Vinayak Varma writes a charming little short story.
A finger cracked through the eggshell walls of her daytime universe, cracked in and wiggled around. And so it was that the people of her universe turned and stared, its machinery squealed to a brief, annoyed halt. A portal opened up in the room, a new possibility unleashed. [...]
Author Archive for madhat
Chetan Bhagat, the fourth idiot.
Published by January 3rd, 2010 in Bollywood, Books and Cinema. 9 CommentsIs Chetan Bhagat trying to be the fifth Beatle in the 3 idiots story? Gaurav thinks it is all about the money.
And the contract, which Chopra has put up on his website, clearly states that Bhagat will be mentioned in the “rolling credits”, which appear at the end of the movie. And he has been [...]
Hindustan Times steals content off a blogger!
Published by December 8th, 2009 in Media and Photoblog. 3 CommentsMridula is the victim again.
On Sunday we get a lot of newspapers. Hindustan Times is one of them. I was flipping through Brunch and then I had a feeling of Deja Vu. I started laughing and said the same thing to Sesha- this is my picture. This time he didn’t tell me it could be [...]
The Holy Cow had fun watching this Salman Khan movie.
Despite the fact that the question of why someone in their right mind would want to showcase Salman Khan’s dancing is beyond my limits of comprehension, I have to say that Wanted was bizarre, entertaining and all in all quite hilarious. Not because of subtle humour [...]
Eid pictures
Published by September 21st, 2009 in India, Photoblog, Photography and Religion. 1 CommentThe Sacromento Bee blog posts assorted Eid pictures from India.
Satish Acharya posts a cartoon on the issue.
Jyothy visited Angeneya Betta a while back and has posted some nice pictures of the place.
Music for Equality
Published by September 8th, 2009 in Activism, Music, Violence and Women. 0 CommentsMiss Malini has the details.
Dear Readers,
We have always wondered who you are and what brings you here. It is your continued patronage that has kept this site going. But unfortunately, due to the nature of this blog, we have never really been able to connect with each other, except perhaps through comments that you occasionally make on our posts [...]
Rape convictions in India and Anand Jon
Published by September 4th, 2009 in India, Law and order and Women. 1 CommentNivedita empathises with Anand Jon’s wish to be tried in India.
A rape convict cleared the civil service exam earlier this year while serving his sentence, and was deemed by the Delhi High Court to have “redeemed himself in jail”, his incarceration of five years having met “the ends of justice”. His victim, who committed suicide, [...]
Anoop Kumarat Insight Young Voices Blog, my new favourite blog, rips into Ramachandra Guha.
He writes, “India has some of the oldest universities outside of the Western world. There were no Chinese or African universities when the universities of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras were established in 1857. Where, for much of their history, European universities were [...]
A ban on headscraves in Dakshina Kannada
Published by September 2nd, 2009 in Government, Religion and World. 0 CommentsAn unofficial ban and a complicit Government is escalating tensions in Dakshina Kannada.
Says Aysha Ashmin, an 18-year-old student from Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district, “Initially, Muslim women were asked to remove their burkas before entering class rooms. A month later, this was extended slightly – no burkas in college campuses they said. So women hurriedly [...]
Shahbano Aliani’s article is enlightening.
It appears that caste is the elephant in the room. Everyone knows its there, but no one wants to talk about it, let alone address. As Haris Gazdar puts it, “The public silencing on caste contrasts with an obsession with it in private dealings and transactions.”
The Pakistani caste system has developed [...]
scratchpost has posted a series of pictures from her Ladakh trip. Brilliantly done! Go check them all out.
Back to Mayawati’s statues
Published by August 18th, 2009 in Dalit, Democracy and Politics. 2 CommentsGarga Chatterjee understands the rationale behind the act but does not approve it.
Having said this, one also has to note the deep hypocrisy in the propriety argument. Both Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Panditain Indira Gandhi were made the Bharat Ratna when they were prime ministers. I am not judging these acts but can only say [...]
Rehab Chougle posts some pictures from the Great wall of Mumbai project.
Prof. Neera Desai – pioneer of Women’s Studies in India
Published by June 30th, 2009 in Feminism, India and Women. 2 CommentsFeministsIndia breaks the news about the death of Prof. Neera Desai, who seems to have been an amazing woman.
One of the pioneers of Women’s Studies in India, Prof. Neera Desai, passed away on 25th June 2009 in Mumbai. She was 84.
Prof. Neera Desai was the Founder Director of Research Centre for Women’s Studies (1974) at [...]
Shivam is critical in his review of “Khairlanji: A strange and bitter crop”
All Teltumbde wants to talk about is Shudra oppressors, neoliberalism, Naxalism and the State—Khairlanji being a mere symbolic peg on which to hang all these ‘larger’ issues. Which is why you are surprised to read, on the second-last page:
Khairlanji soon got transformed into [...]
A call for Aid: Collecting items to distribute among Refugees in Sri Lanka
Published by May 22nd, 2009 in South Asia and Violence. 1 CommentFrom an email I received,
This is a call from individuals concerned about the state of refugees in Sri Lanka at the end of this military conflict, the brunt of which, many refugees, dead and alive have faced. Its is expected that around 313,000 IDPs refugees are in various camps in Sri Lanka. It is important to remember [...]
“How left are you guys?”
Published by May 18th, 2009 in General Elections 2009, India and Media. 0 CommentsJiby John Kattakayam is mad at the media for their misleading coverage.
I am no admirer of Karat, after the way he bungled the issues in the Kerala and West Bengal CPI(M) which lead to the party’s marginalization in these two states, but it seems almost malicious, the anger of corporate India and media against him [...]
Caste in politics
Published by May 18th, 2009 in Caste, General Elections 2009, India and Politics. 1 CommentShivam sees it.
Another Congress candidate, Krishna Tirath, has to to best of my knowledge, not been similarly honoured by the ‘Vaish samaj’. I wonder why. My feeble mind wonders if this could have something to do with her not belonging to the ‘Vaish samaj’, unlike JP Aggarwal? I wonder. I also wonder if this could [...]
Abhik Majumdar writes about the history of the relationship between the Congress party and Dr Ambedkar, in light of the recent allegations made by Advani and reiterated by Mayawati.
Ambedkar was forced to seek election from Bengal, a province he did not have much connection with, because he lacked the requisite support in his home province [...]
Science Fiction Writing Workshop At IIT Kanpur
Published by March 30th, 2009 in Fiction and Literature. 1 CommentVinod has the details.
Goal & Plan: The workshop will help new Indian authors develop their skills and encourage SF with a south-Asian focus. Specifically, the students will read and critique some of the best SF writing in the field, both classic and modern. Second, the daily writing exercises and group-critiques of the weekly story submissions will [...]
Khalid Mohamed writes a scathing post on the depiction of women in Bollywood movies.
The film community, critics as well as the audience need to distinguish the counterfeit from the real. We must strongly question cinema which uses the woman as a mere cog in the wheel and as the mandatory decorative element. The tendency in [...]
Janet Tinsley, Africa project director, international programs, CFCA, finds out an interesting fact.
Research from around the world shows that women police officers are adept at resolving conflicts through non-violent means. In a war-weary country like Liberia, this is a very valuable skill, and this makes the FPU’s mission very important. The Indian officers also spend time [...]
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