Mind the Gap

The death of one of India’s most accomplished dancers resulted in a rash of largely laudatory obituaries. Less vocal and visible was a thread that alleged that he was a sexual predator who abused the famous guru-shishya tradition to prey on young female students. On Twitter and Instagram, a woman kathak dancer posted a thread […]

Six students have continued to be marked absent since December 31 after being denied entry into their classrooms at the Government Women’s pre-university college in Udupi, Karnataka for their insistence on wearing a hijab. College principal Rudra Gowda has said the students can wear hijab on the college premises but not inside classrooms. The rule is being followed to

Vanitha, one of Kerala’s most popular women’s magazines published by the Malayala Manorama group, chose for its January cover a smiling portrait of Malayalam actor Dileep, along with his wife and two daughters. The picture-perfect image caused a furore. Actor Swara Bhaskar tweeted, “shame on you” and film critic Anna Vetticad responded, “sick”. Dileep is

A new variant of Covid in full throttle has tempered the hope that traditionally comes with a new year. It’s also a grim reminder of just how hard it is to dislodge that other ‘p’ word, patriarchy. What are the trends that will define India’s gender agenda in 2022? This edition of Mind the Gap

The protests by some women workers at Urban Company, the Indian platform that provides home and beauty services, are not new. What is unprecedented is the legal notice sent by the company to its workers (called “partners”) who are protesting against “unfair trade practices”, which the women say, will hurt their earnings. Back in October, the women

The government is planning to introduce a bill to increase the minimum marriage age of women from 18 to 21. To become law, the bill must be passed by both houses of Parliament after it is introduced, most likely during the winter session. The proposal, cleared during a Cabinet meeting on December 15, follows the