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" Narayan writes about how women are almost “trained” to be invisible, in a world that’s afraid of their body, their sexuality, their voice, and their identity. It's the perfectly unsettling read that patriarchal India deserves. "

- Youth Ki Awaaz

" As many as 90% of Indian women say they dislike their bodies, 98% admit they have been molested and 95% say they have hidden this fact from their parents. These are the startling findings of Deepa Narayan’s book Chup: Breaking the Silence about India’s Women, based on interviews with hundreds of educated upper and middle class women in Delhi and other metros. "

- Times Of India

" Stay quiet. Don’t argue. Don’t ask questions. If you are a woman, and Indian, it is likely you have heard these words when you have tried to speak up. The essence of these put-downs — and a woman’s burden to constantly ‘delete’ herself — give Deepa Narayan’s book its title, Chup "

- The Hindu

" Conducted across colleges, in coffee shops and in shopping malls in the major Indian cities of New Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, Narayan's interviews sought to delve into the “inner lives” of urban women. It revealed that India's young, educated, modern women still encounter widespread gender inequality, and often internalize conservative attitudes toward women's social roles "

- Washington Post

Five years of rigorous research on the roots of gender violence in India, brought Dr. Deepa Narayan to this startling conclusion: Indian women are systematically trained to delete themselves—to delete their own power, to make themselves invisible. The expectations of both men and women keep this power inequality in place even in the educated middle and upper classes.

Deepa Narayan identifies seven key habits that train women not to exist and that dominate women's everyday lives, despite their education, success, financial status and family background. These behaviours may seem harmless but each one keeps women’s powerlessness in place.

Shocking, troubling and revolutionary, Chup will hold a mirror to yourself - and you may not like what you see.

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