I have been a publicly tagged ‘Feminist’ ever since I found my voice. Be it my friends, classmates and colleagues, or my family all of them have rather had major concerns about how I would fit into a marriage with my strong headed views about the basic freedom that women ought to enjoy in life. But then one has to understand that as a feminist, I am not against women adjusting or compromising on various aspects of life. My objection comes strong, when its only women who are expected to adjust or compromise. I know many of you would raise your eye-brows at my words – Haah! You left your career to be with your husband in a different city and left your job, to take care of your kids. Your are not entitled to talk about Feminism

But that’s precisely my point. I did what I did because I wanted to do so. No one forced anything on me. Even today as a stay at home mother, I have my freedom to move out, learn some new things, meet my friends, meet new people and spread my wings. My parents-in-law and my husband have never put any limits on what I must or what I must not. The only limitation I am bound by is my sense of responsibility towards my kids and other members of my family.

But I know everyone’s not that lucky. There are girls, who are forced into arranged marriages, who are mentally tortured in the name of tradition and are made to feel guilty about being born a girl. Surprisingly these issues aren’t new. They came into inception ever since Eve was created and continue to haunt the women folk. One could say, that these issues loom large over the ‘Astitva’ of women. In what ways? Well you ought to read the ebook Astitva by Monika Davessar.

Astitva by Monika Davessar

Book Review – Astitva by Monika Davessar

Astitva – A Woman’s Journey From Existence To Empowerment

As eighties kids who grew up watching doordarshan, our generation was initiated very early into knowledge of social issues such as foeticide, child marriage, dowry, bride-burning etc. As we grew up we pledged to curb these social evils. But little did we know that before putting an end to these evils, we would be faced by bigger demons, namely – rape, domestic violence, surrogacy as a business etc.

Monika has done a fabulous job of bringing these issues that plague our social DNA with extreme ruthlessness. Every issue is dealt with the help of example snippets which could be anybody’s story. The result is a relatable narrative that could easily make any woman’s blood boil and leave enough food for thought for every respectable man.

As a fellow blogger I have always found Monika’s writing style to be straight forth and engaging. With this book, she has taken the quality of her words to another level. I actually felt goosebumps as I read through the chapter on ‘Prostitution’, and had tears as I tried to fathom the pain and agony of ‘Victim'(s).

The additional feathers in the cap for Monika in this book are the thought provoking illustrations and the short-poems in ‘Hindi’. They strike like a spear targeted directly at your heart.

I would take this opportunity to congratulate Monika for this wonderful effort and request everyone who has read this review to spare some time and read this 90 pager. It might live you agitated enough to take one constructive step towards improving the quality of women around you. Like for me, I have changed in the way I viewed the queer gender and feel much more comfortable while I deal with them whenever I come across one

Monika is an educator who blogs at Alubhujia . She has two her Post-graduate degrees in Physics and Computer Applications. She has been working as a teacher for more than one and a half decade . She loves to learn new things and blogging is her recent interest.

If this review interests you, you may buy  Astitva by Monika Davessar at Amazon.in

Read another book review of Astitva by Monika Davessar by blogger Sonia Chatterjee here

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4 Replies to “Astitva by Monika Davessar – eBook Review”

  1. Thankyou so much for such an insightful review . I am glad that my book could provide some food for thought . Why are the women supposed to make adjustments or be the victims everywhere ? Society needs to ponder over . Thanks once again Anupriya .

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