BY A STAFF REPORTER | Monday, July 09, 2007 12:36:14 IST

It was a watering hole for all those questioning their gender roles and dealing with the hardships of indulging the stereotype assigned to them by society over the years. On Monday July 2, Oxford Bookstore at Churchgate became a hot spot for challenging the role of a man and a woman, fashioned by society over the years at the launch of the book ‘Breaking the Moulds’, edited by Ravindra R. P., Harish Sadani, Geetali V.M. and Mukund S.N.

Men against Violence and Abuse (MAVA), an organisation aimed at preventing gender-based violence, and the Purush Uvach, a men’s group from Pune working towards the promotion of gender equality, came together to compile a book of poems, articles and plays that question, provoke one into introspection and challenge the patriarchal nature of society and men’s roles.

The groups aim at reaching out to men of all ages, sensitizing them towards women-related issues, and also deal with caste and class-related issues and work towards enriching the relationship that a man can share with a woman.

The launch opened with Harish Sadani speaking about MAVA. “It is 13 years old and for the last 11 years the two organisatons (MAVA and Purush Uvach) started annual magazines that were available in Marathi every Diwali; they deal with the same issues,” said Harish. He invited Ravindra on the dais to speak about the book.
Ravindra R. P. has been one of the forerunners in the campaign against sex determination tests. He gathered gynaecologists seeking its ban. Ravindra said, “We came up with the concept of bringing out a book based on these issues in English five years ago and it has finally materialised.” Ravindra pointed out that women’s issues were actually human issues as it affected not just her but the entire family. “It is time for men to introspect and change themselves,” he said.

“The first debate on gender roles can be dated to the debate between Gautama and Anand over letting women enter the Buddhist sanctum sanctorum. We need to discover our legacy and rediscover our feelings. Men need to reinvent their feelings which have died through the years. The book has questioned what defines masculinity, the feelings behind a gay relationship, a father daughter relationship and a man’s relationship with his moth-in-law,” he said.

The editors felt that the translation of the book from Marathi to English will help reach out to a broader audience. “Our main focus is the rawness of the writing experience since most of them are first generation writers; it was hard to maintain the same flavour and crispness,” he said.

Ramu Ramnathan, a distinguished playwright, read a couple of pieces from the book which included a poem on Lady Diana by Ravindra, and another by Arvind Adarkar titled ‘The women who loved me’.
Present for the occasion was also Justice Chandrashekar Dharmadhikari, a Padma Bhushan awardee and Dr Vibhuti Patel, a feminist activist. Dr Vibhuti Patel described the book as a ‘Reflective journey in personal and political struggle.’ She said, “The book deconstructs masculinity and looks at patriarchy as a symbol of aggression, power and conquering.”

Retired Justice Dharmadhikari ended the discussion by saying that this was an ‘emotional revolt against repression.’ He said, “While we hate a patriarchal world, we would also hate a world dominated by women as any kind of domination destroys healthy relationships.”
The book advocates a healthybalance.