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 Survey of India (ASI) scurrying off to unearth hidden treasure in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. Only in India would this set off a frenzy of treasure seekers who reportedly hold two priests at gunpoint while they dig a temple and a fort in an adjoining village…

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 measly media coverage, their stories cause no outrage. Complicit in this are the police, loath to file FIRs against politically connected and rich criminals. Away from the din of ‘dehati aurat’ and ‘escape velocity’, 45 Dalit women are talking about the daily humiliation that is…

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. 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. Complicit in this are the police, loath to file FIRs against politically connected and rich criminals. Away from the din of ‘dehati aurat’ and ‘escape velocity’, 45 Dalit women are talking about the daily humiliation that is their life. The women and,…

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 when politicians trot off to pay tribute to the father of the nation. And yet I can’t help wondering what Gandhiji would have made of the Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) findings that 162 of 543 sitting Lok Sabha members have declared criminal cases against…

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 off to pay tribute to the father of the nation. And yet I can’t help wondering what Gandhiji would have made of the Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) findings that 162 of 543 sitting Lok Sabha members have declared criminal cases against themselves. The party-wise…

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 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? Can I make eye contact with strange men on the street without a returning leer? Will missing street lights…

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 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? Can I make eye contact with strange men on the street without a returning leer? Will…

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 I notice that her arm is wrapped tightly around him. In another few minutes she will wake up, oblivious to what this moment means to me, or even that it happened. In another few days she leaves for college, spreading her wings in a world…

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 had promised to empty out my bookshelves before I left. And of course I hadn’t. It was imperative that I pack my books away myself. This was not a job that could be delegated because the plan was to create a super-organised system that would…

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. 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 had promised to empty out my bookshelves before I left. And of course I hadn’t. It was imperative that I pack my books away myself. This was not a job that could be delegated because the plan was to create a super-organised system that would put Dewey to shame. Out…

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 Nitish Kumar finally decided to speak up. It was not to express regret that such an awful thing could have happened in the state he runs. It was not even to grab a hospital photo-op with the survivors. In fact, Nitish had not gone to…

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 speak up. It was not to express regret that such an awful thing could have happened in the state he runs. It was not even to grab a hospital photo-op with the survivors. In fact, Nitish had not gone to the Patna hospital eight km…