WOMEN

Sitting in a tuition centre in Neelankarai, 21-year-old Rani (name changed) stammers as she reads meizhuthu (consonants) in Tamil. As the teacher pronounces the alphabet, the frail girl repeats it after her and tries to memorise it. She immerses herself in the effort, hoping she can shut out her recollections of childhood, filled with the stuff of nightmare for anyone, adult or child. Forced to give up studies at an early age, Rani slogged for more than a decade at a rice mill in Red Hills. “No one including me knew it was slavery. We had accepted it as our…

What does a city look like? Who lives in the city? If you are thinking of the New York skyline, skyscrapers, wide roads, clean streets and cars, you are perhaps not alone. These westernized imaginings are quick to invade our mind whenever there is talk of urbanscape. However, now think consciously of the space that we inhabit, a typical Indian megacity, and our own daily experiences may present themselves as stark contradictions. Having lived in Mumbai, when I think of a city I am taken back to my daily commutes to college, in the local trains. Standing at the doorstep,…

To begin with, that's how India's map looks like right now, if we mark the parliamentary constituencies with women Members of Parliament (MPs) in green. The chart visualised by Lokdhaba, an initiative of Trivedi Centre for Political Data at Ashoka University, shows that women's representation has been scattered across the nation, for the 16th Lok Sabha. The debate on having more and more women at the helm of political affairs has been a long one. The Women's Reservation Bill promised by various political parties has remained unimplemented due to lack of political consensus. As we head towards yet another Lok…

You see them every morning, all across the city. Pourakarmikas, pushing their rickety handcarts, sweeping the streets and collecting the garbage that residents, shops and others have just left by the roadside for them to clear. Bangalore actually needs many more of these unrecognised and overworked workers, who provide a truly essential service, keeping the city clean. But have you ever wondered what does their work mean to them? Is it a choice or a compulsion? Pourakarmikas toil in working conditions that are far from perfect, as numerous reports and studies have shown. Hired by contractors selected by the city…

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” goes a famous quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.  The verse seems to have impacted M S Paoyaola, a 21-year-old social work student from Madras Christian College, who recently went all out to help a physically and mentally unwell woman on the streets, and came back with a rude awakening of realities on the ground in such situations. On January 26th, around 6.30 pm, Paoyaola, a second year student and a resident of St Thomas Mount was passing by Morison Street in Alandur. Noticing a small…

Translated by Sandhya Raju "பல மாதங்களாக தனிமையில் வாடினேன். என் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் என்னால் மனம் விட்டு பேச முடியவில்லை. தற்கொலை எண்ணத்தை தூண்டக்கூடிய அளவில் கல்லூரி படிப்பு ரொம்பவே அழுத்தம் கொடுத்தது" என்கிறார் பிரபல கல்லூரியில் இறுதி ஆண்டு எஞ்சினீயரிங் பயிலும் ராம். வாழ்க்கையின் இக்கட்டான முடிவை எடுக்கும் முன், ஆன்லைனில் உதவி கிட்டுமா என்று தேடினார். "என்ன தேடுகிறேன் என்று தெரியாமல் என் பிரச்சனையை முன்வைத்து வலைதளத்தில் தேட ஆரம்பித்த பொழுது தற்கொலை தடுப்பு ஹெல்ப்லைன் நம்பர் கிடைத்தது. சும்மா முயற்சிக்கலாம் என்ற எண்ணத்தில் எந்த வித எதிர்ப்பார்ப்பும் இன்றி தொடர்பு கொண்டேன், ஆனால் அந்த முயற்சி என் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்றி அமைத்தது" என்கிறார். WHO ஆய்வின் படி இந்தியாவின் சராசரியை விட தமிழ்நாட்டில் தற்கொலை செய்வோரின் எண்ணிக்கைமூன்று மடங்கு அதிகம்.   National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) படி.2015 ஆண்டில், 14,602 தற்கொலைகள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் நடந்துள்ளன. நாட்டிலேயே…

“I felt very lost and alone for many months. I was not able to communicate my feelings to my family. I felt very pressurised to finish my course requirements in college, and it overwhelmed me into thinking about suicide”, says Ram*, a final year engineering student at a reputed college in Chennai. Before Ram could take the drastic step, he turned to online resources hoping for help. “I don't know what I was looking for. I Googled how I felt, and found the contact number of a suicide prevention helpline. I figured I would just make that call. I did…

Sabarimala is on national news now. The age-old tradition of denying women below the age of fifty entry into the famous temple has been broken. Two women have bravely gone where no woman (in that age group) has gone since 1991. Protests have erupted across the state of Kerala, but they seem to be largely politically motivated. So then, which side does the average person take in this seemingly dicey debate? For starters, you might think, like many others, ‘Why did these women choose to target this long-held religious custom? Why not address issues in other social and work related settings?’…

“We, the women of India hereby commit to building a nationwide movement cutting across region, religion, language, caste and ideology to demand political power for women. All for one and one for all.” This pledge taken on December 8th by about 150 women assembled at Hotel Chalukya in Bengaluru resonated in the hearts of many more invisible people who were not in the room, including women political aspirants and people who want to see more women out there ruling the country and the states. The nonpartisan, crowd-funded collective of people, India Women’s Caucus, aimed at improving representation of women in…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities A layer of dust covers every conceivable surface in houses in Samy Nagar in Tirusulam. The vehicles parked on the road have a thin film of grey over them. The drums used to store water have to be shut with heavy lids to prevent the dust from coming in. The curtains in the houses are always drawn tight, so as not to leave any room for passage of dust. But that blocks out the light too. The residents, particularly the women, are constantly dusting and cleaning their…