I'm not a feminist: Shashi Deshpande

hyderabad: i am not a feminist, insists shashi deshpande. "i am a human being and i write about other human beings who happen to be women," she said. shashi, a sahitya academy award winner and author of the binding vine, the dark holds no terror and the long silence among many other novels was in the city on sunday to attend a public meeting on `gender and censorship', organised by asmita - resource centre for women.in an interview with the times of india, she spoke about her works, issues concerning women and various other subjects. most of deshpande's characters are true to life and deal with problems most women would not want to talk about__rape in marriages, lust and breaking free from traditions and stereotypes. "may be 30 years back nobody wanted to talk about these things, but today more and more women are talking about such issues freely," she said. it is difficult for women to break away from stereotypes, more so in the lower strata of society. "when women have money, it definitely becomes easier," she said. money makes things work easily, deshpande added. the sensitivity towards women, their problems and issues is changing. "it is a slow change, but there has definitely been a change," she said. the change is percolating from the urban society to the rural society. and the maxim which still holds true__a woman has to do twice as much to prove herself half as good as a man, deshpande said. when asked if books help in changing mindsets, shashi deshpande said, "books do not have an immediate influence and change conditions like lightning which burns things in a flash, but they do work as catalysts.". "the writing on women's issues has changed perceptions, brought issues to the forefront," deshpande said adding that her work has helped break the silence on a number of issues, which were once a taboo to talk about. when deshpande is not writing, she likes solving the the times of india crossword. "it helps me relax," she says with a smile.