Diamonds and Rust

Thirty-seven years back,there were very few catwalks or cricket pitches awaiting women when they stepped out of their homes in India.

Women in India no longer comfortably fit into sketchy categories,we know. But there are some extraordinary ones that British writer Stephen Huyler wants to talk about in his book

Thirty-seven years back,there were very few catwalks or cricket pitches awaiting women when they stepped out of their homes in India. And Stephen P Huyler didnt exactly expect to find them there when he came down to the country as many years ago. Everybody has some stereotypes in his/her mind. I had mine too, says Huyler during the launch of his book Daughters of India at ICCR in association with the Oxford Bookstore. But his exotic,beautiful and mysterious Indian woman turned out to be made of grittier stuff than he had imagined. That is when I decided to let the world know them as they really are, says Huyler.

Huyler,who is an art historian,anthropologist and photographer,packed into one man,travelled extensively around the country down all these years exploring culture,familiarising himself with its history and knowing its people. I stayed in Indian homes,both rural and urban and tried finding who the real people were,not the high flying socialites,artists and the political elite, he says. The result was an account of twenty women empowered,luminescent,yet grounded. And art was the common thread that ran through all of them.

I met women still behind the purdah and the urban liberal ones. From the overwhelming,matriarchal type to the teenage Dalit women about to get married… recollects Huyler. While one would expect resistance from the rural quarters,Huyler found something in the contrary. They were really willing to talk and come out with their stories, he emphasises adding it also has something with his ability to garner trust among people.

And the stories,that Huyler ran into,couldnt have been all rosy and aesthetically perfect. Yes,life isnt a cakewalk and it applies for these women too. Some are still at odds with life,though they have made considerable changes in their lives and others with their art, says Huyler. And art,therefore,was not a ploy to sugarcoat reality but a medium to draw attention to his subjects first and then take readers through their life stories. Art is such a compelling medium to express anything, says Huyler.

The West,says the author,has heralded Daughters of India (Mapin) as an exercise in re-identifying the people,especially the women,of India. The press for a long time has been imperialistic in their ideas about India. Also most of the information about the country went to the West through accounts of the patriarchal elite, he adds.

So,Huyler,we hope,turns out to be a myth buster.

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