Confessions and reflections

  Video source: My Choice                                                            Video source: My Choice - Male Version Considering that both these videos are now going viral, I could not stop myself from commenting. The videos are above in case you may not have viewed one or the other or both. Gender equity and equality does not mean pitching one gender against another and invisibilising other gender identities that don't fit in this norm. However, what I wonder is why the furor or the necessity to counter what women say especially when they want to make a choice, or claim their rights. Why the inherent need to question their intent, or their existence or blame them for their clothes if they face sexual harassment or have been raped? Why ask her to keep experiences of harassment, abuse and violence under cover… for...

No, I’m not from Nepal. No, I don’t do ‘nepali dhanda’. Yes, I belong to India. Yes, I face racial discrimination each day in its capital. Racism , discrimination and sexual violence against people from northeast region of India are nothing new. To say that North eastern people are at the receiving end of this perpetual hate crime in almost all the cities and other places in India is like giving a thumbs up to Delhi for keeping up the practice. AS Reingamphi from Choithar village, Ukhrul district of Manipur was found dead in her rented accommodation in Chirag Dilli. There were signs of brutal assault on her nose, face and legs. The reports of the two post-mortems conducted remain inconclusive about the cause of death. And the landlord and the police claim that the girl committed suicide and the injuries on her person were caused by rats! The tragic death of Reingamphi has become just another example of the continuous violence against women from the Northeast. But her death b...

When I was asked by an ex colleague, “So what are you?”, I chose to misunderstand the query and said, “A copywriter.” So he smiled at my naiveté and said, “Nahi, nahi,  I meant what caste are you?” So the famous case of my twin surnames confusing people of my origin was at it again.  But did it make a better person if I’d acquired a-so-to-speak brahmanical status thanks to matrimony or did it increase my prowess to churn out award winning campaigns if I was born a ‘baniya’? In a conversation with a very well read friend who has strong opinions on the caste system of India and how it manages to infiltrate all spheres of our living, it got me thinking how I had never gone beyond getting irked every time someone wanted to know what caste and sub-caste I belonged to. Why didn’t I read up more, why didn’t I want to take it up the way I want to campaign for cleanliness and hygiene in and around the city? Or it really doesn’t make any difference to me if  a Dalit ...