The Constitutionality of the marital rape exception is currently under challenge before the Delhi and Gujarat High Courts…reports Asian Lite News
In a ruling that could help shape the debate on marital rape, the Karnataka High Court Wednesday refused to quash rape charges filed by a wife against her husband, defying the exception in law, and, instead, called on lawmakers to hear the “voices of silence.”
“A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the ‘husband’ on the woman ‘wife’,” a single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court said. The “age-old…regressive” thought that “husbands are the rulers of their wives, their body, mind and soul should be effaced,” the court said.
While the court did not explicitly strike down the marital rape exception, it forced the married man to face trial for rape charges brought by his wife. The husband had moved the High Court after a trial court took cognisance of the offence under Section 376 (rape).
IPC Section 375 that defines rape carries a crucial exemption: “Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape.”
In 2018, a similar case was brought before the Gujarat High Court in which a married man sought quashing of the rape case against him filed by his wife. Although the HC quashed the FIR to remove the rape charges, it gave a lengthy reasoning on the need to criminalise marital rape.
The Constitutionality of the marital rape exception is currently under challenge before the Delhi and Gujarat High Courts.
The “institution of marriage does not confer, cannot confer and in my considered view, should not be construed to confer, any special male privilege or a license for unleashing of a brutal beast. If it is punishable to a man, it should be punishable to a man albeit, the man being a husband,” Justice Nagaprasanna said.
“A brutal act of sexual assault on the wife, against her consent, albeit by the husband, cannot but be termed to be a rape. Such sexual assault by a husband on his wife will have grave consequences on the mental sheet of the wife, it has both psychological and physiological impact on her. Such acts of husbands scar the soul of the wives. It is, therefore, imperative for the lawmakers to now hear the voices of silence,” the court said.
This ruling came in the course of a judgment on a petition filed in 2018 by a 43-year-old man for dropping of charges of rape and sexual assault on a child brought against him by police in Bengaluru on the basis of a complaint filed by his wife in March 2017 after a marriage of 11 years.
Initially, while digging out the carrots, I noticed the long, thin and crooked ones. When I realised that the market-bought seeds didn’t seem right, I prepared them myself to fix the problem.”…reports S R Pareek
Women in rural Rajasthan are leading the way in building innovative solutions in agriculture. They currently helm around 20 government-approved startups in the state in this field-five in organic farming, two in dairy and 13 in other agro-based industries. This is in keeping with the momentum across the country, wherein women lead 173 agricultural startups.
“In collaboration with the NITI Aayog last year, 150 female entrepreneurs from Rajasthan were involved in a brainstorming session to discuss startups,” said Tapan Kumar Sharma, joint director of the Department of Information and Technology, Jaipur.
“Besides training, the startups receive seed funding from the government along with a sustainability and marketing allowance. This figure is expected to rise gradually.”
Honey-sweet carrots and the President’s Award
Santosh Pachar, a resident of Jhigar Badi village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, may have studied only till class VIII, but she’s received the President’s Award twice (in 2013 and 2017) for her innovation with carrot seeds. Pachar, who owns around of 30 bighas of farmland, started advanced organic farming in 2002.
“At first, I didn’t know what an agricultural officer was, but once I began attending agricultural fairs, I learned a lot from them,” said Pachar, the only female farmer from Rajasthan to participate in a 15-day training seminar for progressive farmers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“Initially, while digging out the carrots, I noticed the long, thin and crooked ones. When I realised that the market-bought seeds didn’t seem right, I prepared them myself to fix the problem.”
Pachar developed a new pollination technique by mixing 15 ml of honey and 5 ml of ghee with 1 kg of carrot seeds and drying them in the shade. The seeds germinated quickly, and with minimal spoilage, it took 75 days to yield carrots 1.5 to 2.5 ft in length. Pachar had not only enhanced the sweetness of the carrots by 5 per cent, but had also amplified production by one-and-a half to two times. As a result, she received a reward of Rs 3 lakh and a citation from former president Pranab Mukherjee.
There’re more: Pachar also installed a cow dung gas plant using indigenous technology, benefiting 20 houses in her village. She further helps other women by imparting knowledge of innovations in farming.
From the desert areas of Rajasthan to the tribal belt, women aren’t just participating in the agriculture sector but also doing well for themselves. Speaking to 101reporters, Jayesh Joshi, Secretary of the Vagdhara Sansthan, said: “There are 3.60 crore women involved in agricultural work. Women are promoting organic farming, and community-based activities are raising awareness to take this further and see the launch of more startups. Many women are also employed in the food processing sector. In the tribal area of Banswara, we’ve developed nurseries that are run by women.”
Taking over orchards
Santosh Khedar, also from Sikar district, is a master in pomegranate cultivation. It all started when her husband worked as a home guard and saw a pomegranate tree while on duty. He got the idea of planting a pomegranate garden and shared it with his wife, who readily agreed. She managed to collect money from various sources to install a tubewell in her garden and spent three years irrigating it until her first yield of pomegranate.
“I did not know how much money I’d get, but eventually, the hard work paid off and I doubled our income,” Khedar proudly told 101Reporters.
“We made a profit of Rs 3 lakh, which we used to first pay our loans, before planting new crops. We also began planting lemon, guava and apple saplings in the empty spaces between the pomegranate trees. The experiment was successful and our profits crossed Rs 10 lakh annually.”
Today, Khedar also runs a nursery, selling pomegranate, lemon, apple, Kinnow oranges and mango saplings to other farmers. Through horticulture, the family now earns an annual income of Rs 25 to 30 lakh.
Interestingly, both Prachar and Khedar’s husbands were involved in traditional farming earlier. Their earnings, however, were meagre in comparison, with crops often failing and leading to mounting debts.
Dates flourish on the sandy banks of Barmer
In Barmer, the Elchi Bishnoi tribe is familiar to such success stories, albeit with the production of dates. Here, they not only grow dates on the sandy banks of Barmer, but also process and sell them. While date palms were not cultivated in the region earlier, the women of Sedwa tehsil started the trend by planting a thousand saplings and increasing their annual income from farming from Rs 60,000 to Rs 6-7 lakh.
Highlighting the support the state extends to rural women, agricultural scientist Pradeep Pagaria told 101Reporters: “People of the Elchi Bishnoi tribe are cultivating and processing dates in the sandy gorges of Barmer. Phoolkanwar, the sarpanch of Nadol in Pali district, is engaged in making the women here self-sufficient, helping them cultivate lemons on 20 bighas of land. We impart training to them through the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. We educate women on the various types of farming, on what crops to cultivate, how to use seeds and so on. We also show them various techniques in the fields.”
B.R. Choudhary, vice chancellor of Jodhpur’s Agricultural University, said: “There are many examples of progressive female farmers from Barmer, Sirohi, Pali and Nagaur. Women here are doing exceptionally well in agricultural startups with the help of technology. Although in the early stages, they are forging ahead, which is a good sign. They are given regular training in farming techniques, animal husbandry, dairy and other agro-based work.”
(The author is a Jodhpur-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
Whether we want to accept it or not, biologically men and women are very different. One of the important differences is in the way men and women use and store fat. Men on average have about 3 per cent essential fat as part of their composition – women have 12 per cent…reports Asian Lite News
Essential fat is a percentage of total body fat mass that is necessary for insulation, protection of our vital organs, vitamin storage and building key cell messengers like steroids that are necessary for effective cell communication. Without this fat, the body does not function properly and our immune and neurological systems get affected.
Women have four times as much essential fat. Stored fat in women is actually beneficial to overall health. A baseline of 12 per cent of essential fat protects women from type two diabetes and even heart disease. This is important to understand because:
It helps with expectations and goal setting when you choose weight loss programmes:
Striving for 20 per cent body fat is unhealthy
There are three popular diets in the world: Keto Diet, Intermittent Fasting, and GM Diet. Unfortunately, these diets are not helpful especially for women who are thinking of significant weight loss (more than 15-20 kgs) and maintaining it permanently.
Let’s look at these diet plans in detail:
Keto Diet: The ketogenic diet is a low carb, high-fat diet. Restricting carbs and increasing fat intake can lead to ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body relies primarily on fat for energy instead of carbs. “Women’s bodies always resist losing fat as it is essential for pregnancy and lactation, and it’s essential.”
Carb intake in the keto diet is typically limited to fewer than 50 grams per day, which can cause shock to women’s bodies. When the carb quotient depletes, it switches to ketones and fat for fuel at the start of this eating pattern, women’s brain and metabolism starts resisting fat loss. It results in a complete imbalance leading to hormonal and metabolic changes. Also, Keto-type diets usually work only for a short term and can have side effects such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, and constipation.
Further, most of the initial weight loss is water weight. Once the body enters ketosis, we begin to lose muscle, become extremely fatigued, and eventually enter starvation mode which actually makes it even harder to lose weight.
A keto diet does more harm than good to the majority of women especially if they have any underlying medical conditions like PCOS, Irregular menses or Infertility.
Intermittent Fasting: Fasting is a practice that involves completely abstaining from eating or avoiding certain foods for a fixed period. In recent years, intermittent fasting has become increasingly popular with people looking to lose weight.
During studies, it was found that although intermittent fasting produced favourable results in people who were overweight or obese, women who tried it, had the following negative effects:
Severe mood swings
Extreme hunger
Low energy/fatigue
Obsessive thoughts about food
Overeating on days without restricted calories
Depression
Anger
Most women exhibit such behaviours in the first few weeks of intermittent fasting. It is also observed that by restricting calorie intake in this manner, it may interfere with their menstrual cycles.
GM Diet: The GM diet aims to help people lose weight by focusing on a specific food or food group each day for a week. The GM diet consists of a 7-day meal plan. Each day focuses on a specific food or food group.
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Although the idea of substantial weight loss within a short period may seem attractive, the GM diet does come with risks which are:
Lacks vital nutrients: Women following the GM diet may not get enough of certain important food groups, such as healthy fats and protein. This diet may also lack essential vitamins and minerals that come with eating a wide variety of healthful foods.
Short-term weight loss: The GM diet is not a sustainable long-term weight-loss strategy. A woman may regain weight once they stop following the diet. One reason for this is that the diet does not necessarily teach techniques for healthy cooking or eating which is essential for long-term weight maintenance.
Other risks which are very common and can be aggravated in women in a few weeks include dehydration, headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness and inability to concentrate, In a nutshell, balanced calorie intake – macronutrients like carbs, proteins, fats, and micronutrients like vitamins and minerals which are essential for pregnancy, lactation and overall health of the women. Hence, eating a balanced meal during weight loss is advised.
NEW CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGES ALL COMMUNITIES TO COME TOGETHER TO HELP TAKE ACTION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
The government has recently launched “Enough”, a new campaign empowering individuals to challenge people who commit a range of abusive actions against women and girls, and to raise awareness of what can be done if you experience, or witness, this abuse.
Forms of abuse can include domestic abuse (such as controlling or coercive behaviour), street harassment, unwanted touching, workplace harassment, so-called ‘revenge-porn’, cyber-flashing, forced marriage, and stalking. These types of abuse can affect anyone and many of us will have witnessed it, whether it’s abuse by a partner, ex-partner, family member, colleague, friend, or stranger.
National statistics show that these issues disproportionately affect women and girls and that they continue to be all too common, with 1 in 5 women being victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in their lifetime, over 27% of women having experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16, and 20% of women aged 16-74 having experienced stalking.
The Enough campaign, which forms part of the government’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, highlights a range of actions that can be taken if you witness abuse – including calling it out, showing support, or reporting it.
As part of the campaign a new website has been launched to provide further guidance around safe intervention and reporting of abuse, support for victims of abuse, and advice for people who recognise their behaviour needs to change. For more information, please visit www.gov.uk/enough.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “For too long, the responsibility of keeping safe has been placed on the shoulders of women and girls. This campaign says enough, and recognises it is on all of us to demand major societal change. Everyone has a stake in this.
“Our new campaign shows that everyone can play a role in challenging abuse and making our country a safer place. By accepting all of the recommendations in the HMICFRS report I commissioned last year, the government and the police are doubling down to support victims and survivors and punish perpetrators.”
CEO of Karma Nirvana Natasha Rattu said: “We welcome the launch of ‘Enough’, which the Karma Nirvana team and survivor ambassadors contributed to. The campaign is an important step and sends a powerful message that violence against women and girls cannot go on, and everyone has a role to play to stop it. We are pleased to see the Home Office launch a communications campaign that raises awareness of the abuse women and girls can face on a daily basis, challenges perpetrators and empowers others to know how to safely intervene if they witness unacceptable abuse.”
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive at national domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid, said: “Violence against women and girls is a spectrum, running from the everyday misogyny that is so prevalent, many people don’t even notice it, right through to horrifically violent crimes and murder. Campaigns like this by the Home Office are an important tool to raise awareness of sexist actions and language that have been tolerated for too long and normalise the treatment of women as objects. Women’s “Aid will continue to keep working for the safety of women — until we no longer walk home in fear, whether it is the journey or the destination that holds the greatest danger – but we can’t do it alone. It’s also not enough that women must initiate and highlight the urgency of these conversations. We need ‘allyship’ to help bring about structural change.”
“This issue is dedicated to the women we all know, as well as the un-airbrushed reality we inhabit,” says Ambika Muttoo, Editor-in-Chief — Femina…reports Asian Lite News
Femina, a women’s magazine, pays tribute to women in its March issue. The magazine salutes the spirit of real women who defy stereotypes and choose to be in control of their lives, bodies and stories every day.
The cover depicts ten inspiring and empowering women who reflect the Indian women of today. Because every story is important. Every single story is true.
Deepak Lamba, CEO — Worldwide Media, said at the launch of the March issue, “Women have always set the standard for self-acceptance, self-love and inner beauty.”
“Femina’s March issue features ten extraordinary women, each with their own unique take on what it means to be a woman. This is yet another step in Femina’s ongoing effort to highlight and normalise the notion that beauty extends beyond the conventional imagery conformed by society.”
“This issue is dedicated to the women we all know, as well as the un-airbrushed reality we inhabit,” says Ambika Muttoo, Editor-in-Chief — Femina.
“As a woman, I understand the struggles and challenges we face along the way as we take control of our own stories. Femina has always been and continues to be a part of the evolving female narrative.”
The March issue of Femina includes heartfelt messages from real women from all walks of life. They discuss what it means to be a woman and how they are the physical manifestation of power.
Every story matters. Every story is real.
This #InternationalWomensDay, meet women who are paying homage to themselves, and to the bodies that house their spirit on our cover because #thepresentisfemale, and so is the future
UN cannot call for the implementation of gold standards throughout the world as far as gender equality and women’s empowerment is concerned, but not implement this standard at home, said Abdulla Shahid …reports Asian Lite News
UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid on Monday said that the next UN Secretary-General should be female.
Just four women have been elected president of the General Assembly in its 76 sessions. However, no woman has ever been chosen as the secretary-general. This needs to be corrected, Shahid told the opening of the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The UN cannot call for the implementation of gold standards throughout the world as far as gender equality and women’s empowerment is concerned, but not implement this standard at home,” he said.
“I personally would lead from the front calling for the next secretary-general to be a woman. Join me in this clarion call,” he said.
In the past 76 years, all the nine UN secretaries-general have been male. The current secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, is in the first year of his second five-year term.
As long as we know women, who are strong and resilient, we must respect them, carry them forward, lift them up…reports Asian Lite News
Actress Kajal Aggarwal on Tuesday said that the salvation of women would come only if women stood together.
In a Woman’s Day post on Instagram, Kajal said, “Women are fierce. We are powerful. No matter what language we speak, how we dress or the work we choose to do. What matters is we have a choice, and the freedom to carve out a life for ourselves.
“As long as we know women, who are strong and resilient, we must respect them, carry them forward, lift them up.
“For they are the product of all our other selves, the women we were, the ones we strive to be, the collective struggle of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters. Our salvation will only come if we stand together.”
The speakers underscored a diverse range of aspects, linking mental health to psychiatry, social stigma, yoga, physical movement and performing arts…reports Asian Lite News
International Women’s Day was celebrated at the House of Commons of the British Parliament recently. Aligning with this year’s theme #BreaktheBias, the program highlighted the challenges and solutions to mental health problems.
The event was hosted by Virendra Sharma MP and organised by Sushma Bhanot, a businesswoman and co-director of Coolherbals, who has spent 20 years supporting thousands of women suffering poor mental, physical and financial health in Essex and beyond.
Host Virendra Sharma MP and organiser Sushma Bhanot MBE
The speakers underscored a diverse range of aspects, linking mental health to psychiatry, social stigma, yoga, physical movement and performing arts.
Heather Mason, Founder of The Minded Institute, spoke on Yoga and Mental Health. After Dr. Ragini Bahry, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and clinical lead at the Priory North London spoke, award-winning author, spoken word artist and writer Jaspreet Kaur spoke on the stigma attached to mental health in South Asian communities and read excerpts from her debut book Brown Girl Like Me. Dr Ravina Bhanot, an NHS Doctor specialised in Women’s Health and Founder of FemTech company Zonas spoke about how hormones can affect mental health. Simona Neata mental health struggles among new moms and how to cope.
Jaspreet Kaur speaking at the Women’s Day event
University Educator and award-winning dancer Ragasudha Vinjamuri spoke on the role of music and dance in mental health and how Dance Movement Therapy and Music Therapy are helpful in Complementary and Alternative Medicine in addressing trauma, anxiety, stress, exhaustion, aggression, and sleep disorders. She then presented a short dance. Counselor, trainer Ramesh Kumari Talwar outlined the report on the mental health needs of Asian Women in the Borough of Greenwich/Greenwich MIND. Reiki Master Bali Bhalla spoke on how colours and Reiki help mental wellbeing.
Former Senior Project Manager at the Department of Education, founder of Super Cool Friends and co-founder of the Great British Chai Party Kiran Bhanaut spoke on loneliness, mental wellbeing, and social isolation in the elderly. The event concluded with fitness instructor and D-Style founder Angelique giving inputs on wellbeing, Founder and Chairman of volunteer organisation Go Dharmic adding a faith element and Neela Sedhani adding a poetry element. Sushma, who was awarded an MBE for her services to wellbeing in the community says “I wanted to highlight the fact that mental wellbeing is very important and wanted to offer practical solutions and answers. The day concluded with many action points to improve mental wellbeing in the community and nationally”.
Dr Raveena Bhanot speaking at the Womens Day eventSimona Neata at Womens Day eventRagasudha Vinjamuri presenting at Womens Day eventRamesh Kumari Talwar speaking at the Womens Day eventKiran Bhanaut speaking at the Womens Day eventBali Bhalla speaking at the Womens Day eventAngelique at the Womens Day eventHemal Randerwala speaking at the Womens Day event
Echoing her thoughts, the Padmaavat actress said women must document more diligently, and avoid an online battle with harassers…reports Asian Lite News
Two-time Olympic medal winner PV Sindhu and multilingual Indian actress Aditi Rao Hydari has batted for women to adopt a ‘constructive’ approach in calling out harassers and shutting them down, rather than merely blocking them online.
Sindhu said women should call it out, while tackling online harassment, and shouldn’t merely block harassers.
“You should go and complain to the authorities. You should confront it. As women, we can do anything and everything. At the same time, you have to be aware of your surroundings. You have to be in a situation where you have to take care of yourself. You have to understand the situation and act accordingly,” Sindhu told News18.
Echoing her thoughts, the Padmaavat actress said women must document more diligently, and avoid an online battle with harassers.
“A lot of them (harassers) are just bots. We have to take that into account. There is a constructive way of calling them out and shutting them down rather than starting an online battle. Sometimes it leads to a lot more noise and bullying,” she said at the session, which was part of #ItsNotOk campaign by Network18 in partnership with Truecaller.
Hydari also urged women to ‘go out and rise above their fear,’ but advised them to be cautious. “We shouldn’t let harassers win over us. But be cautious, know what to do when you are in a sticky situation, have all your numbers ready. No woman should stop herself from living her dreams just because the city makes her afraid,” she said.
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas…reports Asian Lite News
Scheduled from 5th – 14th March 2022, the Jaipur Literature Festival is all set to return with its 15th edition with Women in Power being one of its highlights. Taking ahead the legacy, the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’ will celebrate trailblazing women who have broken barriers and forged their own paths through a diverse set of sessions.
The rich programme will feature, among others, a session that explores the boundless sacred feminine. The panel will be graced by award-winning author and poet Arundhathi Subramaniam, author of the remarkable book Women Who Wear Only Themselves: Conversations with Four Travellers on Sacred Journeys; art historian, curator, and author of Shakti: 51 Sacred Peethas of the Goddess Alka Pande who has worked extensively in the fields of gender identity, sexuality, and the traditional arts; and renowned academic and author Malashri Lal who has produced defining literature on women, gender, and the interpretations and manifestations of the feminine including In Search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology with Namita Gokhale.
Versatile writer and entrepreneur Koral Dasgupta, author of the Sati Series; historian and author of Song of Draupadi Ira Mukhoty; and author of bestselling novel Valmiki’s Women: Five Tales from the Ramayana Anand Neelakantan will get together to pay tribute to the women of the great epics, as they argue, plead, reason and assert, rising from the embers of myth, legend, and sacred texts that often focus only on heroic men. Moving on from historical fiction, medieval historian Katherine Pangonis, will discuss her latest book Queens of Jerusalem with Ira Mukhoty. The session will see them dissect the trailblazing women of the Crusades who were not passive transmitters of land and blood but formidable leaders with political agency and aspirations, integral to diplomacy, military strategy and even rebellion. Afghan-Canadian singer, media personality and women’s rights activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah is among the most powerful voices of her generation. In the session Voice of Rebellion: How Mozhdah Jamalzadah Brought Hope to Afghanistan, Mozhdah Jamalzadah will discuss her biography of the same name by Roberta Staley, and the power of dissent with journalist Jyoti Malhotra. Author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape Sohaila Abdulali; journalist and policy and culture consultant Pragya Tiwari; and author of India Moving: A History of Migration and Age of Pandemics.
(1817-1920): How They Shaped India and the World Chinmay Tumbe will evaluate the mobilisation of domestic violence shelters, organisations, helplines, and the governmental and social response to this insidious threat in conversation with social entrepreneur Amita Nigam Sahaya. In a session of readings and conversations, writer, poet, translator and activist, Meena Kandasamy will take the audience along on an arduous journey navigating through the dimensions of self, politics and gender. This Poem Will Provoke You will observe a vibrant and scintillating conversation between Kandasamy and Manasi Subramaniam, Executive Editor at Penguin Random House, where they will speak of the weight of words, beliefs, ideologies and the space in-between. Eminent author and journalist Lisa Taddeo’s debut novel, Animal, is a provocative exploration of female rage fuelled by male violence and savagery. In conversation with Ajio Luxe’s editor-in-chief Supriya Dravid, Taddeo will discuss the raw embers of female rage in a male-dominated society and the precarious intertwining of violence and memory.
Some legendary names set to feature in this year’s Festival include one of the biggest names in Indian journalism, iconic journalist Barkha Dutt; novelist and disability rights activist C.K. Meena; award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read woman author Elif Shafak; former CEO and Chairperson of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi; mother-daughter duo Nayantara Sahgal and Gita Sahgal; Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri; Hindi feminist author Mamta Kalia, who writes primarily on the lived experiences of rural, middle-class women; celebrated author of over twenty books and Jaipur Literature Festival Co-director Namita Gokhale; multiple award-winning translator, writer and literary historian Rakhshanda Jalil; feminist publisher and writer Ritu Menon, author of the ground-breaking text Borders and Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition; former television actress and current Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Govt. of India, Smriti Zubin Irani, author of her debut-novel Lal Salaam in a varied set of sessions, highlighting the many aspects of womanhood in today’s world.
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas.
The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted over 2,000 speakers and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe.
Our core values remain unchanged: to serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform offering free and fair access.
Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.
Writers and Festival Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, alongside producer Teamwork Arts, invite speakers to take part in the five-day programme set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage and the Diggi Palace in the state capital Jaipur.
Past speakers have ranged from Nobel Laureates J. M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Malala Yousafzai, Muhammad Yunus and Joseph Stiglitz; Man Booker Prize winners Ben Okri, Douglas Stuart, Margaret Atwood and Paul Beatty; Sahitya Akademi winners Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, as well as the late Girish Karnad, Mahasweta Devi and U. R. Ananthamurthy; along with literary superstars including Amish Tripathi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Vikram Seth. An annual event that goes beyond literature, the Festival has also hosted Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, the late A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Bill Gates, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stephen Fry, Thomas Piketty and former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
The Jaipur Literature Festival is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts, which produces it along with over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally.
For over 30 years, Teamwork Arts has taken India to the world and brought the world to India, presenting the finest of Indian performers, writers and visual artists in the cultural and art space in India and abroad.
Every year, it produces over 25 performing, visual arts and literary festivals in several countries including Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and USA, as well as many eclectic festivals across India. It produces the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur Literature Festival; JLF international now travels to the US, UK, Canada, Qatar and Australia.
Even amidst the upheaval and unsettling times of 2020, Teamwork Arts successfully launched the digital series, JLF Brave New World and WORDS ARE BRIDGES, which were viewed by over 4.8 million people in their first season. Through its digital avatar, the Jaipur Literature Festival reached over 19 million viewers in January 2021 and brought together the world’s leading commentators and writers. The musical extravaganza, Bollywood Love Story – A Musical, continues to tour the world with sold-out shows everywhere it is held.
