Society

We wrap up our coverage for this month with two stories on International Women's Day, observed on March 8 every year. The first was about how labouring women workers commemorated it this March. Here's the second. There was no concept or significance of March 8 when I was growing up. Not in my school. Not in my feminist college. Not in my university, post graduation. Not at my first job in advertising. Not at the production house that I joined later.  It was never mentioned or celebrated. And then suddenly in March 2001, there was a burst of Women’s Day…

தமிழ்நாட்டில் தற்போதைய தேர்தல் நிலவரத்தில் வாரி வழங்கப்பட்டு பேசுபொருளாகி இருக்கும் வாக்குறுதிகளில் பெரும் பரபரப்பை உருவாக்கிக் கொண்டிருப்பது இல்லத்தரசிகளின் பணியை அங்கீகரித்து அவர்களுக்கு ஊதியம் வழங்குதல் என்ற வாக்குறுதி தான். கருத்தியல் ரீதியாக இதை பார்த்தோமானால் இந்த விஷயம் இன்று பேசுபொருளானதே   மனித மனங்கள் அடைந்துவரும்   முதிர்ச்சியின் பயணத்தில் ஒரு முன்னேற்றம் எனலாம். ஏனெனில் இதற்கு முன்பு இல்லத்தரசிகள் அதிகாலை  முதல் பின்னிரவுவரை அனைவரின் நலனுக்காகவும் ஓயாத இயந்திரமாக இயங்கி என்னதான் தியாகங்களை செய்தாலும், துரதிஷ்டவசமாக அவை கணக்கில் எடுத்துக் கொள்ளாதும், அதன் முக்கியத்துவம் மதித்து உணராதததுமான ஒரு நிலையே நிலவி வந்தது. பதிலாக அது அவர்களின் படைப்பின் விதி என்ற ஒரு மனோபாவமும் கூட பலரது மனங்களில் குடிகொண்டிருந்தது எனலாம். ஒவ்வொரு இல்லத்தையும் நிலைநிறுத்தும் இவர்களது வேலையை அங்கீகரிப்பதற்காக அவ்வப்போது பெண்ணிய அமைப்புகளிலிருந்தும் சமூக அக்கறை கொண்ட அமைப்புகளிலிருந்தும்  குரல்கள்  எதிரொலித்துக் கொண்டு வந்த போதும் சமீப காலங்களில்…

We wrap up our coverage for this month with two stories on International Women's Day, observed on March 8 every year. The first of the two stories finds out how labouring women workers commemorated it this March. Among the savarna middle classes in Bengaluru, International Women’s Day on March 8 is celebrated with marathons and rallies, discounts in supermarkets, and ladies’ nights at pubs.  What is often swept under the label of ‘women empowerment’ is the history of Women’s Day as that of workers and their unionisation. It was first proposed and celebrated in 1910 during the second International Conference…

In July 2003, I stepped out of Dadar station for the first time with two big bags worth of belongings, starry eyes and dreams of adventures. My heart sank when I saw the crowd of people buzzing around like there was some emergency. Did I land in Mumbai in the middle of a calamity? But soon, I realised this was the way of life here.  Growing up in laid-back Pune, where people believed that afternoon naps were an important part of their existence, my first impression of Mumbai was ‘what the hell is going on’.  Soon I learnt that this…

In India, repair is ubiquitous and it is cheap. There is always a repairer at the street corner or on the footpath or under a tree or even under staircases. Of course, there are repairers with shops or stalls or mobile carts. The informal sector provides earnings for an overwhelming majority of the skilled population but it fails to provide social security. During the lockdown, many of us would have quietly shifted to work from home. But in the informal sector, it was a crisis from the first day as they were being robbed of their basic right to work on the street.…

With Bengaluru Urban district recording 1,280 COVID-19 cases on March 23, the city has been witnessing a sharp rise in its spread.  With two young people in Ballari testing positive for the South African variant of COVID, the Karnataka government has begun tightening up its safety measures.  In Bengaluru, the BBMP has been asked to ramp up its testing to 40,000 RT-PCR tests per day. However, so far only about 37,000 tests are carried per day and the BBMP Commissioner says that the lag is a result of people’s reluctance to get tested. BBMP continues to ensure through its team…

We often discuss the poor representation of women in our Legislative Assemblies and the Parliament. Currently, only 3% of members in the State Legislature are women. And while half the seats in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Council are reserved for women, in many cases these councillors’ husbands are the ones attending to ward-level issues or even ward committee meetings. What about in much smaller units of society? Say, in residential apartments in Bengaluru. Do women in these complexes have enough voice and representation in their Managing Committees (MCs)? Apparently, not. MCs have significant responsibilities - they manage common resources…

If there is one woman who truly inspires me every single day, it is Vidya. Originally from a village in Uttar Pradesh, marriage brought Vidya to Mumbai 15 years ago. Her husband was already working in the city. As Vidya learnt, the big city offers opportunities that may be lacking in villages and small towns, but life can be quite hard. About six years ago, Vidya's husband deserted her, leaving her to fend for herself and their three children who were at that time aged 9, 4 and an infant. The middle one, a daughter, is a special child, with…

Raging through 2020 and continuing in the new year as well, the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus the state of health infrastructure in the country. The scramble for hospital beds across cities, oxygen scarcity and medicine shortage, the helplessness of patients suffering from other chronic or terminal illnesses highlighted the wide gaps in our public healthcare system. But apart from that, another issue that came into sharp public focus, after years of neglect, is the plight of senior citizens in our urban settlements. Unable to step out of the house as they came under the vulnerable category, and often…

Bibliophiles in the city finally found cause to celebrate over the last fortnight as the much awaited 44th annual book fair was held on the YMCA grounds, Nandanam. Citizens from all sections of society flocked to the event to check out the new collections and buy their favourite books. The event comes to an end today, March 9th. But how did the book fair in the age of the pandemic go? Plagued by uncertainty due to COVID, the book fair this time, organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) was a much-anticipated event. Usually held during the…