Pinki Virani

A book that challenges our notions of family honour and morality Sometime, somewhere, the conspiracy of silence around Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in Indian homes had to be shattered. This path-breaking book"the first of its kind in the country and subcontinent"attempts to give that sexually abused child a powerful voice. It provides damning disclosures about men, and some women, in middle and upper-class families who sexually abuse their children, then silence them into submission. Based on studies, reports and investigation, this book reveals that a minimum of twenty per cent of girls and boys under the age of sixteen are regularly being sexually abused; half of them in their own homes, by adults who have the child's trust. In Bitter Chocolate, journalist and best-selling author Pinki Virani travels across the country to record the testimonies of the police, doctors, child psychologists, mental health professionals, social workers, lawyers and the traumatized victims themselves. The book opens with an account"brave and devoid of self-pity"of the author's own experience. Going beyond blaming, Pinki Virani then proceeds with her insightful analysis of the issue in three notebooks. The first spells out what constitutes CSA, why and how this happens, its devastating after-effects which haunt the victims as they grow into adulthood. The second notebook describes these effects through two real-life stories of women who were betrayed as children by men of their family. The third provides practical solutions on how to counter CSA, including a framework involving the law, the parent and their child. A special chapter addresses adults who have never before disclosed their sexual abuse as children. Plus: a nationally coordinated helpline. Accessible yet comprehensive, Bitter Chocolate is written for the young parent and guardian, principal and teacher, judge and police, lawyer and public prosecutor, teenager and tomorrow's citizen.

Child Sexual Abuse in India

Bitter Chocolate

Comprising Three Novellar And Four Short Stories, To Be Read As Stand-Alone Or Inter-Linked Pieces, This Is An Engaging Piece Of Literary Non-Fiction Rich In Memories And Insights.

Once was Bombay

A Compelling Portrayal Of A Dying City Who Killed Bombay, Once India S Trend-Setting City And Commercial Capital? Its Politicians Or Its Underworld? When Did This City Of Gold Turn Into A Cemetery Of Dead Souls And Dreams? Seeking Answers, Pinki Virani Travels Through Many Bombays To Record A Medley Of Voices. Of Glassware Shop-Owner Babliseth, Resident Of The Original Island For Five Decades, For Whom Life Is All About Hard Work And Decent Deeds, Till Language And Religion Tragically Divide The Island. Of Young Builder Manish Shah, Riddled With Bullets In A Case Of Mistaken Identity. Of A Don Lamenting, In An Exclusive Interview, The Loss Of Honour In The New Underworld Even As A Young Gangster Swears That Deeds Committed In High-Rises Are Worse Than His Own. Of The Jet Set, Rationalizing The Presence Of Rioters And Racketeers At Their Lavish Parties. Of Bollywood Stuntmen The Real, Hitherto Unsung Heroes Wrestling With Reality. Comprising Three Novellas And Four Short Stories, To Be Read As Stand-Alone Or Inter-Linked Pieces, Once Was Bombay Is A Brilliant Work Of Literary Non-Fiction Rich In Memories And Insights.

Among life’s choices is to have children or remain childfree. Yet those who want a child and find themselves unable, live through the trauma of ‘infertility’—cruelly attributed as ‘their fault’—to undergo the tribulations of assisted reproductive technology. But how safe is aggressive Ivf, invasive Icsi, exploitative ovarian hyper-stimulation and commercial surrogacy? Politics of the Womb proves that there can be broken babies and breaking mothers; it rips away the romanticism around uterus transplants, warns of genetic theft and ‘designer babies’, and points to the human element being sacrificed, as artificial reproduction uses, reuses and recycles the woman. Pinki Virani combines investigation with analysis to question those who lead the worldwide onslaught on the woman’s womb in the name of babies, and squarely confronts what has become the business of baby-making by a chain of suppliers that manufactures on demand. Written in a manner accessible to all, here finally is a path-breaking book which speaks up, in no uncertain terms, for the right to informed choice on responsible reproduction.

Pinki Virani

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