We are pleased to invite you for an afternoon of conversation between us on Supriya Singh’s The Girls Ate Last:  Partition, Education and the life of Inder Kaur.

Inder Kaur, the author’s mother, grew up in the early 20th century. Girls were expected to eat last after the men and boys, and were often given only a few years of schooling. It is a story of women that is still repeated. With a Year 8 education, Inder Kaur turned the Partition of India into a personal victory. Seeking employment in Delhi, she educated herself one step at a time, as her marriage and home disintegrated, to become the founding principal of three women’s colleges.

This story of changing gender and kinship frameworks is also a story of love and loss. But in the end it is a story of a woman having the courage to value herself and helping other women do the same.

Venue: Indian Women’s Press Corp (IWPC), 5 Windsor Place, Ashoka Road, Tel:  +91 11 2332 5366

Date: Friday, March 7, 2014

Time: 3.30 – 5.30 pm

Please join us for tea after the reading and discussion. The book will be available at the IWPC. It is also available on http://www.manoharbooks.com/

An RSVP to either of us would be appreciated.

Anita Anand,  Director, Com First (India) Private Ltd    aa.comfirst@gmail.com

Supriya Singh, Professor and Author, supriya.singh@rmit.edu.au

Amritsar’s Rotary Club, Civil Lines, hosted a very gracious launch of the Indian edition of The Girls Ate Last: Partition, Education  and the Life of Inder Kaur. I was touched by the honour of the flower rangoli and the lighting of the lamp. We had a rich conversation about continuing gender disparity; Partition, survival and education; family breakup and parental communication; friendship; love and loss. I would particularly like to thank Dr Sant Prakash Singh Dhillon and Penny for this evening of friendship and dialogue followed by a sumptuous dinner.