A look at women in today's society

How does a society look at a woman? In fact, how does a woman look at another woman? This and more are going to be discussed at a panel discussion, titled I On The Woman, which is to be held at Atta Galata this forthcoming Sunday. Moderated by Prashant Sankaran, a mentor and coach, the panel will comprise author Andaleeb Wajid, poet and journalist Jessu John, poet Minal Hajratwala, and theatre director and teacher Padmvathi Rao.

The idea to put together a discussion such as this came to founder of Atta Galata Lakshmi Shankar when she began to analyse everything she was reading and watching about women of our society.

"What a woman really is about comes with so many preconceived notions, I find it highly exaggerated at times and definitely blown out of proportion. So I thought why not have four women from arts come and talk about what a woman really goes through. Women who are from the creative field are not afraid to discuss anything and they can speak their mind," says Shankar, adding, "We see a lot of programmes centred around women, especially around women's day, and I have often wondered: what happens after these programmes are over? What is the end result? I would say the idea to have this panel discussion stemmed from my thoughts. Here, I am hoping we can dispel some of the misconceptions people have about women."

As a journalist, Jessu John will discuss some of the landmark cases that involve women. "I might talk about some of the things we've been reading about in the papers. It could be a case discussing crime against women or even how the political system treats its women," she says. John will also be reading one of her works. On being questioned if such a panel discussion, which is one of many, actually help to change the way men and even women look at other women, John says, "I have attended many such discussions that talk about women empowerment etc. Yes, some messages do appear to be concocted, like a PR mission. But I also have to say that these discussions definitely help our thinking to evolve. What is happening, albeit slowly, is that the internal psyche of a woman is changing and that is very important."

Andaleeb Wajid, another speaker at the panel, has chosen to speak about the issue through characters from book. "I haven't decided on the characters yet but I will be picking those women who have, over the years, have remained in my memory," she says. Has she, as an author, been looked at differently as well? "It's simple, when you are doing something that is very different from what everyone else is doing, there is going to be a certain distance. However my family and friends have kept me very grounded and I have not really felt like an outsider. It could be because people have known that I am different, and this was even before I became a writer."