discussing her new book

Pink Sari Revolution
A Tale of Women and Power in India

from W.W. Norton

A triumphant portrait of a fiery sisterhood changing the lives of India's women.

In Uttar Pradesh—known as the "badlands" of India—a woman's life is not entirely her own. This is one explanation for how Sheelu, a seventeen-year-old girl, ended up in jail after fleeing her service in the home of a powerful local legislator. In a region plagued by corruption, an incident like this might have gone unnoticed—except that it captured the attention of Sampat Pal, leader of India's infamous Gulabi (Pink) Gang.

Poor and illiterate, married off around the age of twelve, pregnant with her first child at fifteen, and prohibited from attending school, Sampat Pal has risen to become the courageous commander and chief of a women's brigade numbering in the tens of thousands. Uniformed in pink saris and carrying pink batons, they aim to intervene wherever other women are victims of abuse or injustice. Joined in her struggle by Babuji, a sensitive man whose intellectualism complements her innate sense of justice, and by a host of passionate field commanders, Sampat Pal has confronted policemen and gangsters, officiated love marriages, and empowered women to become financially independent.

In a country where women's rights struggle to keep up with rapid modernization, the story of Sampat Pal and her Pink Gang illuminates the thrilling possibilities of female grassroots activism.

Amana Fontanella-Khan is a contributor to Slate, the Daily Beast, the New York Times, and the Christian Science Monitor, and was formerly a contributing editor at Vogue India. Previously based in Mumbai, she now lives in Brussels.

visit: http://thepinksarirevolution.tumblr.com/

Geetika Pathania Jain is a freelance writer at India Currents. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at DeAnza College, Cupertino, where she teaches media courses. Geetika attended Purdue University for her master's degree and earned her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. When she is not writing reviews or grading student papers, Geetika can be found enjoying the great outdoors.

What has been said about Pink Sari Revolution:

"With her usual deep reporting, humane storytelling, clarity of explanation, and wry humor, Fontanella-Khan brings to life a group of women who have overcome origins and odds most of us can not even imagine to create a movement that might very well change India—and the West's image of what it means to be a woman in the Third World." — Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men: And the Rise of Women

    "A powerful, engrossing portrait of one woman's fight for female empowerment in India. Sampat Pal’s extraordinary courage will inspire you, delight you, and fill you with hope." — Sonia Faleiro, author of Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay’s Dance Bars

    "Having interviewed the principals and reviewed available newspaper accounts, Fontanella-Khan brings a novelist’s pacing to a timely page-turner that is essentially political; party politics, political corruption, and the wretched treatment of rape victims are her true subjects." — Publishers Weekly

    "An inspiring profile… highly recommended for all applicable collections." — Library Journal