GENRE: In Focus

In Varanasi, it is death that gives one that sense of normalcy. The rising flames from the pyres at Manikarnika Ghat on the banks of the Ganga are as much a sign of the city’s spiritual legacy for all Indians, as they are that life and times in this holy city are as ordained. When the flames die, as they have died now, it indicates that something has gone very wrong. The common sight not so long ago, on the stretch from Lahura Beer crossing to Maidagin, of a corpse wrapped in shiny shroud atop a vehicle, has become a…

Kerala’s print media can claim for itself a unique distinction: It remains the most credible source of news and information for Keralites, and Malayalis outside the state. It is not just that it has successfully fought against the electronic and digital challenges. It has had to survive through severe natural disasters that ravaged the state these past few years. The COVID pandemic is only the latest of such challenges that the print media has faced, and overcome successfully. Nowhere else in the country have daily newspapers instilled the kind of courage and hope among citizens that Kerala’s newspapers have done.…

COVID is not a worry for Rajamma, a domestic worker living in the quarters given by her employer residing in a high-income neighbourhood of Bengaluru. Wearing a mask, she steps out every evening to buy essentials for the family that has employed her for 15 years now. Her daily shopping is mostly for vegetables and fruits while groceries are bought online and home delivered. Rajamma and her husband take care of the entire household work, which includes sweeping, mopping, folding clothes, drying and arranging washed dishes, cooking two meals and generally ensuring that her employer’s home is running smooth. Her…

COVID-19 has made strong supporters of vibrant urban life shudder. They are pining for the outdoors and wondering if our current dense urban form is to be blamed for what COVID-19 has unleashed. There’s speculation around what the pandemic means for cities, and especially if it should change the current path of urbanisation. While holistic changes are welcome, many commentators have made density -- a measure of population per unit area, usually square kilometre or square mile -- the scapegoat.  On March 22nd, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, tweeted: “There is a density level in NYC that is destructive,” that…

With little takers for fresh milk from cows, Lingesh* (name changed on request), a cattle rearer and milk producer in Selaiyur, sold five out of his 35 cattle for Rs 1 lakh three weeks ago. More than a month has gone by under lockdown and his losses are mounting.  “During normal times, selling a cow would fetch me at least Rs 35,000. As the lockdown has affected my finances badly, I did not have a choice but to settle for whatever the buyer offered,” he said. A large number of people in the city prefer buying milk from these milk…

The government may have finally opened up movement for stranded migrant workers after a gap of 40 days, but their problems are far from over. In fact, a new set of ordeals seems to await the migrant, most of them daily wagers, as they are now forced to queue up in front of police stations in the quest for travel permits, after spending weeks in queues for food and rations.  Despite the central directive, uncertainty reigns supreme over the facilitation of their travel back home.  The first thing that 31-year-old Anwar Hussain and his eight colleagues, all daily wage labourers…

The government may have finally opened up movement for stranded migrant workers after a gap of 40 days, but their problems are far from over. In fact, a new set of ordeals seems to await the migrant, most of them daily wagers, as they are now forced to queue up in front of police stations in the quest for travel permits, after spending weeks in queues for food and rations.  Despite the central directive, uncertainty reigns supreme over the facilitation of their travel back home.  The first thing that 31-year-old Anwar Hussain and his eight colleagues, all daily wage labourers…

“Why is there no vegetable, Amma?” asks the teenage daughter of K Senbagam. Searching in her mind for a plausible answer, Senbagam says that the grocery shops are closed and promises her children a good meal at the earliest. Senbagam is a 38-year-old junior artist in Chennai who has worked in Tamil soaps such as Maya and Nayaki.  Remember all those scenes on-screen which have crowds in the background or the incidental passer-by with a singular line of dialogue, perhaps?  Senbagam has acted in many such scenes of big-budget movies for a meagre Rs 300 a day.  But now, as…

Subrata Das, a 65-year old resident of Chittaranjan Park, suffered a cardiac arrest. The family called the police, all the emergency services they could think of, but no one turned up. Finally, they managed to get one private ambulance and went from hospital to hospital, but none would admit the motionless patient. “We weren’t sure if he was gone,” his daughter said in a post in which she described the way they were treated at one of the hospitals, “like animals.” It was a neighbourhood doctor who finally pronounced Das dead and issued a death certificate stating that he didn’t…

Anupama Provisions, Akbar Fruits and Vegetables, Kumar Mutton - let’s admit it,  not many of us can recount the names of the small retail shops right next to our homes. Standalone shops, vegetable and fruit stalls, some with carpet area of just 200 sq ft claiming to be mini-supermarkets. Never mind the obscure names of these shops or their enterprising abilities - when malls and supermarket chains in prime areas almost shuttered operations during COVID-19 lockdown, these corner shops became the go-to-outlets for the local residents to cater their daily needs. Unlike many other businesses, these shops which sell essentials…