She Seeks
The stories in She Seeks essentially revolve around how humans have used their minds to navigate a complex world. The mind, in constant interaction with a dynamic environment, is perpetually seeking answers. Sometimes this takes the form of a yearning for or a desire to connect with the past—often termed as nostalgia. The journey down the memory lane can shed a light on a present predicament or a problem or lead to new self-realizations. In other situations, the mind works like a laser beam; honing in on an enigma or mystery with a singular objective of solving it. The mind prescribes what action is required to be taken in times of imminent danger or threats. Such actions can take the form of fight or flight, adrenalin-fueled adventures, or outmanoeuvring the adversary by deploying—to paraphrase the famous detective Hercule Poirot—one's 'gray cells.'
Women have relied on their minds—their best asset—to challenge the status quo of power, privilege, and corruption in society. The stories in this volume portray women using their minds in ingenious ways, often leveraging their experiences to address a situation. Munni Masi's morality tales crafted from family lore is meant to arouse the curiosity and imagination of young minds (The Summer House); while a chance meeting with a little girl in a park makes a middle-aged lady reconnect to her younger, happier and most authentic self (The Girl With the Mismatched Rubber Bands). Akriti and Suchishree both lean heavily on the past to find a way out of faltering relationships (Yesterday Once More; L'Ange Protecteur). But their tryst with nostalgia could not be more different. Asha's search for a simple family recipe from her home country leads to an unexpected yet heart-warming reve-lation about her great grandmother's entrepreneurial abilities (The Nostalgic Garden). A sophisticated urbanite's assumptions are challenged by a village detective who is determined to prove that she possesses clairvoyant powers (Mataji Knows Best). The story of the rescue of another city dweller from the clutches of bandits in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh is a jaw dropping thriller (Kidnapped). Two savvy women manage to outwit a corrupt business magnate and an obdurate bureaucrat by their sheer chutzpah (The Showdown and A Tale of Mystery and Intrigue). A teenager and a young woman take on the role of avenging angels in classic tales of good versus evil (The Purple Star and Godhuli). Then there are possibilities that lie beyond the realm of human consciousness. Radha, Sasha and Jezzie take enormous risks by immersing themselves in other worldly adventures in their single-minded quest for truth and love (Turiya; Yatra and The Other Her).
SHE Writers Group completes 5 years!
The She Writers Group believes in creative activism and has ~45 women of Indian origin from around the world. Coming from diverse professional backgrounds, these women have come together to write and give a creative platform to the female voice by publishing five books of short stories, and one of poetry.
Books published include: She Speaks (short stories, 2018), She Reflects (flash fiction, 2021), She Celebrates (short stories, 2021), Emotions in Rhythm (poems, 2021), and She Shines (short stories, 2022). With She Seeks (short stories, 2023) based on mystery and nostalgia; the She Writers group is celebrating their fifth anniversary!
ACT India: Ms. Nilanjana Das, Director and Chairperson, who helped us structure this book, and came forward enthusiastically to discuss the book's proposal at its initial stage, despite the lockdown challenges in India.
Asha Zurich Foundation: Dr. Pratyush Das Kanungo, Project Lead and Coordinator for outreach activities, Dr. Rajdeep Deb, President of the organization; and Dr. Sampada Bodke, Project Lead, for supporting this project and coming forward to collaborate for this book.
Humane Warriors: Dr. Naveen Shamsudhin and Dr. Rhythima Shinde, Founders, who were active during the Covid-19, with their Humane Warriors team supporting the daily wage workers across India. Despite a time-crunch they contributed to this book with their timely inputs.
Protsaah - Handcrafted Peace: Ms. Saloni Duggal Sreshtha, Director, who was in India to meet her artisans and was unable to fly back to Zurich due to the lockdown for a long time, despite that she took the time to contribute to this book and raise awareness for the cause.
Rice Mill Social Enterprise: Ms. Ruth Mumba, Director, and Abundance Foundation’s Co-Founder Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil who came forward to contribute to this book with their newly found project in South Africa.
Touching Heart: Ms. Helen Yi, Founder and Project Lead Ms. Sumona Das, who relentlessly worked on different projects and produced hundreds of facemasks herself to combat the pandemic in the USA; helped us get the Founder’s interview for this book.
Ushthi Foundation: Ms. Olga Egli, PR and Fundraising Director, who contributed with her inputs, and contacted the Founder Mr. Kurt Büuuml;rki and the Executive Director Ms. Alessandra Grosse for the interview in this book; and Ms. Mirjam Hirzel, International Project Coordinator, for her valuable thoughts and inputs.
