WOMEN

A woman was walking. Her age doesn't matter. She was walking on the road next to her home. It was evening and she had been out for an errand. The lane was quiet and there were not many people about. But the woman did not feel alarmed--after all, this was 'her' neighbourhood, the place she had lived in for nearly a decade. And besides, she was not venturing out too far, she was going to a row of shops five to ten minute's walk from her own home. Suddenly, in the darkness, she spotted something strange at the apartment building…

Ultimately, I have cow’s urine on my face. There is no getting away from this true fact. Worse still, I am filming an interview and short of halting filming to announce this piece of information to a group of people I have just met who largely don’t speak English, there is little I can do about the aforementioned cow’s urine. A colleague and I have travelled to northern Karnataka to interview slum dwellers on the effects of water privatisation and we are conducting the first interview. Gone are my daydreams of a panorama-esque week filled with journalistic glamour. I will…

It's been a little over a year now that the nation rode the ‘Nirbhaya’ wave. However, this is not to say that there have been crimes any lesser before that or even after. Innocent women getting raped when they go about their ‘normal’ day is horrendous enough; but what would you make of something like this? In a city like Bangalore? Where population is exploding and there are no clear ‘peak’ times - which means Bangalore is almost always busy. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… all the way up to 65+ are the ages of girls and women getting raped…

I had posted about an unpleasant incident here. I am very happy to say that a concerned citizen activist, Mr S R Venkatram, followed this up, and just now, he sent in this report: "This afternoon I visited Basavanagudi Police station and learnt that the Auto driver was summoned,cautioned and made to sit for the whole day and fined Rs.600. This will act as a deterrant to others as the news spreads. Regarding the behaviour of two police constables, I trust the police Inspector has adviced them suitably. I could not meet the Police Inspector as he was away on…

How about starting 2014 with a walk for gender minorities? Praja Rajakiya Vedike along with other organizations is conducting "Freedom Walk – ​​E​​nd Violence on Sexual Minorities" tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan-1-2014). This is an effort to facilitate interaction between sexual minorities and the society at large, in the context of the December 2013 Supreme Court judgment on IPC Section 377. ​The Freedom Walks are an initiative to make the public understand the issues of disadvantaged sections of our society.​ Participants will gather at 5:00 PM near the Radhakrishna Theatre (in Matadahalli) and start walking at 5:30 PM. They will pass through…

With the recent examples of harassment charges against journalist Tarun Tejpal and supreme court retired judge A K Ganguly, the issue that most companies choose to ignore has come to the fore. Even in Namma Bengaluru, there are hundreds of such cases that go unreported for various reasons. These are high profile personalities - but what about the millions of others working in various offices across cities, towns and villages in India? Are they aware of their rights? What constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace? Are they aware that there are clear work and personal boundaries? How can a woman…

Last week, on a social networking site, I put up a post about my cook and her barely-18 year-old daughter. The girl had just completed a sponsored and very expensive beauticians' course at a top city beauty training institute. I had hoped she would start working and earn a steady income, thereby helping her hardworking mother who is a cook in two households. Instead, her mother got her married. It is not too difficult to predict that the girl will soon become a young mother herself. If she is not allowed to use her training, why she may even end…

Can we really change our colour-conscious culture? I have a good friend Monisha, an ardent gardener. She grows and sells ornamental plants so she is out in the sun a lot. Which means her fair skin gets a bronzed glow quite often. She doesn't mind that at all. What irks her, however, is the reaction she gets from friends and extended family. “When they see me, they invariably exclaim, 'Oh, you've become so tanned!' I love darker skin tones and I really don't care how tanned I get. So why do other people,” she wonders. Why indeed? There's this remarkable…

Born and brought up in Bengaluru, I love this city a little too much! I love it so much that two years ago, I decided to say goodbye to the US to come back and settle here. I was always too proud of being a Bangalorean. I remember the days when the roads were more pedestrian-friendly and when people were concerned about one another and came out to help whenever they saw someone in need. As a child, I was brought up by my neighbours, as my parents had to juggle between work and us, their kids. I remember walking…

She’s naked, covered with ashes, her hair matted with snakes in them, a garland of skulls and freshly cut heads around her neck. She laughs like madness herself, dancing to the chaotic rhythm of death, dragging a corpse behind her which she licks with her blood-red tongue from time to time. Now imagine meeting her in the middle of the night on a dark lonely path. Here’s an old description - a dhyana mantra of Guhya Kali, one of the forms of Kali. The tantric text is called Tantrasaara and is written by Krishnananda Aagamavgisa. “She is dark as a great cloud, clad in…