Does rough weather choose men over women? Does the sun beat on men, leaving women nice and cool?' Niagara asked rather sharply. 'Women bear the brunt of poverty. What choices does a woman have in life, especially in times of misery? She can marry or live with a man. She can bear children and bring them up, and be abused by her man. Have you read Bu chi Machete of Nigeria, Joys of Motherhood? Sits Dangarembga of Zimbabwe, say, Nervous Conditions? Miriam Ba of Senegal, So Long A Letter? Three women from different parts of Africa, giving words to similar thoughts about the condition of women in Africa.'' I am not much of a reader of fiction,' Haiti said. 'Especially novels by African women. In India such books are hard to find.'' Surely even in India there are women writers? Indian women writers?' Niagara pressed. 'Arundhati Roy, for instance, The God of Small Things? Deena Alexander, Fault Lines? Susie Their. Read Women Writing in India. Or her other book, We Were Making History, about women in the struggle!'' I have sampled the epics of Indian literature,' Haiti said, trying to redeem himself. 'Mahabharata, Ramayana, and mostly Bhagavad Gita. There are a few others, what they call Purana, Rig-Veda, Upanishads … Not that I read everything, but …'' I am sure that those epics and Purana's, even the Rita, were all written by men,' Niagara said. 'The same men who invented the caste system. When will you learn to listen to the voices of women?

Wizard of the Crow