Kolkata, 11 January 2026: The Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2026 hosted a powerful and reflective session titled ‘On Being Brinda’, where Brinda Karat was in conversation with Subhashini Ali on Karat’s memoir ‘An Education for Rita: A Memoir, 1975–1985’. The session offered an intimate exploration of political formation, personal memory, and the everyday textures of living through a consequential decade in India’s public life.
Drawing from the memoir's timeframe, the conversation revisited the years 1975 to 1985 as a period shaped by ideological commitments, women's movements, and the making of self through lived experience. The memoir traces Karat's transition from Kolkata to Delhi, a journey that involved moving from her home to “straight into work” among textile workers in a completely new linguistic and cultural environment.
Speaking during the session, Brinda Karat described this major life shift as “the easiest thing,” reflecting the strength of her commitment. She shared a telling moment of tension when she began mass collection on Kolkata's streets with a red flag and collection box, where her father's concern stemmed not from opposition to her beliefs but from the social visibility of such actions, though the family remained supportive.
Karat articulated what the memoir sought to preserve: the human potential and intellectual brilliance of working-class people often dismissed by society. "Much of society's talent is wasted due to structural inequality," she noted as she spoke movingly of workers who, despite lacking formal education, demonstrated extraordinary ability, like memorising and citing laws in legal battles, apart from showing generosity, discipline, and patience. A significant portion of the discussion also focused on the feminist dimensions of the memoir. Karat spoke about the 1960s to 70s as a period of global resistance and questioning, which in India resulted in a strong feminist movement with both autonomous and left-aligned strands.
Subhashini Ali, herself a long-standing political figure and activist, brought depth to the conversation by reflecting on the practice of deep engagement with communities. Both speakers reflected on the joy, culture, and resilience that characterised these movements.
The session explored writing as testimony and how memoirs can document not only events but also interior feelings like fear, resolve, hope, and endurance. It emphasised the memoir's role in portraying a political era through lived experience, rather than just personal autobiography. The narrative highlights the learning process within women's movements and working-class struggles, showing how political consciousness develops through solidarity, shared struggle, and ongoing dialogue between social groups.
The customary audience questions sparked a wide-ranging discussion on political courage, women in public life, history, and the memoir form. In response, both speakers emphasised that feminism is not narrow or elitist, but grounded in class struggle, lived experience, solidarity, and collective joy as well as resistance. They encouraged readers to see the memoir not only as a historical record but as a guide to how transformative movements are built through human connection and sustained commitment to justice.
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