The Wat of Zen
A little biography
forty some years ago,
in a government hospital,
on the west coast of india,
when the sun was high and water was in scarcity,
a child of no consequence was born like all children are.
forty some years later,
in another continent,
i stand on the lone (far left) side of the classroom,
and through a maze of word-o-mania,
i trample across continents, through people's lives,
carelessly, carefully,
thoughtlessly, thoughtfully,
stopping for minutes to recapture history, stories, tragedies.
sometimes understanding,
most often not;
questioning violence, beliefs, systems,
and the whys of existence;
wondering at the end of the day
if i have come even close to the reason of my being.
i have not.
- writing an autobiography is a narcissistic act!
Pavithra Narayanan is an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Literature, and Film Theory and Production, and an affiliate of Women's Studies and American Studies at Washington State University Vancouver. Narayanan, who is from Kerala, in South India, completed a Doctorate at Bharathidasan University in Trichy, India. Her doctoral dissertation on Patrick White explored how the author interrogated, challenged, and dismantled traditional social norms of the settler community through his writing; and her post-doctoral study on indigenous and white women writers from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada examined the unequal spaces these writers occupy in settler colonies. Focusing on India now, Narayanan's research continues the investigations of her earlier work on gender, race and class disparities, and hierarchical postcolonial structures in literature.
Narayanan's book project, What are you reading?: The World Market and Literary Production in India, focuses on the Indian literary scene and examines the interconnectedness of postcolonial literary production and global capitalism.
In addition to a background in Postcolonial Literature and in Women's Studies, Narayanan holds a Masters Degree in Mass Communication and has for the last several years focused considerable energy in producing documentaries that engage critical issues in contemporary Indian culture. Her film India and Free Trade: A Closer look at Bhopal, looks at the implications of free trade and the changes brought about by transnational corporations in India.
Narayanan's current film project Facing North-East: Remembering Manipur, Manorma Unforgotten, examines the current political situation in Manipur and tells the story of Manorama Devi, a Manipuri woman, who was killed by the Indian Armed Forces. Her film seeks to re-map the nation state of India from just being viewed as one of "the fastest growing economies," to being defined by justice and security, where civil liberties is an unassailable principle - not a discriminatory privilege.
Narayanan has been invited by Universities in the United States and non-profit organizations to give talks on both her films, gender and postcolonial issues.