Nilanjana Sengupta – författare

'Maids' have become an inseparable part of the daily lives of 'middle-class' urban households in India. Despite the fact that increasing numbers of poor women are joining this profession, very little has been written about them, especially the part-time domestic workers, each of whom services a number of households at a time. They are not accorded their rightful status as workers either by the employers, their own families, the Government or traditional trade unions. Isolated in the privacy of employers' homes, the problem of recognizing their work or organizing them is the same as for women isolated in their own homes. Another important reason is that most such women are rendered voiceless by their social location: unlettered; staying in 'illegal' settlements; migrants; working to survive; performing 'feminine' work both paid and unpaid, and both devalued. This book is therefore about making the unheard heard. It draws from personal narratives of part time women domestic workers residing in two slum-settlements of Kolkata, who speak about their work, lives, dreams and despair. By moving between the workplace and the homes of the workers, this book makes a departure from general accounts of labour and talks instead about labouring lives.

When after three decades of research Singapore could produce its own water, the little city-state was said to have lost its vulnerability. No longer would every policy have to bend at the knees for water survival. It was finally time to celebrate liberty!When did the same moment come in Bala's life? Was it when in mid-Atlantic he heard of his promotion as Controller of Posts? Or was it when he was appointed by the President as member of the Parliamentary Elections Minority Committee? Or was it at a moment of tragic loss when he realised he had nothing more to lose?Singapore, My Country tells M Bala Subramanion's story, a second generation Indian who lost his father to the Death Railway, witnessed Subhas Chandra Bose at the Padang and later emerged as not only a senior civil servant but the man behind multiple social interventions, living in a fast evolving Singapore.The histories of the man and his nation remain seamlessly intertwined, each peppered with equal doses of endeavour, ingenuity and a sheer will to survive!

When after three decades of research Singapore could produce its own water, the little city-state was said to have lost its vulnerability. No longer would every policy have to bend at the knees for water survival. It was finally time to celebrate liberty!When did the same moment come in Bala's life? Was it when in mid-Atlantic he heard of his promotion as Controller of Posts? Or was it when he was appointed by the President as member of the Parliamentary Elections Minority Committee? Or was it at a moment of tragic loss when he realised he had nothing more to lose?Singapore, My Country tells M Bala Subramanion's story, a second generation Indian who lost his father to the Death Railway, witnessed Subhas Chandra Bose at the Padang and later emerged as not only a senior civil servant but the man behind multiple social interventions, living in a fast evolving Singapore.The histories of the man and his nation remain seamlessly intertwined, each peppered with equal doses of endeavour, ingenuity and a sheer will to survive!

The great Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore in 1943 to revitalise the Indian National Army (INA). Taking the opportunity of the Japanese occupation of parts of Southeast Asia, he launched armed struggle against British colonial rule in India. Two years later, that attempt failed at the eastern gates of India. Yet, it was a temporary failure because the INA helped set in motion a series of developments within India. These would culminate in its freedom in a further two years. Bose is household name in India. He is remembered in Southeast Asia as well, particularly among Indians. However, while his contributions to India’s independence movement have been recorded exhaustively, less is known about the legacy that he left behind in Southeast Asia.This book seeks to fill that gap in the international understanding of a great Indian nationalist and pan-Asianist. It records how participation in the nationalist struggle invested Southeast Asian Indians with a rare sense of dignity and helped foster a mushrooming of militant trade unions, making it difficult for the returning British planters to perpetuate their control over what had been a docile workforce. The INA’s Rani of Jhansi movement proved to be a pioneering effort at drawing Southeast Asian Indian women out of their traditional roles and expectations. It inspired some of them to take up mainstream roles for the cause of equality and emancipation. A Gentleman’s Word retraces this journey of self-discovery of those who were inspired by Subhas Chandra Bose.