busy to write (she wrote in the attic at night after tending to the kids and the employer all day - Christ!)</p> This has got to be the beginning of a sea change….the voiceless in India have always had advocates, but now they are beginning to speak for themselves. What a thrilling story. How inspiring that nothing could destroy her desire for knowledge and self-expression. And what an absolutely beautiful man this Kumar guy is.

As an aside – it’s also a kick in the pants to aspiring writers who sometimes feel too lazy or busy to write (she wrote in the attic at night after tending to the kids and the employer all day – Christ!)

]]> By: ajk http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76798 ajk Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:48:29 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76798 <p>my bad - i think the map reflected census info. from 2001 (but still!)</p> my bad – i think the map reflected census info. from 2001 (but still!)

]]> By: ajk http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76797 ajk Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:43:21 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76797 <p>::HereÂ’s a map showing female literacy rates in India, district by district.::</p> <p>daaaamn - hard to believe that's a map showing female literacy in 2006! casts an interesting light on assertions of india's coming of age, so to speak, doesn't it? of course, it would be interesting to see a breakdown of female literacy rates by age group since i imagine that relatively younger females are more likely to be literate than their older relatives.</p> <p>interesting post!</p> ::HereÂ’s a map showing female literacy rates in India, district by district.::

daaaamn – hard to believe that’s a map showing female literacy in 2006! casts an interesting light on assertions of india’s coming of age, so to speak, doesn’t it? of course, it would be interesting to see a breakdown of female literacy rates by age group since i imagine that relatively younger females are more likely to be literate than their older relatives.

interesting post!

]]> By: desitude http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76785 desitude Wed, 02 Aug 2006 21:02:38 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76785 <p>Grand post. I look forward to reading this book, which brought to mind my reading of Narendra Jadhav's Untouchables, which was released in the United States last year and received favorable notices in many places, including <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_40/b3953147.htm">Business Week</a>. Jadhav is a Maratha Dalit who has risen to become a Governor in the Reserve Bank of India, and the book is a inter-generational recollection of his family's struggles and triumphs, and ends with an essay by his daughter who is currently a student at Johns Hopkins.</p> Grand post. I look forward to reading this book, which brought to mind my reading of Narendra Jadhav’s Untouchables, which was released in the United States last year and received favorable notices in many places, including Business Week. Jadhav is a Maratha Dalit who has risen to become a Governor in the Reserve Bank of India, and the book is a inter-generational recollection of his family’s struggles and triumphs, and ends with an essay by his daughter who is currently a student at Johns Hopkins.

]]> By: Neale http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76778 Neale Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:37:37 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76778 <p>Great story....imagine NYT gave up Updike space for Halder spirit:-)</p> <p>she says ...."My employer Prabodh ji ..." ...I was wondering why she still works as a maid. What is keeping her from moving on?</p> Great story….imagine NYT gave up Updike space for Halder spirit:-)

she says ….”My employer Prabodh ji …” …I was wondering why she still works as a maid. What is keeping her from moving on?

]]> By: Wolf http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2006/08/02/the_ballad_of_b/comment-page-1/#comment-76774 Wolf Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:25:03 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=3644#comment-76774 <p>I think Amit is refering to the fact that many in the imported labor force become depressed at their hard life. From the post:</p> <blockquote>IÂ’m looking forward to reading this book, a classic exercise in giving voice to the voiceless. A few days ago on the thread about Sri Lankan maids in Lebanon, there was a tangential debate about the extent of domestic worker abuse in Indian households.</blockquote> I think Amit is refering to the fact that many in the imported labor force become depressed at their hard life. From the post:

IÂ’m looking forward to reading this book, a classic exercise in giving voice to the voiceless. A few days ago on the thread about Sri Lankan maids in Lebanon, there was a tangential debate about the extent of domestic worker abuse in Indian households.
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