Mahashweta Devi

Along with economic, political, sexual, social exploitation, and god knows what else, colonialism drained South Asia of its resources; this much we know and agree on. But, this encounter also unintentionally opened spaces for women and the ex-untouchable castes in areas like education and politics. Admitting to this history would mean also accepting that a “pre-colonial” society wasn’t ideal after all, and there is no point waxing nostalgic about such an era.