Decoding India’s Love-Hate Relationship with Hasan Minhaj
Posted inPOV

Decoding India’s Love-Hate Relationship with Hasan Minhaj

The “Howdy Modi” event held in Houston over the weekend was organised to celebrate the contributions of Indian-Americans to the arts. While it was a spectacle of sorts, one particular NRI felt a little left out. Comedian Hasan Minhaj was turned away at the entrance, rekindling the question — “Do Indians love or hate Hasan Minhaj?”
O Gore Gore: What It Means to be a Fair-Skinned Man in India
Posted inPOV

O Gore Gore: What It Means to be a Fair-Skinned Man in India

Living as a fair-skinned man in India is bit of a head-start, but can lead to some pretty awkward moments. As a child, I was repeatedly cast as the only girl in a play at a boy’s school, and in Hyderabad, a man who wanted to take a picture with me, asked me, “Which country?”
Anne Frank, My First Bisexual Hero
Posted inPOV

Anne Frank, My First Bisexual Hero

Anne Frank’s tentative forays into her feelings about girls, blurring the lines between the closeness of female friendships, and the desire for something more, mirrored my own. If other girls had felt this way since forever ago, did this mean there was nothing to be confused about? Frank, who made her last diary entry on August 1, 1944, taught me that I didn’t necessarily have to choose.
Why Has #MeToo Scared Every Man
Posted inPOV

Why Has #MeToo Scared Every Man

Instead of looking at the positives of the #MeToo movement, I actively tried to pinpoint its imperfections – by focussing on legal loopholes or that one woman who made a false accusation on Twitter. I started finding reasons to convince myself that there was something wrong with the movement. But why was I making excuses for sexual harassers?
Mi Marathi… Fakt When Convenient
Posted inPOV

Mi Marathi… Fakt When Convenient

In most of Mumbai, speaking basic-level Marathi is considered social currency. We rudimentary Marathi speakers are adept at doing “jhol” and possess an expertise in facilitating “mandavalee” with cops.
An Open Letter to the Right-Winger Who is Not Wrong
Posted inPOV

An Open Letter to the Right-Winger Who is Not Wrong

Dear right-wingers, it is time to prove liberals wrong. We know you are so much more than blindfolded acolytes swearing by gomutra. Remember that with great power comes great responsibility. Your job is not over by having voted in someone with an overwhelming majority: Your task is to keep them on their toes for the next five years to prove that your faith has not been misplaced.