Her life, her words

Shanta Gokhale and Dolly Thakore

How often do you hear of women speaking about their lives, no holds barred? Delving into their achievements, and their mistakes, without regrets and with laughter. Filmmaker and Sunday mid-day columnist Paromita Vohra points out that we simply don't get to witness women as full people in popular representations; there are only stereotypes. "How does the media portray women? They use a word like ‘badass'. It's these meaningless terms which are categorising women," she asserts, adding, "Earlier, you had the fair, convent-educated, demure type, the Madonnas, the vamps, or the heroines. Now, there are these terms claiming to release women from one box, only to put them in another."

There's only one way out of that - to share hundreds of stories of women. And an upcoming phy-gital (online and in-person) meet-up, An Evening of No Regrets: Why We Need Grown-Ass Women To Tell Their Life Stories, attempts to start that conversation. In attendance you'll find veteran theatre personality Dolly Thakore, cultural critic, writer and translator Shanta Gokhale, and poet, novelist, translator and journalist Jerry Pinto, in a tête-à-tête with Vohra.

Paromita Vohra and Jerry Pinto

The promising chat session is hosted by Agents of Ishq, a multi-media project about sex, love and desire. Vohra, who conceptualised the platform, recollects reading Gokhale and Thakore's memoirs - One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body, and Regrets, None - during the pandemic. "The stories helped me see my own life in a different way. They revealed a completely different history of women's lives than the ones we are continued to be fed with. Here, women are actually full people, who make mistakes, suffer but also do amazing things and have fun," she reveals. The session is part of a longer series of interviews and stories of women above 40 that Agents of Ishq has been highlighting.

We live in a world where women grow up second-guessing themselves and are taught to play down their achievements. So, when women, who have not led straight and narrow lives, own their narratives and say it like it is, others can find inspiration to be themselves. Take for instance, Thakore, who proudly proclaims she has no regrets about her life. "Of course, there've been heartbreaks and disappointments but that doesn't mean that you let life go," says the former newscaster. "I hope it's an example for women, I hope it gives them courage. No matter who you are, if you're a good human being, doors open for you."

Pinto, who has authored Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb, and worked with Leela Naidu on Leela: A Patchwork Life, admits he'll be a "star-struck fanboy" on the panel. "I'm happy to be a token male [at the discussion]," he chuckles. Looking forward to being a keen listener, Pinto muses that the evening will allow one to tune in to stories that escaped the pages of the memoirs. "When you talk, you say a lot that you wouldn't put down on paper. I have the feeling that we'll get to hear the tales that fell between the cracks," he shares. Now, those are stories we're waiting to hear.

On April 25, 6 pm to 7 pm
At SCM Studio, Sophia Polytechnic ,
Cumballa Hill.
Log on to Agents of Ishq on Facebook to sign up (for online or offline session)