Denial Is the Only Way to Live

She helped generations of women in India find a voice. She expanded the worldview of countless people. She confronted the horrors of our past and the fissures of our present. Urvashi Butalia joins Amit Varma in episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and learnings. Also check out: 1.  Urvashi Butalia at Zubaan and Amazon. 2. The Other Side of Silence -- Urvashi Butalia. 3. Zubaan Books and Kali for Women. 4. Turning the Page for Feminism -- Nilanjana Roy on Urvashi Butalia. 5. Episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism with Paromita Vohra, Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya and Nilanjana Roy. 6. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy -- Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 8. Tales from the Kathasaritsagara -- Somadeva (translated by Arshia Sattar). 9. The Auschwitz Memorial Twitter account. 10. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life -- Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Will to Change — Bell Hooks. 12. Men Must Step Up Now -- Amit Varma. 13. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow -- Washington Irving. 14. Mahadevi Varma and Sheila Bhatia. 15. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 17. Rukmini Sees India’s Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 18. The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections -- Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala. 19. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 20. What Have We Done With Our Independence? — Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 21. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Abhinandan Sekhri). 22. Towards Equality: Report of the Committee on Status of Women in India (1974). 23. The Kavita Krishnan Files -- Episode 228 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. Manjima Bhattacharjya: The Making of a Feminist -- Episode 280 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Kamla Bhasin on Wikipedia. 26. Division of Hearts -- Satti Khanna and Peter Chappell. 27. Heer Ranjha. 28. Kumar Gandharva sings Nirgun Bhajans. 29. Reshma sings Bulle Shah. 30. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on Spotify. 31. Ek Onkar -- Harshdeep Kaur. 32. Chaudhvin Ka Chand -- Guru Dutt. 33. Pyaasa -- Guru Dutt. 34. A Question of Silence -- Marleen Gorris. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! The illustration for this episode is by Nishant Jain aka Sneaky Artist. Check out his work on Twitter, Instagram and Substack.