‘I don’t see many things that have changed’
Mushtaq was joined by Bhasthi in the conversation, who said life has always been easier for women who come from a more privileged background than those from religious and racial minorities.
“In a lot of different ways things have improved for sure, but it is also important that we note what kind of women for whom things have improved, and it remains the upper caste, the economically upper class, the socially mobile.
“Those of us who come from privileged backgrounds continue to have it easier than those who come from religious minorities, racial minorities and all the other minorities,” the writer-translator said.
Giving the example of the murder of tennis player Radhika Yadav, Bhasthi added that she doesn’t feel “many things have changed”.
“So like Banu said, in a lot of ways things have become easier, but yes, there is a hardening of patriarchy. And patriarchy is political.
“The family is the most political unit that you can find within our everyday lives. So yes, if you have a father who murders his own daughter for earning in a tennis academy, you know it’s very hard to say that it’s going to be a rosier future. Honestly, I don’t see many things that have changed,” she said.