University of Maryland

 On  29th September, 2013, I was in Maryland University. Addressed the students in a class on Feminism and religion. Maryland is a beautiful University with a sprawling campus. They have a very strong Centre for Women's studies and the Feminist Studies Journal is edited from here.

University of Bridgeport

 

After completing my Brazil tour reached the US on 29th September, 2013. My first stop was in the University of Bridgeport. Addressed the women in a engineering class in a group called, SWE, Society for women Engineers, where we discussed the issue with women in science in our county. This is a nice support group for women which supports them, mentors them and it looks like a very strong organization. Met Varun doing his Ph. d there and had a tiff  with him to have a hair cut. He is planning to have a pony tail and says being a feminist you should not object and I tell him I do not like boys with pony tails.  His friends took me out for dinner and met many boys and girls from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Arabia and many other countries.

In Brasilla , Brazil

 

On 22nd September, 2013, I was in Brasilia.Rio de Janeiro was the country's capital between 1763 and 1960. The city of Salvador served as the seat for the Portuguese colonial administration in Brazil for its first two centuries and is usually called the "first capital of Brazil." In 1960, Brazil moved its capital city from Rio de Janeiro to a brand new city in the center of the country, called Brasilia. Brasilia was designed and constructed on empty land near the center of the country in the 1950s. Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia to assert its independence, exchanging a colonial capital on the coast for a new interior capital. The interior, underdeveloped, location of the new capital allowed a fresh start as well as an opportunity to develop the region.Because of its unique city plan and architecture, as well as its unprecedented role in the development of the Brazilian interior, the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Brasilia is  unusual. The reasons for this are its unusual architecture and innovative urban planning, designed to facilitate life for its inhabitants. Features that allow it to be classed as one of the first smart cities of the world, despite this term not even existing when it was built

I am told that this city is well organise. So all the hotels are at one place, all schools at one, restaurants at one and Colleges at one. Wow. Imagine. My friend told me that they never believe children should be away in school at a far off place so apartments and housing are near schools and he children would just cross the road and go to school, swimming, language class . The city is beautiful. They wanted to put up a gateway, which has been done and there was a lot of opposition saying this is not in the plan. I saw the palace which is so beautiful with lot of greenery and open spaces.

The traditional market in Florina Polis, Brazil.

 

It was on 19th September, 2013 that I was taken to the traditional market in Florina Polis in Brazil. The Public Market is located at Rua Advisor Mafra No. 255 in the center of Florianopolis, or as some affectionately call Florianopolis. This market was built in 1898 and has a beautiful architecture, has an average of 140 boxes a smorgasbord products such as clothing, artezanatos tasty local straw and ceramics to mention the food court that will get in the central market with a wide variety appetizers from local gastronomy based on fish and shrimp found in the very region that always accompanied choppinho cold, where locals and tourists gather to chat and enjoy the various types of popular demonstrations and cultural. The building that now houses the Public Market in Florianopolis is built in front of the Customs in 1898, replacing the old market, which was demolished in 1896 after 45 years of operation. The story of this first market is an important landmark for the city. It was the debate about its location, between the years 1791 and 1848, which led to the first two political parties in Santa Catarina. This is also a very popular place if you want to: have something to drink, something small to eat, and meet friends in the evening. The area is covered - so a little rain is no problem, the music that is very high-volume, and even if you sit with maximum distance to the musician you WILL hear it. It can be hard to find the toilets after some beer, but there is a place for this. Good hygiene, but with a small cost. 

 

Interactions with studetns in Brazil University

 It was nice to interact with young students doing research in History. I found two other interesting  things. One,  there is a group of Historians in the Fezando that works on gender and all of them get together.There was a lot of discussion as to what they have done with regards to gender history and people were informing the group about activities like organising a Conference, bringing out a Journal , bring people together for a meeting and many other things. In the evening there was a programme where nearly thirty scholars, students sat on stage and showed their books which were released since the last Fezando and then spoke a little about what the books were about and how did they go about researching and writing it.

Book Release function in Brazil Conference

 It was very nice to see so many books being released on gender. This was again a new experience. They had all the people who had published books since the last Fazendo come up on stage and each one introduced their book. This encourages scholars and students , to be there the next time and introduce their book to the large audience. This was an incredible experience and I am going to see if we can do this some place in India. With such a step each scholar feels encouraged and they try to publish a new book by the next Conference. The scholars are invited to the stage and they introduce thier book to the audience.

Key Note address in Brazil's 10th Fazendo Genero

 I have been invited to  Brazil to give the key note address in a Conference on Gender called Fazendo Genero which is held once in two years and this is the 10th one. I am amazed at the energy and the people that have come together. Five thousand men and women are attending this . I have met feminists from Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Al Salvador, Columbia names which were just geographical entities to me but now I see the women's movement in these countries and the issues that they are struggling with. Language is a major barrier for most women do not speak in English.  This time the Conference theme is on Challenges to Feminism and my key note is on Challenges to Feminism in 21st century a south Asian perspective. The University has such a lovely convention Centre and this is the meeting place of all the different groups.

I am very impressed by the fact that the meetings in Fazendo Genero starts here at 9.00 in the morning and ends at 9.00 at night and there is full attendance. It is so difficult to hold on to the people in  India after a certain hour. Again another interesting thing which I found was that the minister for Racism and social Justice came and attended the Conference.She also addressed the Conference.  Every one told me she is a very powerful minister and only second in the cabinet. I was invited to have dinner with her and the other person who was  a secretary or some such high ranking official in the Brazilian embassy in India for some time . The minister had no bodyguards, roamed around freely and interacted with every one like a commoner and in the morning when she left for the airport to go back to Brasilia for she had a very important meeting to attend she called for a taxi to take her to the airport. I cannot imagine a minister behaving like this in my country. Today again I attended a panel which had five women politicians who were answering questions on women's issues and the  point of view of their party and then they mixed with the crowd very easily. They looked more like University Professors than politicians to me.