columns

Men say they are scared by this new environment. Far too many women have lived in fear of the old environment. It’s time to pack the dinosaurs off to the museum, writes Namita Bhandare. I hear a great lament these days. Aggressive women are killing romance in the workplace with their flurry of complaints (young […]

Political parties are slowly realising that women constitute the largest vote-bank and they need to at least look concerned. But, dressed-up manifestos and sops like saris and pressure cookers won’t cut it any longer. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image I am a woman. When I vote, I do not cast my ballot because my husband

The SP deserves to lose. That’s a small compensation for those who live under open skies in the Muzaffarnagar riot relief camps, scrambling to rebuild what is left of their lives. Namita Bhandare writes. ‘Live communities don’t wait for five years.’ Akhilesh Yadav might want to heed these words attributed to his party’s mentor, Ram

Apart from expressions of disapproval in meetings, Modi has been silent and it’s not clear whether he is upset that his development agenda is being hijacked, lacks the clout to shake off the RSS or is playing the good cop/bad cop where he will make the right noises about governance, leaving the Hindutva brigade free

Sexual harassment is an abuse of power, a betrayal of trust and one of India’s worst-kept secrets. But one thing has changed, and it is the refusal of an increasing number of women to remain silent, writes Namita Bhandare. You could say it’s just another week in the life of working women in India. A

Caught in a shadowy time between tradition and globalisation, post liberalised India’s fascination for godmen continues. Namita Bhandare writes. My first instinct was to laugh. Only in India would a seer dream of a long dead king telling him about buried gold. Only in India would this be taken seriously enough to send the Archaeological

The national conversation, dominated by temples, toilets, has no patience for stories of Dalit women who face humiliation daily. Given the measly media coverage, their stories cause no outrage. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image The national conversation, dominated by temples, toilets, has no patience for stories of Dalit women who face humiliation daily. Given the

Now that Rahul Gandhi has termed the ordinance on convicted lawmakers ‘nonsense’, it is pretty much dead in the water. What remains to be seen is whether the government will follow through by also withdrawing the Bill, writes Namita Bhandare. A few days from now we will witness that annual ritual known as Gandhi Jayanti

So what changes now? Now that four convicts in the Delhi gang rape case have been sentenced to death will your daughter be able to take a bus from a late evening film show without worrying about making it safely home? Namita Bhandare writes. So what changes now? Now that four convicts in the Delhi

The digital age of photography is empowers us to capture moments our memory might find hard to contain. It is an experience captured and is democratic, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image A shaft of sunlight falls on the girl asleep on my bed. Her father lies next to her and I can’t help smiling as

Hours after I return from Bhutan’s Mountain Echoes literature festival, I find myself rather appropriately elbow-deep in books. Lit fests open windows to this closed world. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Hours after I return from Bhutan’s Mountain Echoes literature festival, I find myself rather appropriately elbow-deep in books. The house-painters had moved in. I

The most basic human act of one person telling another ‘I feel your pain,’ seems singularly absent in the landscape of Indian political-speak across parties and ideology. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Nine days after 23 school children died and another 24 were hospitalised after eating a school lunch contaminated with pesticide, Bihar chief minister