It was a stimulating, sobering and eye-opening night with author Kishwar Desai in conversation with author Rosemary Furber. Kishwar's book Witness The Night is a work of fiction but what she drew upon - 30 years of journalistic experience - to write her novel, was anything but. We heard about how her investigations had revealed that often baby girls were killed in crude ways - by having grass stuffed into their mouths for example. A Punjabi woman she met told Kishwar she should not be alive - she was fed opium when a baby.

Kishwar spoke with passion about the need for a feminist movement in India, so that women - many of whom are complicit in the illegal but often condoned act of killing their baby girls, either through committing the crime themselves or through their silence - can break through this injustice which permeates India's divided and diverse society.  Kishwar spoke of how fictionalising this social issue has allowed the topic to travel further and raise discussions, such as the one held at W&T last night. However, while the topic was sobering, Kishwar's heroine Simran - a freelance social worker with a no-holds-barred attitude - lends hope and optimism to an otherwise grim issue. Expect to hear more of Simran soon. Kishwar is working on her second novel.
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