[First published in Women’s Web] “Instead of purchasing food from restaurants through ‘swiggy’ and ‘zomato’, let the children taste the delicious food made by their mother and let the children play at play grounds at that time and come back home to the mesmerizing smell of mother’s food. I leave…

[First published in Youth Ki Awaaz] The other day, Sanjeev Bikchandani, a successful serial entrepreneur and a co-founder of Ashoka University posted: Grades Matter These two photographs are from the 1978–79 issue of my school magazine The Columban. In that era grades were not private and they were published in our school…

[Savarnas have always just taken from Dalit communities. When compounded by gender, it becomes worse. The makers of Made in Heaven should rethink their stand on Yashica Dutt’s claims. I write in Woman’s Web]. Pallavi Menke, in her understated, yet exquisite Gaurang creation with fresh jasmine flowers in her hair…

[First published in Youth Ki Awaaz] “When she came to work for us, our house help told us her name was Rakhi*. Since she wore shakha pola and sindoor, we didn’t suspect anything even though she admitted she was from Bangladesh. It is only in the last few weeks when…

[Under all the pink and hype, Barbie the Movie, is Feminism 101 for the uninitiated. I write in Women’s Web.] We didn’t have Barbie in India when I was young. I do remember asking for a Barbie when a relative come from abroad, but was told something about how playing…

[The video of three women in Manipur being sexually molested by a mob triggered this article which was first published in Women’s Web] Trigger Warning: This deals with graphic gender based violence, violence against women, rape and war-time sexual violence on women, and may be triggering for survivors. The recent…

“Black River” begins with young Munia enjoying a cassata ice cream which her father has brought from the nearest town to celebrate her eighth birthday. She savours the unusual flavours, then offers a spoonful to her father. The tender relationship between the young girl and her father, Chand, is quite…

[First published in Women’s Web, and based entirely on interactions on Twitter.] I was on the metro, trying to read on my Kindle, when I felt someone tug at my hem. I looked down. It was a toddler. Normally, I don’t like people pulling at my clothes, but since his…

[First published in Women’s Web] “Shakti”, the scheme which provides fare free bus travel for women, including students and transgender persons, within the state of Karnataka (on non-AC government buses), was launched on June 11, 2023. This made Karnataka the third state in the country, after Delhi and Tamil Nadu…