POV Archives

Friends With Benefits 2.0: Some of My Favourite People are Ones I Have Never Met

Emotional investment and familiarity with someone’s life isn’t a prerequisite for friendship any longer. The word of the year is instead, “mutuals” – people who share mutual friends and common interests.

Jackie Thakkar June 2, 2016

POV

My Name is Khan and I Don’t Fast! Can Non-Muslims Please Calm Down

Each time I open my dabba at lunch hour during Ramzan, the non-Muslim people at work gasp and ask, “You aren’t fasting?” Food defines their understanding of Islam and anyone in violation of that tenet threatens their understanding of the entire faith.

Karima Khan June 1, 2016

POV

A Modern-Day Guide to Gandhigiri

How can one fit the Gandhian model to the average Indian millennial? Maybe the next time your Uber driver makes the wrong turn, think before you shout at his human fallibility.

Manik Sharma June 1, 2016

POV

And here’s to you Mr Shah Rukh Khan

Shahrukh has saved the day on screen several times, but off it, his heroism stems from the many things he has chosen to ‘not’ do. He may be paying the price for that today, but in him, still resides our strongest hope, that a hero will emerge.

Sharan Saikumar June 1, 2016

POV

Sexist Kitchens: Why We Indian Men Rarely Make For Good Home Cooks

A sexist kitchen is not some overbearing patriarchs keeping women downtrodden with the backbreaking labour of roti making. It’s a much more innocent situation that you might have even experienced at your own home.

Aditya Bhalla June 1, 2016

POV

Goodbye Dear Maruti Omni, Bollywood’s Favourite Kidnapping Vehicle. You Abducted Our Hearts

Oh Maruti Omni, your stubby snout in the front with the dead-inside headlights has scared countless society kids over the years. But we should’ve known better than to trust Bollywood. They gave you a bad rap as the choice of wheels of all abductors, but I don’t think your intentions were ever fully understood.

Jackie Thakkar May 31, 2016

POV

Air India: The BEST Buses of the Sky

The new FDI norms might spell the end of Air India as we know it. For nostalgia’s sake, we hope it takes a page out of BEST’s book. Mumbai’s bus service has been on the brink of privatisation for a few years, but has tenaciously hung on.

Dushyant Shekhawat May 31, 2016

POV

The Not-So-Subtle Art of Meddling: A Guide from Your Nosy Aunty

Your mean aunt or nasty neighbour suffer from a dreaded condition. It is called Phuppoism. It is characterised by an ability to constantly find yourself in a place where you have no business to be – such as the lives of others.

Fizza A. May 31, 2016

POV

The Game That Will Get Us Gold

If India hosts the 2024 Olympics, “Passing the Parcel” should be made an official game. Then we can justify having an ambassador like Salman Khan, and truly be a nation of winners.

Pawan May 29, 2016

POV

What We Should Talk About When We Talk About Nationalism to Our Children

When my five-year-old niece confused India with South Africa while watching a cricket match, I realised that none of us are born with a sense of nationalism. Instead, it is something that is taught to us, piece by piece, line by line, until it becomes a part of our identity.

Mugdha Singh May 29, 2016