Posted inPOV
No Country For Rationalists
So blinded are the nationalists of today that even uttering the words Indian Army and Pakistani artistes in the same sentence is considered sacrilege.
Posted inCoronavirus
I Enjoy Being Alone But I Wasn’t Prepared for Loneliness that Comes With a Lockdown
It has been three weeks of being on my own, three weeks of serious loneliness. I quite enjoyed being alone. Now, a sequence plays on loop in my head, where I fall on the tiled floor with a thud, hit my head, and that’s the end. Nobody comes to my rescue, nobody dials 108 for an ambulance.
Posted inPop Culture
Letting Go of Our Old Comic Heroes
Our generation grabs every chance to declare its nostalgia. The Comic Con is one such chance. But what happens is that old content thrives and the new never gets a chance.
Posted inBollywood
Pati Patni Aur Woh Review: Can Kartik Aaryan Do Something Other than Pretend that Men are Victims?
The biggest takeaway of Pati Patni Aur Woh is that director Mudassar Aziz has a worse understanding of the relationship between man and woman than Luv Ranjan. Bhumi Pednekar is the only bright spark of this supremely pointless outing, but even she loses interest in the proceedings midway.
Posted inBollywood
Amar Akbar Anthony: Why We Need Manmohan Desai’s Diverse India Now More than Ever
In the world that we live in today, which is marred by discrimination toward minorities and a breathless demand for proof of citizenship, Amar Akbar Anthony’s secular universe almost seems utopian. It’s funny because Manmohan Desai’s portrait of India is actually the India that our ancestors fought for.
Posted inPeople
What Happens When the Scars Heal? An Acid Attack Survivor’s Long Road to Recovery
“The wounds smell of dead rats, and when doctors clean them, you feel the scrub down to the bones.” As if an acid attack weren’t cruel enough, victims, not perpetrators, are thoughtlessly shunned.
Posted inPOV
I’m a Copywriter, Teacher, Stand-Up Comic, Guitarist, Cook. And You?
In a time when even your phone doubles up as your camera, your assistant, a pastime, a distraction, a recorder, and an addiction, can people get away by doing just one job? Multi-tasking is the only thing worth pursuing. You can’t be a single-function watch anymore.
Posted inPop Culture
Twinkle Twinkle, Still a Star
Twinkle Khanna has resurrected herself. While most women actors fade from our memory in a couple of years, she’s the exception to the rule.
Posted inGender
If You’re Friends With a Sexual Harasser, You’re Part of the Problem Too
The toxic reaction to Tanushree Dutta’s attempt to share her story of harassment by Nana Patekar underlines how it isn’t just a victim’s responsibility to speak up. It took my friend being publicly accused of harassment for me to see I’d played my part in the crime by not confronting him when I should have.
Posted inPOV
In a Nation Divided Over Politics, How ISRO’s Chandrayaan Brought Us Together
At a time when we are divided over politics in Kashmir and Assam, ravaged by floods, and crushed by the economy on a freefall, Chandrayaan 2 has ushered in a dash of positivity we so badly need.