Larsen & Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s advocacy of a 90-hour work week is deeply problematic on so many levels that it merits examination beyond the usual 24-hour social media cycle. In a video on Reddit apparently during an employee interaction the 64-year-old was asked why the multibillion-dollar conglomerate was making employees work on Saturdays. “I […]
Why L&T’s SN Subrahmanyan needs to talk to more women Read More »
In a post AI world, rarely have images mattered as much as they do now. An innocuous-enough photograph of a mother and her three children has created a stir that is bouncing off our planet as if the first bugle of armageddon has been sounded. Kate Middleton, on track to be the future queen of
Laapataa Lady: The world has gone bonkers over the ‘missing’ Kate Middleton Read More »
In Kiran Rao’s new film, Laapataa Ladies, the brides are making their own journeys, gradually spreading their wings and discovering parts of themselves they have never known The brides, veiled and dressed nearly identically in red, have been swapped. And what seems to be the starting premise of a wholesome comedy is actually a portrait
Missing women in search of themselves Read More »
Fill in the blanks:
Why was she wearing ____ ?
Who told her to go to _____ ?
Wasn’t she being too adventurous in ____?
The latest horror story out of Jharkhand has inflamed social media—not so much because of the violence of the crime, but because the woman is a foreign national who has spoken about her ordeal on a now deleted Instagram post, her bruised and battered face for all the world to see.
Here’s what happened. On the night of March 1, the woman travelling on a Spanish passport along with her husband, was attacked in Dumka, Jharkhand. According to the first information report (FIR), the woman has said she was gang-raped by seven men (at the time of writing all seven have been arrested along with one more) and her partner was beaten, assaulted and robbed. They were found by a night police patrol and taken to a hospital where the woman told the doctors she had been raped.
India, we have a rape problem. What are we doing about it? Read More »
Sri Lanka’s first woman architect is , sadly, largely forgotten Truth be told I had not heard of Minnette de Silva. Goeffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s lionised and feted architect, yes. His influence can be seen in not just his own former country estate in Lunuganga but in buildings such as the new Parliament house. But
Remembering the life and work of Minnette da Silva Read More »
Just as surely as the seasons change, our angst at the state of our cities will pass. The capital’s toxic air will cede to other crises. Again.
In Chennai and Mumbai, the annual rite of monsoon flooding will hold sway, then the rains will cease and we’ll move on. Again.
Every season, we reignite the same debates, ask the same questions and read the same analyses.
Take the zeitgeist, air pollution and its unwavering script: Children and seniors advised to remain indoors; schools shut, construction stopped, traffic rationed. Relax, says our environment minister, this isn’t the Bhopal gas tragedy. How reassuring. When the weather changes, the haze will lift and all will be forgotten.
An article in The Washington Post notes that pollution levels are usually lower in (a) democracies, (b) rich and affluent areas and (c) countries in line with international agreements — as India is with the Paris Agreement.
We, the elite of India, are to blame for the state of our cities Read More »
How do you continue to hold out hope with the weight of the State’s boot on your neck? The message is clear: In their quest for justice, women are unequal citizens, some more unequal than others. The men were garlanded and feted at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in an utterly obscene display of
Are some women in India more unequal than others? Read More »
How do you continue to hold out hope with the weight of the State’s boot on your neck? The message is clear: In their quest for justice, women are unequal citizens, some more unequal than others. The men were garlanded and feted at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in an utterly obscene display of
Are some women in India more unequal than others Read More »
She puts her career before her only child. “I’m sorry kid. I really want to come. But something’s come up at work.” The disappointed 10-year-old shoots back: “You’re working every day. You don’t like to do anything else.” That’s the script for when Jagruti Phatak, single mom and investigative journalist, tells her son she can’t
Dear ladies, your ambition is showing (gasp) Read More »
You’ve heard the story. That amazing woman who has it all, does it all – and always with a smile. Kids homework. Check. Taking mom for her doctor’s appointment. Check. Employee of the month. Check. Home-cooked nutritious meals. Check. Partner’s go-to shoulder to lean on. Check. Mentor to younger women at work. Check, check, check.
Busting the myth of the “superwoman” Read More »
Picture credits: @yolandayoungesq/ The Guardian Early in February, Sidra Aziz tweeted: “I am 31 years old and over the last few years I have very consciously chosen not to have children ever. Marriage, maybe. Children, no.” It was an innocuous enough tweet but the 31-year-old data product manager was taken aback by the response. Within
India is one of 36 countries where it is not a crime to rape your wife. Well, if your wife is younger than 15, then even the law says intercourse with her is rape. But that is the only exception. Now, even this exception is under judicial scrutiny as a two-judge bench of Justices C
Marital rape: Ball’s in the court Read More »