New Delhi has been widely acknowledged as India's premier hub when it comes to cultural activities in organised forums. An interesting addition was made to the city's social calendar last Thursday with the start of the ‘Italia Salon' series. Held in and supported by the speciality restaurant ‘Italia' (DLF Promenade Mall, Vasant Kunj) it is intended to promote myriad creative streams.
Chick lit writer Advaita Kala, one of the prime movers behind the effort, explained, “Delhi is a city that contains many worlds within it — art, literature, music, fashion, etc. Our endeavour has been inspired by the concept of traditional European salons. We want to create a refined, informal environment where artists and art lovers can mingle freely and share ideas.”
The ‘Italia Salon' project is scheduled to be a monthly affair and the inaugural evening featured a discussion titled, “The Female Gaze in Literature”. Conversation was moderated by Manu Joseph (author and editor, Open magazine) and the panel comprised novelists Shailaja Bajpai, Anuja Chauhan and Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan.
Proceedings began on a provocative note with Joseph asking the speakers if they agreed with V.S Naipaul's statement about being able to “easily gauge after reading a text whether it was written by a male or a female writer.” This opened up discussion to the wider notion of whether women bring to art a perspective that is shaped and enhanced by their gender a.k.a. ‘the female gaze'.
The general consensus seemed to be that gender-based differences in artistic perception are overrated. Ad woman and writer Anuja said, “A sensitive and empathetic writer is able to etch interesting characters. It has nothing to do with being male or female.” Young novelist Meenakshi seconded that by saying, “I think the best writers are able to transcend the boundary of gender in character depiction and plot line. However, I must add that some male writers tend to create rather shrewish, manipulative female characters. The implication is that all that women want is to get their boyfriends to marry them and have babies!” Seasoned columnist and writer Shailaja added nuance to the debate and said, “I think male writers sometimes overemphasise the significance of men in a woman's life. They fail to represent the amount of time women spend thinking about their relationships with other women — be it a friend, colleague, sister, mother, mother-in-law, etc. That said it is interesting how most of the so-called saas-bahu soaps on TV are written by men. So what we see there is often a male take on women.”
Although the dialogue lacked cohesion and an organic flow, there were plenty of interesting asides. Meenakshi responded to the question of whether feminism was a dated concept by saying, “There is definitely a notion gaining currency that being a feminist is somehow not ‘sexy'. I don't know why it came to be this way.” Anuja added with a chuckle, “I think there is nothing sexier than a man who is a feminist.” It was left to Shailaja to strike the earnest note. The veteran expressed frustration with the recurring expectation of having to define oneself in terms of being or not being a feminist. “There is no standard meaning of this term. What does one have to do or say to be called a feminist? I believe women are human beings with (human) rights. Does that make me a feminist?” she asked.
The debate was followed by a stand-up comedy routine by Sharmila Mascherenas, an artist from Mumbai. In her brief performance she lampooned “the various gazes” a.k.a social attitudes she had been subjected to as a newcomer in the Capital.
A showcasing of the restaurant's ‘Sicilian Wine Dinner' concept brought the glitzy evening to a sumptuous conclusion.
