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. A few days from now we will witness that annual ritual known as Gandhi Jayanti when politicians trot […]
Voters will be watching Read More »
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? So what changes now? Now that four convicts in the Delhi gang-rape case have
No going back from here Read More »
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. Nine days after 23 school children died and another 24 were hospitalised after eating a school lunch contaminated with pesticide, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar finally decided to
Never having to say sorry Read More »
The juvenile justice system needs many changes to reflect social reality. This is what worries me. Three years or two years or how so ever many months from now, the juvenile who at 17 years and six months of age gang-raped, brutalised and eventually killed a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in December will walk free. We
They’re not minor offences Read More »
A State can make it mandatory to look after the elderly. But what about emotional care? In the sepia-tinted narrative, the parents grow old, earn their place of respect and have hordes of dutiful, loving children and grandchildren worship at their feet. The Grand Indian Family is alive, well and happy. The golden years are
Make them feel relevant Read More »
Despite numerous attacks, there are no street protests demanding justice for the victims of acid violence. No campaigns for the basic demand for the ban of acid sales. Speaking in a clear, sing-song tone, Laxmi says she cannot forget that day on April 22, 2005 when acid was thrown on her face. The man who
A life of pain and penury Read More »
On Mother’s Day, spare a thought for the sufferings of millions of women. Tomorrow I will not be gifting my mother either flowers or a card. No spa treatment. No manicure-pedicure. Like all the other 364 days this year, I will call her, perhaps pop in to fill her medicine box, make sure she has
A card cannot say it all Read More »
Elections in India are not decided by Twitter trends or ‘likes’ on Facebook. Thanks to Twitter, I’ve now learned a new word: Feku. Even as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi addressed meetings in New Delhi, the first at the FICCI Ladies Organisation and the second at CNN-IBN’s Think India festival, the hashtag, ‘Feku’ (boaster, teller
The stage’s virtually set Read More »
Hand on heart, how many of you cheered, or at least felt a bit relieved when you woke up to news of the death of Ram Singh, one of the principal accused in the Delhi December 16 gang-rape case? Hand on heart, how many of you cheered, or at least felt a bit relieved when
It’s our system on trial Read More »
They might inspire fear, but the boards also bring parents closer to children. From the corner of my eye, I spy my daughter waving out to the dog, again. Normally, this wouldn’t set me off on a state of panic. But with just a day to go before the Board exams start, this is no
On board the exam express Read More »
Our failure to protest loudly enough makes us complicit with weak governance. It’s a silence that threatens democratic ideas and places every citizen, regardless of ideology, at peril. The right to be offended is now an all-inclusive Indian sport that unites citizens from Tamil Nadu to Kashmir, Jaipur to Kolkata, women, Dalits, Muslim, Hindus. The
Quiet in times of intolerance Read More »
In the small room they call home, the family of the girl known as Delhi’s Brave heart is trying to come to terms with its loss. Already there is no evidence that she lived here only a month ago. In the small room they call home, the family of the girl known as Delhi’s Braveheart
There’s no closure for them Read More »