Let’s talk about India’s “worst kept secret” There is a conspiracy afoot. A conspiracy of silence. Of turning away from a heinous crime happening under our noses. As close as our own homes, neighbourhoods, schools, parks and places of worship. Perpetrated by family members, family friends, neighbours, teachers and instructors, and domestic help. The silence […]
Social issues
Bangalore goes rainbow
“Welcome to Ben-Gay-luru!” proclaimed a hand-made poster. And for a couple of hours on a late Sunday afternoon for the short distance between National College and Town Hall, that is exactly what it was. About 600 or so people—according to media estimates—gathered for Bangalore’s second gay pride parade on 28 June 2009. On display were […]
ToI strikes again!
Kalpana Sharma’s piece “Beware of the Maid” (18 June 2009; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4667727.cms) is a contemptible piece of writing that not just displays a complete lack of sensitivity and basic decency, but also shows up the standards (lack of them?) of journalism of the Times of India group. It trivializes serious issues such as the abuse and […]
Keeping mum
The hypocrisy of Mother’s Day Mother’s Day. Yet another largely Western concept conveniently commercialized and cleverly hijacked into the calendar. And funnily enough, this is not something even the most rabid right-winger is going to object to. Because, after all, we are the epitome of the worship of mothers and motherhood. Right? Sadly, it couldn’t […]
Phishing for a giggle
E-mail scams. We’ve all had them, and while I do not know anyone stupid enough to fall for one, it seems that scammers often end up raking in handsome rewards. All I can say is, people idiotic enough to fall for these deserve it. Take the latest one to make its way into my inbox. […]
Make Bangalore safe again
Can there be anything worse than not feeling safe? For women on Bangalore’s roads looking over their shoulders in apprehension is a new feeling. The one thing we felt in Bangalore was safe, and now that is no longer true, thanks to a group of misguided people who feel that attacking innocent people is how […]
Joint statement on the Mangalore assault
Issued: Bangalore: 9 p.m., 29 January 2009. (To add your name, please visit: Ultra Violet): We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the horrific and unprovoked assault by a group of 40 hooligans, reportedly members of the Sri Rama Sene, on young women in a pub in the coastal city of Mangalore, Karnataka, during the afternoon of […]
Terrorism of a different flavour
The Mangalore incident gives us all the perfect excuse to put on our most outraged faces, condemn the Sri Rama Sene, and pontificate at length on what really is wrong with our society. Yet this is not the first of these sort of incidents and one hardly thinks it will be the last. Righteous fundamentalist […]
Bangalore Pride 2008
Sunday, 29 June 2008, sees history being made in Bangalore. For the first time, the city joins Kolkata and also-first-timer Delhi in having its first ever LGBT Pride Parade. Worldwide, the modern LGBT movement is largely acknowledged as having had as a catalyst an event referred to as the Stonewall Rebellion. On 29 June 1969, […]
World Vision Partners Meet 2008
On Saturday, 14 June, I went to the Bangalore World Vision Partners’ Meet. The idea behind these meetings is, of course, for sponsors and World Vision to meet face to face, and all in all it was an evening well spent. We all finally got see Lily — the lady behind all the correspondence, urging […]