As part of FII’s new Meet the Team series, we are featuring former and current employees who have worked with or are working with us currently since the inception of FII. Feminism in India as a digital intersectional feminist media platform would not exist if not for these incredible individuals who have helped build this organisation to make what it is today.
Today, we’re chatting with Ritika, who is the Hindi Associate Editor at FII. She is a feminist. She is biased and her pen favours the marginalised. This young enthusiast has been awarded by the prestigious Laadli Media Awards and Breakthrough Reframe Media Awards for her gender-sensitive writing.
FII: What do you like most about being a part of the FII family?
Ritika: The best part of being in FII is FII itself. I wanted to be a part of FII Team since last year and here I am.
FII: What advice would you give someone joining the organisation?
Ritika: You’ll learn and unlearn a lot here.
FII: How would your colleagues describe you?
Ritika: A difficult question to answer because I haven’t met anyone personally but I assume they must be having this opinion ‘Ritika always seems so serious’.
FII: Which fictional character do you identify with and why?
Ritika: I identify myself as Shael from the Book Dada Comrade by Yashpal. If I was not into journalism then I would have been an activist like Shael distributing parhcas, telling people how this government is robbing off their rights.
FII: What is something that you’re tired of hearing?
Ritika: I am tired hearing, “Are aapko har cheez me feminism or politics ghusana jaruri hai kya?” (Do you have to involve feminism or politics in everything?).
FII: Which feminist movement do you feel particularly passionate about and why?
Ritika: The recent anti-CAA NRC movement. It was really surprising as well as fascinating for me the way women came forward in these protests, took a stand, participated in march, expressed their views, etc after so long in our country.
FII: What makes FII a ‘feminist’ organisation?
Ritika: The intersectionality of FII because FII is the one platform which keeps repeating the word – Intersectional Feminism, it’s the best part of the organisation.
FII: What’s the most fun thing about your job?
Ritika: You get to know a new thing every day. For example, yesterday I got to know about Stockholm Syndrome, so, as I said, here at FII you learn and unlearn every single day.
FII: Do you remember when and why you decided to work at a feminist organisation?
Ritika: I worked in mainstream media for more than three years and from the perspective of a woman journalist, I would say mainstream media is a highly patriarchal, casteist, biased, and an insensitive medium. So I was trying to be part of FII since last year. When I was working as a freelance writer with FII this feeling became stronger that yes, I would like to be a part of this organisation.
FII: If you had a talk show, which feminist icon would you call and what would you ask them?
Ritika: I wish to call Savitribai Phule and ask, “इस देश का क्या करें अब, कैसे इस देश को समझाएं कि वे हक जिसके लिए आपने इतना संघर्ष किया हमसे छिनते जा रहे हैं।” (What do we do about this country, how do we explain to this country that everything that you fought for is being snatched away from us). I’ll ask her to show us a way forward again.
FII thanks Ritika for her timely and valuable contribution to the organisation. We are incredibly grateful to have her as a part of our team and appreciate her for her deeply insightful work. She can be followed on Twitter.
