Friends of Kamla Bhasin (24 April 1946 – 25 September 2021), the well-known feminist activist, poet, author and social scientist, will host an online gathering to remember her “with women like her, her friends and comrades.”
The event will take place on Saturday, 27 September, at 9.00 am EST/ 1.00 pm GMT / 06:30 pm India.
Speakers include V (formerly Eve Ensler), the poet and playwright who wrote The Vagina Monologues and initiated the global One Billion Rising campaign against violence on women.
The acclaimed musician Shubha Mudgal will sing Kabir, “the talisman of syncretic culture in South Asia”.
Event hosts Aruna Roy of The School for Democracy and Roshmi Goswami of the Meeto & Kamla Bhasin Feminist Foundation invite friends, comrades and followers to join to “recall her legacy – her sense of purpose, her indomitable spirit, her compassion, the use of irony and earthy humour to educate and above all, the lightness with which she made us laugh when at her most serious. We hope too, to bask, for a short while, in the compassionate values of an interconnected world.
“Kamla was a phenomenon. Persons like her happen at the intersections of many gifts, influences and opportunities. She had intelligence, courage, she was unconventional, she was also honest, forthright, and had the gusto, energy, courageous vocabulary and ambience of her heritage.
“She was also sensitive, emotional, and understood the strength of words and the use of tunes. She was no musician, but she knew the power of song and singing for collective growth, for protest and communication. She was no theoretician, but she evolved pedagogy for transferring knowledge and information amongst women .She had ‘the gift of the gab’; her presence in any gathering brought energy, participation and above all, fun. She really communicated. She was generous and giving. She was one of our most well known feminist activists.
“So many of us grew, laughed and struggled for peace, rights and a common hertage with Kamla in her lifetime. She has left us with a legacy which we must continue to use and transfer.”
The meeting also aims to “strengthen ourselves to battle with the increasingly shrinking confines of a communally abusive world, a narrowing of the mind. We need her in remembrance as much today as we did when we heard and saw her. Her memory brings us together, to meet each other, though virtually, and to tighten our resolve to fight on, however we can, wherever we are.”
The invitation ends with the dark optimism of Bertolt Brecht,
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
Meeting ID: 842 3068 4949
Passcode: 637183
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