Vinita Bakshi - 31 Miles: Can we ever win against ourselves?

31
MILES

Vinita Bakshi is an award-winning sociologist and a development practitioner with a M.A. Sociology degree from Delhi School of Economics.

She has been involved as a volunteer and activist in various initiatives aimed at social inclusion, poverty alleviation and women empowerment. As Director Programmes, for a NGO, she has conducted several workshops, seminars and events with the objective of empowering the Indian artisan and women.

She has founded a non-profit organizationAAMBRAwhich is dedicated to larger goal of women empowerment, consumer awareness and skill development. She is the chief architect and founder of Aambrotsavea contemporary cultural and literature festival. She is currently Director, National Institute of Jewellery (NIJ), Delhi.

Praise for the book:

31 Miles has strong reverberations of the twin forces of the contemporary life in Indian citiesthe scientific and the mythical. Mansa, the protagonist, bounces on the limits of both in her journey to discover her secrets. This is a very relatable story set in the magical world of a real Indian woman. It is an exhilarating movement from belief in the known to trust in the unknown.

Imitiaz Ali

Published by

Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2016

7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj

New Delhi 110002

Copyright Vinita Bakshi 2016

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-81-291-

First impression 2016

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Contents

Foreword

To the reader of this book,

Im asked to write a lot of foreword of books. I mostly refuse. Not because the author is not known to me, or that the work is terrible. I refuse because I dont see anything different or unique in that work. I am a sceptic by nature and usually seek something out of the ordinary in a fairly mediocre and conventional world. Thus when I was asked to write the foreword of this book, the same lack of conviction and search for something unique was first on my mind. The fact that Ive written the foreword is proof enough that I found it.

Thats my part of why I wrote this opening. Now comes your part, the reader who is right now on this foreword. Let me try and guess what youre thinking right now. Why would a TV show host and a Technology Journalist write a foreword to a book like this. Well, the answer lies in the question. Its because its a book like this. Ive always been fascinated by good stories, tales that transform you to lands unknown and make you meet people youve never met before. To lose yourself in their lives, their universe, their events and happenings - is magical. Thats the magic I felt as I started on my journey of 31 Miles. Its the magic you are about to feel.

31 Miles is a rare gem; a layered journey of a middle-aged, traditionalist called Mansa, written by debutant author, sociologist, and activist Vinita Bakshi. In our popular imagination, the word magic is usually associated with the lives of younger urban women, in particular millennials, who by virtue of living in a globalized and relatively more liberal South Asia, can afford to enjoy higher levels of freedom, and bend if not break convention.

Mansas story is one of self-discovery, of the intellectual, physical and metaphysical spheres, and how their cross-section changes the life of the protagonist forever.

That being said, 31 Miles provides a riveting and candid commentary on the dynamics of a rapidly modernizing urban Indian society and the aspirations of its memberswomen, men, the young and the old. As you join Mansa, I invite you the audience, to read between the lines, to discover a world steeped in tradition, mysticism and ritual which blends, albeit not always seamlessly, with rationality and westernization.

The themes in this book are omnipresent in the lives of modern Indians; the reader will quite often find a reflection of themselves or that of a loved one, or acquaintances in the pages of this narrative.

Yet, the concept of the everyday hero who exists in the ethos of the midlife, bourgeois woman has not been dealt with the right sensitivity in Indias popular media, art or literature.

The author has vast experience working for womens rights and empowerment, which has brought her in contact with hundreds of individuals who aspire to emancipate themselves economically and socially using channels of education, awareness and work ethic. I can infer from my discourses with Vinita, that the protagonist of 31 MilesMansa has been conceived as a unification of these experiences.

I commend Vinita for the uniqueness of this books theme and highly recommend 31 Miles for its fascinating narrative, valiant characters and most importantly the call for self-discovery.

Its time for you to start your journey of 31 Miles. I promise you an amazing adventure of the mind and heart.

Rajiv Makhni

Thursday, 5 February 2015

Prologue

Here Begins My Story

THE BRIGHT SUN overhead, despite the canopy on the boat, made the pain sharper and caused Mansa to feel dizzier. Mansa had insisted to take the centuries-old traditional boat instead of a motorboat, leaving Abhijit with little choice in the matter.

It took them over an hour of rowing to reach the confluence of the River Ganga, River Yamuna and the mythical River Saraswati. Despite her pain, Mansa appeared brighter and radiated with a sense of happiness, which Abhijit had not seen in ages. He extended his hand to help her stand.

Mansa wanted Abhijit to go into the water first, and so he jumped into the river. Finally, holding on to the boatman with one hand and gripping Abhijit tightly with the other, she alighted from the boat. Abhijit held her hands, and chanting shlokas and mantras, they took several dips together.

Mansa appeared exhausted after the dips. Holding her firmly and looking up skyward, Abhijit prayed, Oh God, let Mansa be my wife for all my lives.

Mansa looked at him in disbelief. A man who could never even bring himself to say I love you before, had said it all today. A pall of guilt enveloped her. Mansa felt scared and nervous, as she secretly wanted to pray for Rajans prosperity and happiness, as she still thought of him as her true love. Whatever his intentions or feelings had been, the fact was that she had loved him passionately and truthfully.

She was seeing the same emotions mirrored in Abhijits eyes for her. Suddenly, she felt giddy and her grip on Abhijits hand loosened. The boat by now had drifted a little further away. Holding her tight, Abhijit tried wading towards the boat. The level of the water started rising too. As Abhijit reached the boat, the boatman tried to balance and straighten the boat. Abhijit had no choice but to get in first, so he could help Mansa into the boat. Firmly holding the edges, he hoisted himself into it. He reached out and took Mansas hand. Suddenly, another boat collided with theirs, shaking their boat violently. Abhijits grip on Mansas hand loosened.