How often as women we feel apologetic more so to please
people around us?! We will have to patch up for a ten-minute late dinner which
got late because of our period woes. We will have to hurry up home after an outing
with friends because we have a bunch of people angrily waiting for us. And
every single time, there’s a guilt that tugs at us and more often than not, we
feel apologetic - we are made to feel apologetic - because as
women, we are responsible for a whole lot of what happens around us, and to us!
In No Apologies,
we get to read realistic stories that put forth to readers how women in our
Indian society are expected to feel apologetic for situations they might not
actually be accountable, and also we get to see with warmth why and how they need not
do so. I say with warmth because the
writers carry a sense of maturity in their words that’s devoid of arrogance,
ego or pride.
The stories are not about feminism, men vs. women or patriarchy
as one would guess in this context. Rather, they are more about the underlying
emotions of womanhood which are subjected to the ‘ideal standards of living’
imposed upon women for centuries, and
even more about those moments in each
character’s life when they come to confront the 'norms' face-to-face.
