GENRE: Features

With nearly one-third of the world’s population under lockdown, once busy roads and streets are now empty, and public transit ridership as well as train and air travel have dropped significantly. The pandemic has slowed down the use of transportation systems and infrastructures. Under these circumstances, transport infrastructure and services around the world are being modified for reduced demands and to meet COVID-related safety standards. But some cities are going as far as to find entirely new ways to continue using existing transportation infrastructure. Adaptive reuse is the process of converting a building or structure to serve a function other…

What can history teach us? I am often asked this seemingly old yet enduring question, in various ways: Why should we study old buildings? Why worry about people who lived long ago? The oft repeated quote, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" is obviously not a sufficient answer one can offer. In this article, I draw on Donald Anderson’s biography ‘The Last White Hunter’ by Joshua Mathew to address this question. Donald Anderson (1934 – 2014), belonged to the last of four generations of Scots who made India their home. I was taken aback…

Child Sexual Abuse has profound consequences for the child. It is known to interfere with growth and development and has also been linked to numerous maladaptive health behaviour and poor social, mental and physical health outcomes throughout life. As adults, the abused face increased risk of domestic violence later in life, and could themselves be prone to violent behaviour and committing child sexual abuse.A longstanding social malady that needed intervention on a large-scale finally saw the light of day when the Indian government introduced a role play and activity-based module - titled School Health Programme – to be imparted in…

Well known artist Vrindavan Solanki has been able to sell his work online Art, rarely looked at as a necessary economic activity, too is facing uncertain, unsettling and challenging conditions in these pandemic times. Unfortunately, it comes at a time when art had been growing in Ahmedabad in recent years, as a business and investment. Now, as with all other activity, the lockdown has brought to a standstill the world and livelihood of both performing and visual artists. As Gujarat battles to contain the virus, with any kind of normalcy still a long time away, “everything arty will take longer…

Translated by Sandhya Raju “ஏன் காய் இல்லை, அம்மா? என தன் மகள் கேட்கும் கேள்விக்கு என்ன பதில் கூறுவது என எண்ணிக்கொண்டே கடைகள் மூடியுள்ளன, விரைவில் நல்ல சப்பாடு போடுவதாக கூறுகிறார் கே ஷென்பகம். மாயா, நாயகி போன்ற தொலைக்காட்சி தொடர்களில் நடித்துள்ளார் 38 வயதாகும் ஷென்பகம். ஒரு வரி வசனம் பேசி செல்லும் நபர் அல்லது ஒரு காட்சியில் பின்னணியில் கூட்டத்தில் நடந்து செல்லும் நபர்களை நினைவுள்ளதா? பல பெரிய பட்ஜட் படங்களில் இது போன்ற காட்சிகளில் ஒரு நாளுக்க 300 ரூபாய் சம்பளத்திற்கு ஷென்பகம் நடித்துள்ளார். ஆனால், கோவிட்-19 தொற்று காரணமாக நாடு முழுவதும் உள்ள ஊரடங்கு மற்றும் தொழில் முடக்கத்தால் ஷென்பகம் இடிந்து போயுள்ளார். கடந்த சில வாரமாக வெறும் ரசம் சோறு மட்டுமே தன் குழந்தைகளுக்கு கொடுக்க வேண்டிய சூழலை எண்ணி வேதனையில் உள்ளார். "காய்கறி வாங்க முடியாத நிலையை நான் எப்படி…

“Hello Teacher,  kis ka accha hain? Mera ya uska?” “Mera, Mera” (Hello Teacher. Whose toy is better - hers or mine?” “Mine, Mine”) Two paper frogs, one green and one white, talking to one another animatedly. The voices in the background belong to children. A joyful WhatsApp forward on a Sunday morning led us to pursue this heartwarming story of children in the bastis crafting puppets to beat the stress brought on by COVID-19. The lockdown has placed enormous economic burden on the urban poor. There is a palpable gloom produced by a normal way of life coming to a…

“Hello Teacher,  kis ka accha hain? Mera ya uska?” “Mera, Mera” (Hello Teacher. Whose toy is better - hers or mine?” “Mine, Mine”) Two paper frogs, one green and one white, talking to one another animatedly. The voices in the background belong to children. A joyful WhatsApp forward on a Sunday morning led us to pursue this heartwarming story of children in the bastis crafting puppets to beat the stress brought on by COVID-19. The lockdown has placed enormous economic burden on the urban poor. There is a palpable gloom produced by a normal way of life coming to a…

Pisavali is a densely populated, low income neighbourhood. Most residents of the low income settlement are working in the informal sector. Many of the temporary residents in the basti are migrants from states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal without a permanent home in the city. After the sudden declaration of a nationwide lockdown starting on the 24th of March, only a few of the migrants were able to go back to their native villages. The majority however was stranded in Pisavali.  Map of Pisavali. Source: Google Earth Life became difficult given the precarious nature of employment for residents…

Pisavali is a densely populated, low income neighbourhood. Most residents of the low income settlement are working in the informal sector. Many of the temporary residents in the basti are migrants from states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal without a permanent home in the city. After the sudden declaration of a nationwide lockdown starting on the 24th of March, only a few of the migrants were able to go back to their native villages. The majority however was stranded in Pisavali.  Map of Pisavali. Source: Google Earth Life became difficult given the precarious nature of employment for residents…

Parents resorting to healthy parenting skills through Google. Youngsters who otherwise spend their time roaming the serene streets of Theni Corporation engaged in social service, visiting senior citizens in the locality and buying them essential commodities. Children aged three years teaching grandparents how to use mobile phones and citizens playing traditional games indoors. The lockdown imposed to arrest the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak has changed the entire lifestyle of residents in the Southern city of Tamil Nadu. This is the time when children usually take up intensive summer classes in subjects such as Computers, Spoken English and Abacus…