Women in Modern India by Geraldine Forbes

THE FIRST LOOK AT THE BOOK


The name of the book is given as "The New Cambridge History of India, "Women in Modern India" by Geraldine Forbes. The special edition for South Asia bears the ISBN no. 0-521-61240-3 in its paper back edition. The personal copy has been bought from Lyall Book Store, Chaura Bazar Ludhiana, Punjab, India. On November 19, 2005 and first reading completed by November 23, 2005


The Cambridge Publication has called it "a sympathetic and comprehensive study of Indian women".


According to Indian Review of Books as given at the back of the book, "Women in Modern India will be required reading from now on for those wishing to understand the history of Indian women … . it is well researched, addresses a variety of debates, is clearly written, and above all, is scrupulously fair."


It can be said in the endorsement of the view of the Indian Review of Books, that the book is definitely clearly written and addressed a variety of debates. However, it is difficult to say that it is comprehensive.


On the web site of Cambridge,
According to Joan P. Mencher, Journal of Developing Areas, "This volume on women in modern India is extremely well researched and well thought out."


In reference to this statement of Joan P. Mencher, it can be said that in the Bibliography Essay and also contents of the book itself suggest that the author somewhere feels that the area of study is restricted by freshness of the issue. The chapterization is definitely has novelty in its framing.


At the same place it is given with reference to Sumathi Ramaswamy, the Historian that "Forbes's volume is at once a celebration and an exhortation. It is a celebration both of feminist scholarship on India and of women's achievements there under the most contraining circumstances of colonial, nationlist, and postcolonial patriarchies. It is also an exhortation to discover and preserve more women's records, to write more women's histories, and `to include gender in [all our] conceptual frameworks".


The views of Sumathi Ramaswamy deserves full endorsement and tells the actual position of the book. In a way it can be repeated that it is a celebration both of feminist scholarship on India and of women's achievements there under the most contraining circumstances of colonial, nationlist, and postcolonial patriarchies. And Secondly it lays out a way for the need "to discover and preserve more women's records, to write more women's histories, and `to include gender in [all our] conceptual frameworks". It is in this light that Joan’s views remain short of telling what actually the book is.


Similarly, the publisher has referred to the views of Brenda Cossman, SIGNS. It is stated by Brenda that "Forbes's Women in Modern India is an ambitious survey that narrates the many stories of women involved in the social reform, nationalist, and post-Independence women's rights movements."


Well the view of Brenda is not that effective. It is not a story of many women involved in different historic processes and mechanisms. It is on the other hand more than that. They are not mere stories about women in the 19th and 20th century during pre and post independence period. Forbes has been able to do more than that. The stories were merely the medium but actually it is about history of women in contrast to traditional form of history of men which is generally considered as the history of the period. Now, here, it is not said that there should be different histories like one for the women and other for the men. It has tried to answer the gap in the narration of history.


Finally it has following contents:
Introduction;
l. Reform in the nineteenth century: efforts to modernize women’s roles;
2. Education for women;
3. The emergence of women’s organizations;
4. The movement for women’s rights;
5. Women in the nationalist movement;
6. Women’s work in colonial India;
7. A time of transition;
8. Women in independent India;
Bibliographic essay.

The home page of Professor Geraldine Forbes is at http://www.oswego.edu/~forbes/ as identified on Tuesday, December 06, 2005 which stands updated on August 29, 2005.