Saba Dewan is a documentary film-maker. Her documentaries have focused on issues of gender, sexuality and culture. This is her first book and has emerged from her trilogy of films on stigmatised women performers: Delhi–Mumbai–Delhi (2006) about the lives of bar dancers; Naach (The Dance, 2008) on women dancers in rural fairs and The Other Song (2009) about the art and lifestyle of the tawaifs or courtesans. The research and writing of the book was supported by a fellowship from the New India Foundation. Saba lives in Gurgaon.
Ashok Mitra is an Indian Marxist economist and politician. He has written for Economic and Political Weekly and contributes articles regularly to The Telegraph. He has also written short stories in
Jībanānanda Dāś (18 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was a Bengali poet, writer, novelist and essayist. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' (Poet of Beautiful Bengal), Das is probably th
Jack Goody is Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John's College. Recently knighted by Her Majesty The Queen for services to anthropology, Pr
Anupama Rao is TOW Associate Professor of History at Barnard College and Associate Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. She is the author of The Caste Question: Dalits and
