Playing with fire is a book that encompasses collaborative voices of women in India fighting for a social change. It is a piece of work done by the collaboration of various activists written in terms of diaries and conversations. However, this book uncovers the common themes of feminism, collaboration, and friendship. The voices of these women are also centered on the noble themes of sexism, communism, and casteism. The theme of collaboration is brought out by the collective voices of women who are fighting together for social change in the Indian society. The fact that various women were gathered from different communities brings out the noble concept of communism and collaboration. The authors of this book clearly describe the theme of collaboration through “a journey of our lives and work” assertions ( Writers & Nagar, 2006) . This statement clearly reflects the collaborative aspect of the seven women in their fight for social change.
The contents of this book are also anchored in the fundamental feminist theory. The seven voices of these women describe their painful experiences and sexism. The theme of friendship is also clear in this context. This is due to the fact that we can visualize these women interacting and even sharing their own diaries before compiling them for presentation. For instance, Radha went through a lot of struggles in her childhood days. This brings out the friendship concept since she narrates her childhood ordeal freely to her counterparts. These struggles are attributed to the social status of different families during that era. The Kurmis were the dominant family leaving the Paasi in dire poverty ( Writers & Nagar, 2006) . In this context, authors wanted to bring out the pain being inflicted to families by this social divide in the society.
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The first chapter narrates the journey taken by the seven women in their feminism fight. They describe their painful journey marred by difficult challenges. This chapter illustrates how different women came together to be affiliated with the Sangtin organization. It also describes how they met despite their different background affiliations. For instance, Singh and Nagar met in the collaborative feminist activities in Uttar. However, their collaboration was strengthened by their common belief of a better society. They were dedicated to establishing strong NGO that could articulate women issues in the society. Their main motive was to enable women to write diaries of their past experiences freely.
A very short childhood is the second chapter of this book. In this chapter, authors of this book address the difficult childhood days that gives them power and strength to write. They illustrate their almost similar childhood experiences marred by poverty, parental assault and the painful experiences of mothers being assaulted. They also emphasize that this is the main reason that their voices have remained strong and united in the fight for social change in the society. Their difficult childhood experience is a common social injustice that propels them to speak with one voice.
The third chapter discusses the lives of women and the hardships that they experienced from childhood to old age. The authors of this book state that it is almost a common occurrence for women to be involved in social and domestic violence. The key concepts of women humiliation, hunger, and lack of authority in homesteads have also been illustrated. Women were being treated as somebody’s property. Their roles were guided by a set of retrogressive rules that do not conform to women rights. In this chapter, it is also clear that women became a burden in their “ maya ka” which implies a natal home ( Writers & Nagar, 2006) . They never ceased to be subjected to their male counterparts.
In this book review, the diaries and narratives of the women are built on the core concept of feminism, collaboration and the social divide between women and men. The hardships of these women are common and this is the main reason for their collaboration to fight the social injustices from their male counterparts. This book intertwines the narratives of the seven activists ( Writers & Nagar, 2006) . It analyses the lives of these women based on poverty, casteism and the retrogressive rules that controlled their childhood days. Additionally, the concept of women assault has also been illustrated in their various marriages. However, they manage to turn their fortunes by coming up with an NGO that empowers women of all kinds. However, one major advantage of this book is that it is fragmented into important parts that suit each and every reader.
References
Writers, S., & Nagar, R. (2006). Playing with fire. Feminist Thought and Activism Through Seven Lives in India. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press .
