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Social Media Star of The Week: Jasreen Mayal Khanna
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The author wins for her viral call on Instagram for interviews of feminist grandmothers, leading to much-needed inter-generational conversations
“History has been written in a very gendered way, focussing more on the male perspective. It’s time to fill these gaps,” says author Jasreen Manyal Khanna, 37, who recently posted an open call on Instagram for interviews for a book on feminist Indian grandmothers. “I’m looking at women from our grandmothers’ generation who made bold choices in their time.”
Grandmother’s tales Jasreen’s own grandmother, Pushpinder Kaur, left a bad marriage, became an English teacher and chose to live simply until she passed away last year.
“Because of that, even I won’t stay in a bad marriage,” says Jasreen. “I am a feminist because my grandmother laid down the ground work for me. Women in the past made big sacrifices for later generations to move past troubles.”
Jasreen wanted her second book to be something she feels strongly about. “I’ve had feminist thoughts since I was quite young,” she says. Hearing men say things like sports are for men, not women, women must take up careers in which they don’t work late, and so on, and even watching her mother in a housewife set-up, helped form her young mind.
An ongoing fight
“I was keen to produce material that could add perspectives over battles that people are still fighting today. It’s crucial, with respect to history, to understand the time these women lived in and how they lived. Of course, it’ll be impossible to write this book without Partition narratives,” she adds.
The response to her open call has been overwhelming: mostly grandkids with stories about their grandmothers. This delights Jasreen since it encourages conversations between generations and hence the trickling down of oral history.
“As we grow up, we need to start seeing our grandparents as people, not caretakers. They may have lovely stories to tell,” she says.
Who should be the next HT Brunch Social Media Star Of The Week? Nominate using the hashtag #BrunchSocialMediaStarOTW or email htbrunch@hindustantimes.com
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From HT Brunch, May 21, 2022
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