Author: Jael Silliman
Jael Silliman
(Dr Jael Silliman is a scholar and author of several books. She writes on women's rights, heritage and environmental issues)
The Baghdadi Jewish community of India is one of the three oldestJewish communities in the country. There are the Jews of Cochin, well known for the Paradesi Synagogue, which stands at the head of bustling Jew Street, a popular destination for local and international tourists. There are also the still older Bene Israel Jews of Maharashtra, whose legends state that they fled Judea to escape persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 BCE. They settled on the Konkan coast and were called Shanvaar telis, meaning seventh-day oil pressers. The Baghdadi Jews, that is, Jews who came from the Middle East, came…
The Sea Has the Answers by Shuma Raha is a beautifully crafted novel. Set against the high-octane backdrop of the unfolding #MeToo movement in India in 2018–19, the author weaves a delicate and thought-provoking narrative around Urmi, a sensitive and intelligent housewife married to Shankar Das, her high-flying husband and CEO of a leading advertising agency in Kolkata. Shankar is accused of rape and sexual harassment in the workplace. While referencing the way Shankar deals with the fallout at work, the author Shuma Raha, with laser-sharp focus, casts Urmi as the central figure of the narrative. Readers are quickly drawn…
