In our first episode, we speak to Urvashi Butalia, an Indian feminist writer, publisher and activist. She is known for her pioneering work in the women's movement of India, as well as for authoring books such as The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India and Speaking Peace: Women's Voices from Kashmir. In 2003, she founded Zubaan Books, a feminist publishing house that is known for its pathbreaking and diverse work.

Urvashi tells us about her early encounters with inclusive literature, and how her reading journey has evolved with her feminism. She also talks about the importance of reading books that transcend and question boundaries of identity, and how reading is inherently a form of activism. So let's dive into the world of feminist literature with Urvashi Butalia, and discover some incredible titles for our reading lists! 

Books and authors in the episode: 

1. Versions of the Heer-Ranjha saga
2. Rajinder Singh Bedi
3. Mahadevi Verma (Poetry, Shrankhala ki Kadiyaan)
4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
5. Chandamama and Phantom comics
6. Godaan by Premchand
7. Nayantara Sehgal
8. Anita Desai
9. Kamla Markandaya
10. Rukogi Nahi Radhika by Usha Priyamwada
11. Amrita Pritam
12. Krishna Sobti
13. Mridula Garg
14. Chitra Mudgal
15. Gulshan Nanda
16. Salma
17. A Life Less Ordinary: A Memoir by Baby Haldar
18. Shareer ki Jankari (About the Body) by 75 women from Rajasthan, published by Zubaan
19. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
20. Middlemarch by George Eliot
21. Birth of the Maitreya by Bani Basu
22. Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights by Helen Lewis
23. Queeristan by Parmesh Shahani
24. Kalpana Swaminathan’s detective fiction
25. Karuna Ezra Parikh
26. Peace Has Come by Parismita Singh

This is the first of the six episodes of the The Inclusive Bookshelf series. Keep a lookout for more episodes in the coming months.