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At the start of 2024, most readers I know (including me, of course) had set a goal of reading 52 books this year. Two months have flown by and we are all starting to realize that might have again been a little too ambitious, given we have a home to run, deadlines to meet, children and parents to take care of, and a dozen other things to attend to that siphon time away from us. I believe it’s still not impossible to get quite a bit of reading done. But at two books a month, 24 might just be a more realistic number.

 On Women’s Day, I’ve curated a list of special books that I think are spectacular. These are stories on women, written by women. However, they aren’t books for just women. Men, I believe, would gain a world of insight by reading these fascinating tales about how the minds of women work and the driving forces behind their actions and emotions. These books are inspiring, joyous, sometimes a bit melancholy, and a whole lot of fun—as all good books should be. There are both fiction and non-fiction in this list, which is by no means exhaustive.

 Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

This was the first ‘adult’ book my parents allowed me to read (as I graduated from Enid Blyton) and I remember falling in love with the story. It’s a children’s book written for all ages. It’s the adventures of an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley who is sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm.

 Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

I have to admit I never understood Mrs Dalloway despite so many avid readers raving about it. The writing style didn’t appeal to me. When I finally did, it blew my mind. It’s such a fascinating take on a woman’s mind. It details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class woman in post-First World War England. It’s one of Woolf’s best-known novels.

 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I read this book in school and it’s been one of my favorites ever since then. It’s a lovely coming-of-age story about four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and how their lives change when their father goes off to war.

 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

I have given Lessons in Chemistry to most of my friends. Set in the early 1960s when women scientists were unheard of, the story is about an exceptional woman struggling to make her place in a man’s world. It’s an exploration of gender discrimination and how passion—towards work and life—can save you from the depths of despair.

 City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is such a breezy, entertaining read where an 89-year-old woman recounts her life story. The descriptions are so vividly described that it feels like you are waltzing down the streets of New York even though you have never been there. The story is a glorious celebration of womanhood.

 Circe by Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller has a way with words. Her retelling of stories will hook you even if their original versions never did. Circe has all the gravitas of Greek mythology yet none of the jargon. About a woman who never fit in, Circe is a story of hope and finding your way when everything around you is falling apart.

 Girl, Women, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Bernardine Evaristo’s eighth novel follows the lives of 12 women, from different backgrounds. Each character gets a chapter but the characters overlap in many of the stories. These interconnected stories of British Black women raise important questions on feminism and race.

 Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

In an interview, Priyanka Chopra said Homegoing was one of her favorite books. As shallow as that sounds, I read it because of that reason. I hadn’t heard about the book before that. I soon realized Yaa Gyasi was a phenomenal storyteller. Homegoing tells the story of two sisters and how the social and political landscape of the places where they grew up shaped their experiences.

 The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

A male friend recommended this book to me and I couldn’t have been more surprised. The Giver of Stars is a stunning book about women driven by a shared purpose despite the circumstances not being in their favor. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And it will leave you with a warm, tingling feeling.

 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

This beautiful book is about a girl named Kya, locally known as the marsh girl. It’s a contemplation of despair, poverty, loneliness, and kindness. It’s also about the wonders of nature. There’s an element of mystery running through the plot which will keep you hooked.

 Roar by Cecelia Ahern

Most readers I know are quick to disqualify Ahern as frivolous. I have to confess I was skeptical about Roar in the beginning when my husband gifted the book to me on my birthday. But Roar, a collection of 30 stories about women, is heartwarming, empowering, and packs a punch.

 Educated by Tara Westover

Educated tells the story of Tara Westover, her religious, radical, and isolated family, and how she went on to get a PhD from Cambridge University. It explores the complex dynamics within a family and celebrates the strength of the human spirit.

 The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Why are women, especially mothers, expected to be at the top of their game all the time? The School for Good Mothers makes you ponder over this. The plot has a chilling dystopian feel to it but it makes you question the unnecessary societal burden of expectations that’s primarily put on mothers.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell writes historical fiction about women whose stories have been overshadowed by men. The Marriage Portrait is about Lucrezia, the third daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence. She was married off at the age of 13 to Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, as a substitute for her older sister, Maria, who died just before the wedding. Then Lucrezia died of tuberculosis, though it was believed she could have been poisoned by Alfonso.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

About a woman who sleeps a year away, My Year of Rest and Relaxation is dark and comic. The protagonist believes she can heal herself and be recharged if she sleeps enough. It’s a slim volume but you can’t breeze through it as it’s mostly about grief and mental health. Nothing much happens but there’s a lot of food for thought here. 

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. She could write a brochure (not that she would) and make it interesting. This is a collection of essays, recounting her life from early childhood. Every essay is such an eye-opener and packed with wisdom that comes with experience.

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors

Sonja is over 40 and she wants to get a grip on her life. She is trying to connect with her sister. She is learning to drive. She’s even taken up meditation. But life’s not agreeing with her plans. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is a poignant tale of one woman’s journey to find herself when there is no one to help her.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama, former first lady of the United States, and the first African American woman to serve in that role, is an icon. There’s a lot you can learn from her and in her memoir, she chronicles the values and experiences that have shaped her. It’s now available in paperback too.

All My Mothers by Joanna Glen

“We are supposed to begin as the apple of our mother’s eye. But I was more the maggot in the apple.” So begins All My Mothers which is a delight and a revelation from beginning to end. It’s a big book but it’s worth it.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Read this book for the story and a rich portrayal of culture and tradition. Set in the early years of independence, it tells the story of Lakshmi Shastri, a smart, independent woman living in the clutches of the Indian caste system. The protagonist is bold and frequently goes against the system to change the trajectory of the lives of women around her.

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

A retelling of Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective, The Palace of Illusions is about a woman’s strength and the ability to hold things together. Mahabharata is mostly narrated by men and we finally get to hear from the women in Divakaruni’s beautiful rendition of the epic.

 Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Balli Kaur Jaswal explores complex and often controversial topics in her novels. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows delves into the taboo around sexuality in South Asian Culture. The protagonist Nikki, a 22-year-old, is a headstrong, independent woman living in London caught between two distinct worlds.

There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura

Translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, the novel, originally published in 2016, captures the nature of our work during Covid-19, when we had jobs that could very well have been a job or not. The unnamed heroine embarks on a series of temporary jobs and how she fares is what the book is all about.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

Three women change one another’s lives in unexpected ways while battling a pandemic in this beautiful novel by Emma Donoghue, whose book ‘Room’ was a bestseller and made into a movie too. The Pull of the Stars is a moving story of love and loss.

The impact of informalization is felt most acutely by women workers within the informal sector. Often relegated to occupations associated with care work, women face heightened vulnerability, limited legal protection, and lower wages. The absence of social protections such as health insurance and maternity leave further exacerbates their plight, perpetuating a cycle of inequality and exploitation.

In the ongoing battle against the informalization of labor, ActionAid International Nepal (AAIN) took a significant step forward by launching a national campaign in 2019, led by informal women laborers. This campaign focused on five crucial demands: equal wages, safe workplaces, job security, occupational health and safety, and access to public services to alleviate care work burdens. Through relentless advocacy, progress has been achieved at local, provincial, and federal levels, including the networking and agency building of informal laborer for campaigning, establishment of labor desks, labor registration and labor monitoring initiatives empowering workers to demand fair treatment, recognition and social protection. Building on these achievements, ActionAid International Nepal aims to further amplify the voices and concerns of informal & gig workers advocating for their rights and protections on a global scale. The recently concluded 16th World Social Forum provided an opportunity from diverse country, local CSO, Trade Unions and informal workers to come together, collectively raising voices against inequality, injustice and exploitation of informal workers and gig and informalization of labor in a mission to combat it where ActionAid Strongly opposes the informalization of labor and works to fights against it. By bringing diverse experiences and voices from the global south to support a cause.

Interview with Sujeeta Mathema

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, we sit down with Sujeeta Mathema, Executive Director of ActionAid International Nepal, to discuss a pressing issue affecting women workers globally—the informalization of labor relations.

Can you elaborate on the concept of informalization of labor relations and its impact, particularly on women workers?

The informalization of labor relations refers to the trend where traditional employment structures blur, pushing a significant portion of the labor force into informal sectors characterized by precarious employment, lack of regulation, and inadequate social protections. This phenomenon, deeply rooted in the prevailing global economic system, exacerbates income inequalities and undermines the rights and protections of workers, especially women engaged in the informal sector and the emerging gig workers.

What initiatives is AAIN undertaking to address this issue?

In leadership of the Women workers agency collaborating with trade unions and other like minded organizations, we are advocating for global solidarity against the informalization of labor relations. Our collective efforts aim to amplify the voices of informal and gig workers, advocating for their rights and protections on a global scale. 

ActionAid is actively facilitating the movements of informal workers, empowering them to equip themselves for advocacy. Through various programs, ActionAid provides knowledge and skills for effective lobbying, negotiating, and organizing strategies for campaigning. This includes raising awareness about labor rights, training in negotiation techniques, and building capacity for grassroots organizing. Moreover, ActionAid is instrumental in pushing momentum for policy change and the effective implementation of existing laws. Despite the enforcement of laws like the Social Security Act 2075, many workers in the informal sector are still excluded from vital protections. They lack access to occupational health and safety measures, insurance coverage, and safe working conditions. 

What outcomes do you hope to achieve through these initiatives?

Our objective is to foster a collective movement that addresses discrimination, exploitation, violence, and inequality while advocating for social protection for all workers. We are dedicated to empowering informal workers to demand fair treatment, recognition, and social protections. Through these initiatives and global solidarity against informalization of labor, we facilitate momentum in labor issues, with a particular focus on women workers. We mobilize workers globally, build networks, and empower them to campaign, raise awareness, and hold governments accountable. Our continuous efforts involve advocating for policy changes that prioritize the rights and protections of informal workers. 

Can you explain more about the global context?

Globally, the informal economy supports around 60 percent of the world’s employed population, totaling approximately 2bn people. Women constitute a significant portion of this workforce, with a higher representation compared to men. This highlights the substantial role that women play in informal economic activities worldwide. 

In our nation, the informal economy is a dominant force, engaging over 70 percent of the economically active population. However, despite its prevalence, 16.9m working-age individuals lacked any form of social protection in the fiscal year 2020-21. This underscores the urgent need for identifying both traditional informal workers and emerging gig workers to implement effective monitoring and regulatory measures within the sector. Such actions should include robust data collection, tailored regulatory frameworks, incentives for formalization, stakeholder engagement, and capacity building to ensure better working conditions and social protections for all workers in the informal economy. We can see the increasing trends of emerging gig workers globally. 

Informalization has predominantly affected women globally, as per ILO Women in the informal economy earn significantly less than men, with the gender wage gap ranging from 30-50 percent according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The informalization of labor exacerbates existing inequalities and barriers faced by women in the workforce, limiting their ability to participate in collective bargaining, voice their concerns, and advocate for their rights. Addressing these challenges requires targeted efforts to empower women workers, strengthen collective organizing mechanisms, and promote inclusive policies that recognize and protect the rights of all workers, regardless of their employment status. 

AAIN’s impact on women laborers: A year of empowerment

In 2023, ActionAid International Nepal (AAIN) made significant strides in amplifying and strengthening the rights of women laborers, empowering them to demand fair treatment and just wages. Through a series of targeted initiatives and collaborative efforts, AAIN worked tirelessly to address the challenges faced by women in the informal labor sector and create a more equitable work environment.

AAIN's focus on organizing women laborers into groups and linking them with rights-based alliances proved instrumental in empowering women to advocate for their rights. Through the revival of REFLECT, a platform for collective and rights-based advocacy, women laborers found a voice to challenge injustices and discrimination in their workplaces. A total of 35 women laborer groups were formed, providing awareness on labor rights, wage disparities, and workplace safety to over 1575 women.

To equip women workers with the knowledge and skills necessary to claim their rights, AAIN conducted awareness, orientation, and capacity-building sessions on labor rights and legal provisions. Over 411 women workers were trained, empowering them to advocate for fair treatment and just wages in their workplaces.

Empowering laborers: Sita Parki’s advocacy journey

Sita Parki, a resilient member of the REFLECT Circle in Ward-4 of Dipyal Silgadi, has embarked on a remarkable journey of advocacy for the rights of laborers. Reflecting on the challenges faced by her community, Sita recalls, “Our struggles were often overlooked by local authorities. We endured the uncertainty of receiving inadequate wages and the constant fear of workplace accidents.”

Determined to bring about change, Sita and her fellow laborers engaged in a series of meetings and discussions within the Labor Women’s Group. Through these sessions, they deepened their understanding of labor laws and regulations, empowering themselves with knowledge and solidarity. Last year alone, 29 laborers, and this year, eight laborers successfully reclaimed their wages from unscrupulous contractors with the assistance of the police.

Leading by example, Sita spearheaded the movement to reclaim unpaid wages in Doti. Collaborating with other labor women, they submitted applications to local authorities and engaged in discussions with contractors and trade unions. Their collective efforts bore fruit when the police intervened, resulting in the recovery of Rs 659,825 from four contractors across both districts.

But their advocacy did not stop there. Through relentless campaigning, Sita and her comrades achieved equal wages determined by the district wage fixation committee. Monthly wages in various industries have seen a significant increase, with some establishments now providing a minimum of Rs 15,000 in compliance with labor laws. Encouraged by these victories, laborers from different sectors are joining their cause in solidarity.

The Kathmandu Valley Police Office has mobilized over 4,000 security personnel in the Pashupati area for the Mahashivaratri festival, which is being observed today.

An integrated special security plan was put in place for the festival.

SP Police Dinesh Raj Mainali, who is also the spokesperson at the Office, informed that in addition to the security personnel, drones were mobilized for the security. The security arrangement is made in three layers.

They are at work from Thursday night to Saturday.

SP Nabaraj Adhikari is leading the security mobilization.

Emergency and rescue teams along with ambulances are standby in case of need.

Nepali Hindus are observing the Mahashivaratri festival by offering prayer to and worshiping Lord Shiva today, on Fagun Krishna Chaturdashi (the fourth day of the waning moon in the month of Phagun), as per the lunar calendar.

According to the Nepal Calendar Determination Committee, Brahma took the form of Shiva at the midnight of Krishna Chaturdashi of Fagun. So, this day is observed with prayers, pooja, and visits to Lord Shiva's shrines. Hindus believe that the observation of the Mahashivaratri brings peace and prosperity to one's life.

From early morning today, devotees take baths in rivers and ponds, visit Lord Shiva's shrines, and pay homage.

The day is regarded as the favorite day of Lord Shiva, who is believed to bring happiness to the hearts of those living in difficulty.

Some observe fasting on the day and the night is observed with a vigil (jagram), celebrating Shiva.

People also make fire at home, on public squares, and at temples, chant hymns, and take prasad on occasion.

Classical dances are performed at Kailashkut and Kirateshwor of the Pashupati area in Kathmandu.

The Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu is thronged by devotees from across the country and neighboring India.

Meanwhile, Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has made special arrangements to facilitate the visitors. RSS