How My Prescription Drug Abuse Chained Me to Self-Harm
Posted inVice

How My Prescription Drug Abuse Chained Me to Self-Harm

There’s no stigma around prescription medication; it isn’t considered a vice like alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana. Still, refusing to recognise the demon of addiction doesn’t mean it isn’t perched on your back. I lost sleep, gained weight, and intentionally started hurting myself, leading to a spiral of self-loathing.
Why ICSE Schools Deserve a C Minus
Posted inPOV

Why ICSE Schools Deserve a C Minus

Fancy English-medium schools peddle stuff like “global methods” and “an international outlook”, which are admittedly nice things to hear, but leave you helpless if you get accosted by a traffic cop. My supposedly superior schooling failed to make me fluent in local languages. Or in dealing with bureaucracy.
Hey Indian Men, Let’s Talk About Enthusiastic Consent
Posted inGender

Hey Indian Men, Let’s Talk About Enthusiastic Consent

Over the last weekend, a number of men who spoke the right language, were equipped with the right vocabulary to express the right kind of views on liberal issues were named as sexual harassers. None of these progressive men seemed to know about the concept of enthusiastic consent.
Ranveer Singh: Making Femininity Manly Again
Posted inBollywood

Ranveer Singh: Making Femininity Manly Again

How many Indian men can so lightly embody the many contradictions of Ranveer Singh? In our determinedly binary society, his love of lehengas on anyone else might have garnered epithets of “sissy” or “hijra”. But then, as his infamous t-shirt once declared, Ranveer always makes one thing abundantly clear: he’s got no fucks to give.
Why We Need Films Like Shanghai in the Age of Hyper-nationalism
Posted inBollywood

Why We Need Films Like Shanghai in the Age of Hyper-nationalism

Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai could easily have been adapted into a political potboiler with countless twists, item songs, and stereotypical portrayals of the bureaucracy. But, Banerjee refuses to go down the OTT route. Shanghai is an exercise in restraint. In a way, it can be looked as a balm for the hyper-nationalistic age we live in.