About The book:
A Calendar too Crowded is a collection of 25 short stories and poems, where the concept revolves around the celebratory days on the calendar we follow, where a large number of important days are dedicated to women or life in general where women play a major role. The attempt is not to highlight how in January, there’s a day in India dedicated to girl children, or how April has come to be officially declared as a month against sexual abuse throughout the world. The attempt is to delve deeper and analyze whether it is merely enough to rely on statistics and be complacent in the knowledge that the numbers indicate a better society in the making, or whether there is an urgent need to look beneath the covers and realize that despite all such dedicated days, there are 300 odd days when there is nothing special that life has to offer. Where each day is still an unending drudgery, where womanhood is cursed and trampled upon.
It is also an attempt to look into houses where everything looks picture perfect on the surface, but there are blatant cases of domestic violence and gender inequality that have been swept under the carpet for fear of tainting the family name and image. The attempt is to bring forth the bruises hidden beneath each lavishly draped body that need to be highlighted even on days which are not dedicated to campaigns against domestic violence. All the voices that have found expression in this book through their stories are nameless, because no name would justify a voice which represents millions. They transgress all boundaries of geography, religion, age and caste to become one voice— the voice of womanhood. Each and every voice in these stories can be connected to any woman you see around you and they seek to say that all women deserve to be happy every day of the year, because every day in the calendar of every woman’s life is precious, just like yours.
Highlights of the book: • The book revolves about the central theme of womanhood and is the first of its kind where the entire lay out has been based on the theme of a calendar. • The stories are spun around the days attributed to women and children – Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, National Day for Girl Child • The book at ISB Hyderabad was launched by Ashwin Sanghi – Ashwin while lauding the efforts that has gone into making of the book also felt that he related to the theme of the book. He emphasized that “Both my two novels revolve around the theme of Shakti/Nari and somehow thus the very fact that here too women on the whole is the centre and the effort is to showcase the drudgery they go through, yet the strength they retain, makes me feel connected to it”. • The book was jointly launched at ISB, Hyderabad on January 11th 2012 by Ashwin Sanghi and Dean , Ajit Rangnekar • The book is also set for a special mention at the upcoming Hyderabad Literary Festival, 2012 (January 17, 2012)
Release Type: Print, Soft Cover Price: Rs. 295 Binding: Soft Cover Imprint: 1st Edition Genre: Fiction Page Extent: 189 pages Pub Date: January 2012 (Niyogi Books, New Delhi) Territory: Indian
QUOTES FROM EMINENT READERS:
ASHWIN SANGHI : "Sagarika's writing is gut-wrenching. It reaches deep within and makes you wonder why deep-rooted gender biases persist. A Calendar Too Crowded is not for the fainthearted but is certainly a work that needs to be read, particularly by someone like me who has personally experienced the power of Shakti and the sacred feminine." VINAY PATHAK : Actor Vinay Pathak, when told that the story “Sisters by Choice” had drawn inspiration from his struggle of adoption picked up the book and gave reviews on two stories. Sisters by Choice: “Got my book in mail today. And the first story I read was sisters by choice. I can't begin to tell u the emotional journey it took me onto. Needless to say very well written. The emotional quotient u arrived at was very poignant n touching. Naked: The prose has a poetic and a poignant mystique that gives the reader a whole lot to ponder....
DILEEP JHAVERI “Inspite of witnessing all that we have failed to acknowledge, is observed in detail by Sagarika. She has read fears hidden behind, apparently placid security of middle class mind. But, she transcends time and class with changing narrative styles, sharpness of statements, satire, surprises, sensuality and sense of history and mythology. As a woman she confronts life and as a human being conquers death!”
ALAKNANDA ROY “We all wanted to just come and see if Sagarika is really 27 after reading the book. It gave us shivers and yet we couldn’t put it down. The way she connects the life of a woman from pre natal stages to death is not only wonderful but gives us the solace that young writers like her are there who shall guide the society.”
About the Author: Sagarika Chakraborty, born in Kolkata, studied law at National Law University, Jodhpur and is currently studying management at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Her projects and numerous articles on diverse subjects—corporate governance principles with special emphasis on emerging and transition economies, globalization, ethics, monetary economics, religion—have been published in Indian and international publications. She has presented papers on E-Governance, corporate law principles, sexual harassment, asset pricing models at international conferences and global forums in Sydney, Glasgow, Korea, Wellington and Washington D.C. Her paper on E-Governance in India, has been appreciated in the ‘Working Paper series’ of the World Bank and she has also won the ‘Best Economic Crisis—Paper Award’ at the World Summit on Economic Financial Crisis and International Business, 2009, held at Washington D.C. Looking into her contribution in the domain of policy work she was recently awarded Fellowship by the Royal Society of Arts, UK. Apart from delving into serious research work, she has also written light fiction/poetry for various online and print media, and is an avid salsa enthusiast. This is her first book.
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