Shobhaa: Never a Dull Dé

Book excerpt: Shobhaa Dé shares her passionate concerns... Women. Men. Women and Men. It’s all about The Sexes and how to negotiate the new equations society demands in a rapidly changing, super charged gender confrontation that is throwing up fresh challenges nobody has any real answers to…. but which involve us all. Shobhaa Dé presents a thought provoking anthology of her feminist writings. This volume is bound to engage, provoke, enthrall, and stimulate the minds of readers with the range of subjects that she tackles. No topic is too bold. Nothing is taboo. Shobhaa bravely goes into sensitive terrain, raising important questions about our emotional complexities when it comes to issues that concern sexual politics in today’s India. Dé covers it all, as she dexterously gets into the minds of contemporary Indians, and candidly exposes familiar hypocrisies and hang ups. From tricky marital issues that most are scared to admit to our moral double standards while judging movie stars, politicians, Godmen and assorted celebrities, Dé is convinced that behind a veil of empowerment urban women don’t have it easy at all. Unabashedly she debunks the use of nauseatingly old-fashioned terms like ‘keep’ by an erudite judge, which in turn elicits a quick reaction from legal luminaries. Shobhaa: Never a Dull Dé provides tantalizing insights into the hidden lives of superstars to shocking incidents in small-town India that rarely find a spot on the front-page; poignant stories about women who silently suffer sexual violations; to the fascinating lives of women politicos who have made it big . Her writing is richly layered and insightful making it hard-hitting and socially relevant. As an important social commentator and opinion shaper, this is De at her sharpest best, fearlessly taking on prejudice and humbug, injustice and oppression, without once losing her humanity. Shobhaa Dé’s rightful sobriquet: the Empress of the Hearts and Minds of the reading masses comes to life in Shobhaa: Never a Dull Dé!