The autobiography is a tricky genre. The author risks making herself vulnerable and offending others. This session, however, takes off from an unflinchingly honest memoir by a brilliant female student from a middle-class Tamilian Brahmin family. Enraged by the searing inequalities around her, she plunges into a life of militant activism in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh: working with Naxalites; fighting alongside bonded labourers for their freedom and with the Dalit community for basic dignity; publishing hundreds of low-cost books. Through her eyes, we witness the bruising exploitation and violence that some social groups face in India at the hands of others.
Gita Ramaswamy has been at the helm of the Hyderabad Book Trust from 1980 and has commissioned over 400 books, both original in Telugu and translations from global literature into Telugu.
More InfoSupriya Nair is a journalist and editor from Mumbai. She is the co-founder of the new media company All Things Small and the publication Fifty Two.
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