Pinki Virani
| Pinki Virani | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1959 (age 56–57)
|
| Occupation | Journalist, writer |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Gujarati; Ismaili Khoja |
Pinki Virani (born 30 January 1959) is an Indian writer, journalist, human-rights activist and author who has won critical acclaim for her books Once was Bombay, Aruna's Story, Bitter Chocolate: Child Sexual Abuse in India (which won the National Award), and Deaf Heaven.[1] Her fifth book is called Politics of the Womb -- The Perils of Ivf, Surrogacy & Modified Babies. [2]
Early life and education
Virani was born in Mumbai, India, to Gujarati Muslim parents. Her father owned a shop, and her mother was a teacher. She attended school in Mumbai, Pune and Mussoorie. She went to the US to study for a Masters in Journalism on the Aga Khan Foundation scholarship. She did an internship at The Sunday Times, where she reported extensively on the race riots in Britain.
Career
She started working as a typist at the age of 18. When she returned to India after her scholarship, she worked as a reporter and went on to become India's first woman editor of an evening paper. She moved from daily journalism when she published her first book.
Works
Virani is the author of five books, four of which are non-fiction best-sellers.
- Aruna's Story is about the rape of a nurse that left her in a coma. The book forms part of a 52-minute documentary, produced by the PSBT, titled 'Passive Euthanasia: Kahaani Karuna Ki'. A play on this book has been performed by Lushin Dubey, directed by Arvind Gaur.
- Bitter Chocolate is about child sexual abuse in India. A play based on this book was performed by Sutradhar and directed by Vinay Varma.
- Once Was Bombay is a sociology book which was cited by then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his speech on collapsing cities.
- Deaf Heaven, her first work of fiction, experiments with form and style to warn off the danger of the tipping over of a modern country into neo-fascism. It was nominated for the Impac Dublin Literary Prize. Outlook magazine placed it among the best ten books of the year.
- In Politics Of The Womb – The Perils Of Ivf, Surrogacy & Modified Babies (2016), Virani criticises IVF and other forms of assisted reproduction.[3]
Virani's writings may have contributed to India's Parliament passing a law against sexual abuse of children (The Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) in May 2012. The law includes four of her suggestions to the Standing Committee, it also encompasses several suggestions from her book Bitter Chocolate: Child Sexual Abuse in India. The book and a part of its contents has also been quoted in a Madras High Court judgement.
Aruna Shanbaug case
In 2009, Pinki Virani filed a petition in Supreme Court of India on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse working at the KEM Hospital in Mumbai on 27 November 1973 when she was sexually assaulted by a sweeper. During the attack she was strangled with a chain, and the deprivation of oxygen left her in a vegetative state. She was treated at KEM following the incident and was kept alive by a feeding tube for 48 years, until her death of pneumonia in 2015.[4] In Virani's 2009 petition, she argued that the "continued existence of Aruna is in violation of her right to live in dignity". The Supreme Court made its decision on 7 March 2011.[5] It rejected the plea to discontinue Aruna's life support but issued a set of broad guidelines legalising passive euthanasia in India. The Supreme Court also refused to recognise Virani as the "next friend" of Shanbaug, a description Virani had used to file the petition. The Court observed in paragraph 14 of the judgment, "[...] we are treating the KEM hospital staff as the next friend of Aruna Shanbaug and we decline to recognize Ms. Pinki Virani as her next friend. No doubt Ms. Pinki Virani has written a book about Aruna Shanbaug and has visited her a few times, and we have great respect for her for the social causes she has espoused, but she cannot claim to have the extent of attachment or bonding with Aruna which the KEM hospital staff, which has been looking after her for years, claims to have."[6][7]
Personal life
She is married to Shankkar Aiyar, who is a journalist and the author of Accidental India.[8]
Bibliography
Books
- Aruna's Story: the true account of a rape and its aftermath. Viking, 1998.
- Bitter Chocolate: child sexual abuse in India, Penguin Books, 2000
- Once was Bombay. Viking. 1999. ISBN 0-670-88869-9.
- Deaf Heaven, HarperCollins Publishers India, 2009. ISBN 81-7223-849-5.
- Politics Of The Womb—The Perils Of IVF, Surrogacy & Modified Babies, Penguin Random House, 2016. ISBN 978-0670088720
References
- ↑ R. Krithika (19 July 2009). "As we see ourselves". The Hindu. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ↑ "The Egg Commerce". Daily Pioneer. 25 September 2016.
- ↑ "Pinki Virani on commercial surrogacy: 'Worst kind of patriarchy posturing as pro-woman choice'". Firstpost. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "Aruna Shanbaug: Brain-damaged India nurse dies 42 years after rape". BBC News. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "After 36 yrs of immobility, a fresh hope of death". Indian Express. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ↑ "Supreme Court decision on Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug versus Union of India" (PDF). Supreme Court of India. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "India court admits plea to end life of rape victim". BBC News, Delhi. 17 December 2009.
- ↑ "Virani saga". The Tribune. 1 August 2009.