ABSTRACT
Popuri Lalita Kumari (1950), popularly known as Volga, a feminist short story writer, novelist, poet, playwright, critic, script writer, translator and an activist, has introduced feminist literary history to Telugu readers. This essay is the editorial introduction to the collection of feminist poetry titled Neeli Meghalu (1993). It can be considered the first feminist anthology in Telugu. The poems included in this volume not only include the most path-breaking thoughts and expressions but also attempt to counter the allegations against feminist ideology and feminist writing. This essay was written as a spirited response to the accusations levelled against women who had begun to express themselves freely in their writings about their desires and aspirations, especially about the desires of their bodies. Volga strongly counters the censorship on women’s thought, expression, life and sexuality. She pertinently asks as to why it is a problem when a woman writes explicitly about her experience while it is not the same when a man writes about his experience and imagination. She emphasises the need to destigmatise certain spaces and realities in a woman’s life such as a labour room and menstruation. Also, articulating the core of feminist ideology, she stresses the need to understand that women’s issues and women’s writing are not just personal. They are political as well since they are closely connected with culture, economy and society.
