The pandemic of apathy

The pandemic of apathy

In 1947, my grandparents brought three children and the remains of an uprooted life from Pakistan to India in a train. One of those children was my mother. I grew up hearing a lot of stories about the horror of those times. The trains full of bodies. Hungry migrants forced to cook on the flames […]

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The pyramid of abuse

The pyramid of abuse

Three documentaries streaming right now show the ultimate culmination of the Bois Locker Room culture. And what happens when one gender is taught to mistrust its instincts of self-preservation and the other does not even learn something as basic is impulse control. At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (Hotstar) is a […]

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Of irrational, ego centric leaders

Of irrational, ego centric leaders

  Remember how In 2016, Donald Trump, then justa presidential candidate played ‘We Are the Champions’ at the Republican National Convention, while he emerged in near slow motion on a foggy stage? Remember Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long walk in 2018 to his inauguration before starting another six years in power at the Kremlin? His […]

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Our own gas chambers of hate

Our own gas chambers of hate

The holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers in Germany. India’s dehumanisation too began much before hungry migrants were sprayed with sodium hypochlorite. It takes a long time to desensitise a large swathe of a country’s population to bring it to a point where the unthinkable becomes normal. Germany took its time to normalise […]

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How did we get here?

How did we get here?

*This piece was written on February 16, 2020 The latest footage of policemen in combat gear storming the Jamia Millia Islamia library on December 15, 2019 sums up the nature of the beast. This domesticated beast is India’s law and order machinery and is unleashed strategically by the powerful to settle scores and by and […]

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The revolution of love is here..

The revolution of love is here..

Someone I know, recently shifted to an old age facility. Another resident, (in his nineties incidentally), asked her within days of her arrival , what languages she was conversant with. When she named Bengali in the list, he snapped, “I will report you to NRC people.” Hate you see gives a sense of purpose to […]

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The idea of India is alive and well.

The idea of India is alive and well.

On the day freedom fighters and lifelong friends Ramprasad Bismil and Ashfaq Ullah Khan were hanged, and a few weeks after the death of Shaukat Kaifi, I heard Shabana Azmi on a channel, quoting the famous couplet penned by her father. “आज की रात बहुत गर्म हवा चलती है, आज की रात न फ़ुटपाथ पे […]

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How to survive gaslighting

How to survive gaslighting

“So, you’re imagining things again.” “You’re stupid. You always get it all wrong.” “I never said that, it never happened.” Rings a bell? It’s true that there are times when we can misunderstand, misinterpret or overreact to a situation. However, ask yourself, if it’s always true by putting your thoughts on trial under the light […]

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Even goddesses need a break

Even goddesses need a break

I’ve been following the global #MeToo Movement for a few years now, torn between celebrating the outpouring of sisterhood and solidarity for survivors of sexual harassment and appalled at the shame and ridicule they were being subjected to for speaking out. The #MeToo implosion in India followed a scarily similar turn of events, raging through […]

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