Candidate lists are trickling in, and seat-sharing configurations are being hammered out, but you can already smell it, that unmistakable stench of misogyny and sexism. The announcement of actor Kangana Ranaut as the BJP candidate from Mandi did not surprise political watchers. Ranaut is open in her admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party and has considerable clout on X with 2.9 million followers. Her tweets have, unfortunately, been less-than-exemplary; for instance when she called fellow actor Urmila Matondkar, a Congress candidate in 2019, a ‘soft porn actor’. Regardless, every person who believes in common decency took umbrage…

For Ananya Upendran, the pivotal moment came on the opening night of Women’s Premier League (WPL) when Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals with a last ball six by Sajeevan Sajana. The uncapped 29-year-old from Wayanad “had been on the circuit for 10 years, on the verge of letting go,” says Upendran, a former state-level player who now heads GoSports’ Equal Hues Cricket Excellence programme. “And here she was, proof that given an opportunity, women can play high quality cricket.” Proof is what WPL 2024 was all about. Proof that women can play. Proof that people want to watch them play. Proof of…

In a post AI world, rarely have images mattered as much as they do now. An innocuous-enough photograph of a mother and her three children has created a stir that is bouncing off our planet as if the first bugle of armageddon has been sounded. The picture that launched a thousand conspiracies Kate Middleton, on track to be the future queen of England, released a picture on Mother’s Day presumably with the intention to scotch rumours about her ‘disappearance’ from public view since Christmas last year. On January 17, official sources had informed the British public that she had undergone…

In Kiran Rao’s new film, Laapataa Ladies, the brides are making their own journeys, gradually spreading their wings and discovering parts of themselves they have never known The brides, veiled and dressed nearly identically in red, have been swapped. And what seems to be the starting premise of a wholesome comedy is actually a portrait of women in search of themselves. The first word of the title Laapataa Ladies translates both as lost and missing, the word chosen by Amartya Sen to talk about women and girls who were aborted before they could be born. Laapataa Ladies (Jio Studios and Kindling Pictures)…

The brides, veiled and dressed nearly identically in red, have been swapped. And what seems to be the starting premise of a wholesome comedy is actually a portrait of women in search of themselves. The first word of the title Laapataa Ladies translates both as lost and missing, the word chosen by Amartya Sen to talk about women and girls who were aborted before they could be born. Set in 2001, the question of missing women remains relevant two decades later. From labour force participation to Parliament, from the police to the judiciary, from public spaces to policy, just where are the…

In a post AI world, rarely have images mattered as much as they do now. An innocuous-enough photograph of a mother and her three children has created a stir that is bouncing off our planet as if the first bugle of armageddon has been sounded. Kate Middleton, on track to be the future queen of England, released a picture on Mother’s Day presumably with the intention to scotch rumours about her ‘disappearance’ from public view since Christmas last year. On January 17, official sources had informed the British public that she had undergone abdominal surgery that is not cancer-related and…

Fill in the blanks: Why was she wearing ____ ? Who told her to go to _____ ? Wasn’t she being too adventurous in ____? The latest horror story out of Jharkhand has inflamed social media—not so much because of the violence of the crime, but because the woman is a foreign national who has spoken about her ordeal on a now deleted Instagram post, her bruised and battered face for all the world to see. Here’s what happened. On the night of March 1, the woman travelling on a Spanish passport along with her husband, was attacked in Dumka, Jharkhand. According to the first information…

Sri Lanka’s first woman architect is , sadly, largely forgotten Truth be told I had not heard of Minnette de Silva. Goeffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka’s lionised and feted architect, yes. His influence can be seen in not just his own former country estate in Lunuganga but in buildings such as the new Parliament house. But Minnette who? On a visit to the island nation that gave the world meaning to the word serendipity, I stumbled upon a solo show at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. It was, unusually, of a housing project that had been designed by Sri Lanka’s…

Just as surely as the seasons change, our angst at the state of our cities will pass. The capital’s toxic air will cede to other crises. Again. In Chennai and Mumbai, the annual rite of monsoon flooding will hold sway, then the rains will cease and we’ll move on. Again. Every season, we reignite the same debates, ask the same questions and read the same analyses. Take the zeitgeist, air pollution and its unwavering script: Children and seniors advised to remain indoors; schools shut, construction stopped, traffic rationed. Relax, says our environment minister, this isn’t the Bhopal gas tragedy. How reassuring. When the…

How do you continue to hold out hope with the weight of the State’s boot on your neck? The message is clear: In their quest for justice, women are unequal citizens, some more unequal than others. The men were garlanded and feted at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in an utterly obscene display of triumphalism that mocks every woman who seeks justice for rape. (PTI) Eleven men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape and murder of 14 people in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Among their victims was Bilkis Bano, 19 years old and five months pregnant. She…

How do you continue to hold out hope with the weight of the State’s boot on your neck? The message is clear: In their quest for justice, women are unequal citizens, some more unequal than others. The men were garlanded and feted at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) office in an utterly obscene display of triumphalism that mocks every woman who seeks justice for rape. (PTI) Eleven men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape and murder of 14 people in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Among their victims was Bilkis Bano, 19 years old and five months pregnant. She…

She puts her career before her only child. “I’m sorry kid. I really want to come. But something’s come up at work.” The disappointed 10-year-old shoots back: “You’re working every day. You don’t like to do anything else.” That’s the script for when Jagruti Phatak, single mom and investigative journalist, tells her son she can’t take him for the movie they had planned to watch. The TV series is Scoop on Netflix and it is based on the true story of crime reporter Jigna Vora. Jagruti’s ambitions are pretty straightforward and include (though not necessarily in this order): To become…