Addressing the members of Karavali Lekhakiyara Vachakiyara Sangha during a felicitation programme organised at Sahitya Sadana, Urwa, here on Saturday, she said any literary work is backed by a solid background filled with certain sensitivities, and the award she got is a recognition for the sensitivities of women and women writers.

“I alone cannot take the credit for the award, since whatever I have written is a reflection of the influence of the society and the people around me. I don’t know whether I wrote the works or the works were written by me. There is a great lineage behind the award,” she said.

She remembered multi-faceted personalities such as K V Subbanna, Lankesh and Anupama Niranjana, identifying them as somebody who are responsible for her present status.

Expressing her concern over the increasing social and religious intolerance in the coastal districts, Vaidehi said women should decide what role they should play in such a critical juncture.

“A boy and a girl cannot talk freely in the public. Neighbours are not in a position to live with religious harmony. The only worry is that whatever awards we get, they do not have the capacity of controlling these kinds of unwanted developments,” sh said.

‘Dream of oneness’

Another noted writer Nemichandra appealed that the society should go ahead with a dream of oneness despite living amidst people with the divide and rule principle.
Nemichandra, basically an aeronautical engineer, said she could attain a position both in profession and literature due to the support she received from her parents especially her illiterate mother. “Though my mother did not have an opportunity to go to school, she had a clear idea about the significance of education, specifically for women,” she recalled.

Terming writing of stories a process of self actualisation, she said “writing is inevitable for me”. Most of my stories are the reflection of my own experiences. They are as inseparable as my breath, she added. Nemichandra said she prefers ‘humanitarianism’ to feminism.

“The term feminism connotes superiority and inferiority between two genders. Humanitarianism is a better word.”