I Was Born to Be What I Am, and I Was Not Just Your Mother

Mrinal Pande, older than our republic, was writing from a time when it was felt that "a woman writing was like a dog walking on two hind legs." She joins Amit Varma in episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen to share her learnings from a life in literature. Subjects discussed include our society, our languages, gender, politics and the state of our media. Also check out: 1. Mrinal Pande on Twitter, Amazon, Indian Express and Scroll. 2. The Other Country -- Mrinal Pande. 3. A Conservative Rebel: Memories of an Unusual Mother -- Ira Pande. 4. Amader Shantiniketan -- Shivani (translated by Ira Pande). 5. Mahadevi Verma and Amrit Lal Nagar on Amazon. 6. Sara Rai Inhales Literature -- Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. A House Divided: Origin and Development of Hindi/Urdu — Amrit Rai. 8. Hindi Nationalism — Alok Rai. 9. The Second Sex -- Simone de Beauvoir. 10. Bechan Sharma 'Ugra' on Amazon. 11. Search For My Tongue -- Sujata Bhatt. 12. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 13. Understanding India Through Its Languages -- Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 14. Folktales from India -- AK Ramanujan. 15. Clever Wives and Happy Idiots: Folktales from the Kumaon Himalayas -- Ivan Minayev. 16. Maya Ne Ghumayo -- Mrinal Pande. 17. The Odyssey: A Stage Version -- Derek Walcott. 18. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 19. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 20. The Truth About Us — Sanjoy Chakravorty. 21. Mrinal Pande's pieces for Pragati on women in Indian agriculture: 1, 2. 22. The controversy over the misogynist CBSE paper. 23. Vijaydhan Detha on Amazon. 24. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman -- Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 25. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi -- Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The Barkha Dutt Files -- Episode 243 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. The Prem Panicker Files -- Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free!