HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Can a book change the world? Well, of course it can. But for the amazing Damyanti Biswas, that question haunted her so deeply that it changed her writing life. Damyanti and I have gotten to know each other virtually, and as she knows, I am a devoted fan of her book YOU BENEATH YOUR SKIN—which, Reds and readers, is, starting tomorrow, and very briefly, available free. But--as you will see below--you MIGHT want to buy one.
Take a moment please, do, and journey with Damyanti to places you have never been. And then see how she’s using her writing career to make a difference. We are all in awe.
WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN WE MAKE?
In another life, I used to work in the fashion industry, helping clothe the rich and famous. In New Delhi alleyways where I worked on projects involving embroideries and stitching, I got to see the underprivileged communities from up close. I myself earned very little, but only realised later that I was an unwitting part of a cycle of exploitation.
Over the years, I left New Delhi behind but my memories of those places did not fade. I continued to follow the news, and in December 2012 was confronted with what came to be known as the Nirbhaya tragedy. A 23-year-old physiotherapist returning home after an evening out, Jyoti Singh was accosted by six men who beat up her boyfriend, and raped and brutalised her to the extent that her intestines spilled on the road. She succumbed to her injuries a week later. The youngest of the accused turned out to be seventeen.
In the rage and helplessness that followed, I asked myself: what difference are you and your writing making in this world? And the short, depressing, answer was: none at all.
In 2009, I’d been fortunate enough to meet Anouradha Bakshi, who runs the New Delhi non-profit, Project WHY, a tiny organization with a big heart: each year they help about 1200 children and dozens of women make a better life.
While visiting Project WHY, I stepped into alleyways similar to the ones I’d seen during my work life, and decided to get involved. I initially helped with small donations, work on social media, workshops with teachers.
In the meanwhile, my writing journey began and a novel took shape. Its world was quasi-real. The slums of New Delhi. The government hospitals. Police stations. Road side shanties. Old monuments. Restaurants at 5-star hotels, and roadside eateries. A few scenes, and definitely a lot of the setting came from Project WHY. While researching the novel, I began interacting with acid attack survivors at Stop Acid Attacks.
I listened to the survivors. Tales of pain, rage, grief. Of deprivation. Of prevailing against the odds. Over years, I developed not just a huge friendship with Anouradha Bakshi and what has now become my family at Project WHY, but also relationships with acid attack survivors.
Their stories are devastating—faces and bodies burned by friends, lovers, husbands, cousins—and yet, despite the attempt at obliterating their identities, these women have returned into society. They undergo painful surgeries and combat health issues caused by the attacks.
A particular friend among them, Ritu Saini, was attacked by men she knew because she’d refused the advances of one of them. I met her in 2014, a husk of a girl who spoke in halting, whispery sentences. When asked a question by an audience last year: what would she say to the men who assaulted her, her response was confident and immediate: I would ask them, what did you hope to achieve? My devastation? Here I am—and my voice is loud and clear. Come talk to me now.
My proceeds from the novel that resulted from these experiences, YOU BENEATH YOUR SKIN, go back to the women and children whose stories are within its pages. Endemol Shine has optioned it for television, which I hope will bring further awareness to their cause.
To join hands with me on empowering these very brave women and children who have been a part of my journey, check out the work of Project WHY and Stop Acid Attacks.
Through this journey, I don’t know if my writing has made any difference in the big, bad world, but in getting involved with Project WHY and Stop Acid Attacks, I’m very grateful to be made part of a small, good thing.
HANK: We are cheering and applauding and full of respect and admiration. I know Damyanti, who lives in Singapore, has now been volunteering to help migrant workers trapped there by the pandemic. Which brings tears to my eyes. And yes, she is really that wonderful. And her book is, too. (I read her first chapter of YOU BENEATH YOUR SKIN out loud on First Chapter fun. The video is here.)
HOW does she do this all?
Please thank her, Reds and readers. Please applaud her. Please buy her books. She is an inspiration. She is on a totally different time zone, 12 hours different! But she will come comment when she can.
