Until we stop normalizing gender roles, gender-equality would remain a dream

And balanced sex ratio too… Recently, there was a news that UP government has proposed a 2-child policy as per which couples with more than two children would be exempted from certain benefits. The proposal was met with a mixed reaction. While a number of people welcomed this move, there was quite a large population …

Women like me- Two Life Lessons

Life as we know it, is never fair. If you are a woman then it is worse. This is what I have learnt in my thirty years of experience. Yes, I have learnt it the hard way. Because I am one of those “privileged” women who grow up protected from the harsh realities of the …

Inside the service lifts of posh high-rise apartments

While reading the book “Dharma Artha Kama Moksha”, I came across a chapter Worlds Above & Below. The chapter spoke about the Pataal Lok, home of the asuras, the Bhu Lok, home of the humans and the Deva Lok, home of the devatas. Pataal Lok is filled with gold and gems but asuras are never …

The struggles of being a feminist in a society where love and self-love are “apparently” two ends of a spectrum

I have been a loner since childhood. I was five and the youngest and poorest kid in the neighborhood. My playmates would always bully me or scare me with ghost stories. When I complained to my parents, they suggested an easy way out. Stop going out to play and read books. And the only books …

Whose holiday is it? The entire family or a few privileged members?

Holiday season has always been special for me. And being in India means the last quarter of the year is full of festivities and celebrations. For me, this has been the time when my regular job becomes less hectic and I find some time to take the next step towards my dream, of becoming a …

How do you handle toxic people? Comply, confront or cut off?

I gained two kilograms in the past week, thanks to the cold weather. I wasn’t allowed to venture out to exercise as Bangalore climate has never been kind to me. As I spent hours sulking this morning, I remembered the exact reason why I pushed myself to lose weight in the first place. It was …

Indian Matchmaking: Oh no, did we forget something? Oh yes, growing up!

As a part of my job, that is writing, I imagine a lot. Today, I would like you to imagine- life of a kid, not very old, about 5-7 years only. What do they do? Well, they just exist. Everything else is done by their parents. From making sure they eat on time to take …

Parenting your parents: What did you teach them today?

For years visiting home during summer and winter breaks seemed to be a lot of tasks. Reason? My parents’ dependency on me for getting their stuff fixed. The demands varied from setting up online banking to sending out bulk emails. Every time I visited them, I had to teach them from scratch and yet during …

Bulbbul: Narrating Indian misogyny through an old folklore

SPOILER ALERT!! For some reason, while writing this one, I am reminded of a dialogue from the Hindi movie Tanu Weds Manu: “Bhaiya, kya hai na, jo aadmi hota hai wo marne ke baad bhoot banta hai lekin jo aurat hoti hai wo chudail ki chudail hi rahti hai.” (A man turns into a ghost …

A letter to those too disturbed to read news

Hey there, I know how terrible it feels to be a part of this world right now. On one side, there’s nature creating havoc while on the other there’s in-numerous instances of human cruelty. If you happen to reside in India, you have been in this situation for a long time now. Every time you …