The juvenile justice system needs many changes to reflect social reality. Namita Bhandare writes. 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 will never know his name. We will never know if he emerges repentant or hardened after his time served. His criminal record will remain forever sealed in a dusty file somewhere. No matter what the juvenile justice court rules on July 25…

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 will never know his name. We will never know if he emerges repentant or hardened after his time served. His criminal record will remain forever sealed in a dusty file somewhere. No matter what the juvenile justice court rules on July 25 this is a…

A State can make it mandatory to look after the elderly. But what about emotional care? Namita Bhandare writes. 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 24 carat gilt-edged. Contemporary reality is uglier. A grey generation is less valued for its wisdom and experience. Our obsession with youth – count the number of anti-ageing cosmetic creams – continues. A new brash India has little time or patience, especially…

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 24 carat gilt-edged. Contemporary reality is uglier. A grey generation is less valued for its wisdom and experience. Our obsession with youth – count the number of anti-ageing cosmetic creams – continues. A new brash India has little time or patience, especially for the elderly.…

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 attacked her was the 32-year-old brother of a friend who wanted to marry her. Because she had rebuffed him, he tracked her down to the market where she had gone to buy a book. When she finally reached the hospital, doctors had to douse her…

Never before has India’s lack of leadership been as depressingly obvious as it has been in the past few weeks. Never before has the moral vacuum that accompanies those in charge been so apparent. Never before has India’s lack of leadership been as depressingly obvious as it has been in the past few weeks. Never before has the moral vacuum that accompanies those in charge been so apparent. It’s not just politics — the story that politicians are venal, weak, immoral is an old track — moral bankruptcy now stares at us from cricket to business. Certainly the business of…

In India we are leap years away from giving women a just work environment. The unlamentable fall of Phaneesh Murthy should have been a clear signal of zero tolerance by managements towards sexual harassment. The collective tut-tutting by the IT industry — ‘message to all leaders in business’, ‘right decision’ etc — should have come with the acknowledgement that sexual harassment in the workplace does exist. In fact, neither has happened. Murthy hasn’t been sacked for sexual harassment, as some headlines seem to suggest. He’s been shown the door for failing to report a relationship with a subordinate, a decision…

In India, we’re leap years away from giving women a just work environment. Namita Bhandare writes. The unlamentable fall of Phaneesh Murthy should have been a clear signal of zero tolerance by managements towards sexual harassment. The collective tut-tutting by the IT industry — ‘message to all leaders in business’, ‘right decision’ etc — should have come with the acknowledgement that sexual harassment in the workplace does exist. In fact, neither has happened. Murthy hasn’t been sacked for sexual harassment, as some headlines seem to suggest. He’s been shown the door for failing to report a relationship with a subordinate,…

On Mother’s Day, spare a thought for the sufferings of millions of women. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image 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 lunch on time, exchange a bit of family gossip, bring her up to speed with her grandkids. But, no plans for a card. Why not? Perhaps it is because I’m struck by a sense of grammatical confusion on where to…

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 lunch on time, exchange a bit of family gossip, bring her up to speed with her grand kids . But, no plans for a card. Why not? Perhaps it is because I’m struck by a sense of grammatical confusion on where to place the apostrophe.…

Elections in India are not decided by Twitter trends or ‘likes’ on Facebook. Namita Bhandare writes. 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 of tall tales) began trending on the social network site. Feku came on the heels of another hashtag, Pappu (the closest English equivalent would be dolt, but feel free to correct me) that popped up as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi spoke…

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 of tall tales) began trending on the social network site. Feku came on the heels of another hashtag, Pappu (the closest English equivalent would be dolt, but feel free to correct me) that popped up as Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi spoke to CII. Neither…