Society

Being a hardcore Gujju (Gujarati) and a Bombayite by birth, the street dancer in me that comes alive and out in full force every Navratri, is restless this year. Navratri, which when translated into English literally means '9 nights', is usually 9 nights of worship and dancing for us. Garba and Dandiya are the big cultural dances that are performed. Garba is done before the worshipping rituals (called Aarti) while Dandiya is performed after the Aarti. Some of us have been performing as a troupe at the local celebrations over the last couple of years. This year all the festivities related to this…

'Abhi koi Randi ya Dhandhewali nahi bolega, Izzat milega ," says Anita Thapa, a sex worker in Pune’s Budhwar Peth. Anita was reacting to the latest National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommendation designating sex workers as 'dignified workers' of society. On October 7th, the NHRC issued a 11-page advisory recognising sex workers as informal workers, making them eligible for the various Central and state benefit schemes. The advisory titled 'Human Rights Advisory on rights of Women Context of COVID-19', includes a recommendation that sex workers facing domestic abuse from partners should be identified and reported. Check the detailed advisory here. The…

When some residents in Pune couldn’t get information about an upcoming commercial complex within their residential neighbourhood, they approached Right To Information (RTI) activist and journalist Vinita Deshmukh for help.  Deshmukh visited the government office with residents. But, the officials refused to share the information, claiming the loss of the requested file. The residents stayed put and insisted on seeing a copy of FIR about the missing file. Lo and behold, the missing file emerged within 15 minutes and the residents acquired the information they needed.  Most RTI activists have their own stories about being denied information and how they…

In my initial days in Mumbai, Durga Puja meant soaking in the memories of the grand festivities in my hometown, Kolkata. This changed, after Krishti, the association of over 300 Bengali families of Lokhandwala Township, Kandivali East, started celebrating Durgatsov Pujo right where we live. Pujo is the “Big Bong Festival”. Over the last 15 years that Krishti has been organising Pujo, acquaintances became friends and friends turned into one big joint family, for whom Pujo is an attempt to keep the Bengali culture, heritage, traditions and identity alive. We converge with similar passions, emotions, love of life, warmth of togetherness,…

Drawing inspiration from protests in New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, hundreds of women sat in protest against anti-Muslim citizenship laws, on a road in South Mumbai's Nagpada since the night of January 26 around 11 PM - in what came to be called Mumbai Bagh. Although the protests were suspended in the wake of the COVID19 outbreak, they continued symbolically. Today, the protest site on Morland Road near Hotel Arbia has pictures of women leaders and has only one slogan on placard "hum kal yaha the" (we were here yesterday). The site where anti CAA protests were held pre-lockdown. Photo: Santoshee…

Anyone without a hobby would have perished during lockdown! Hobbies are a diversion from our routine life, and help to unburden our minds from various problems. They result in networking, get us in touch with like-minded communities of people with whom we can discuss our common interests, and help one another in improvement. Our hobby is amateur Radio, commonly called ham radio. Ham Radio Club, IIT Bombay (Photo: Ham Radio Club, IIT Bombay) Ham Radio Club, IIT Bombay was founded in 2017. "We bring people, communication and electronics together."  Ham radio is a form of two-way wireless communication that uses the…

Tanvi Desai, a 25-year-old resident of Borivali, who was protesting against Hathras gang rape admitted she was ignorant earlier when it came to caste based violence but, she can’t do that anymore. She was fuming with anger, along with a sense of responsibility to put an end to injustice against women and minorities in India. “We need to give it a platform. It is also for our future generations like my two-year-old niece to make our country safe for women,” she said. Wary of the media and their little no attention to social causes, Tanvi  doesn’t want the incident to…

Translated by Vadivu Mahendran வீட்டிலிருந்து அலுவலகப் பணி செய்து கொண்டே, பல்வேறு விஷயங்களையும் நிர்வகிக்கும் சமயத்தில் அரவணைப்புக்காக ஏங்கி உங்களை நெருங்கும் ஒரு நாய் உங்களது  மன அழுத்தத்தைக் குறைக்கும் ஒன்றாக இருக்கலாம். பெருந்தொற்றால் தொடங்கப்பட்ட ஊரடங்கின் போது காணப்பட்ட பலதரப்பட்ட போக்குகளில் நாய்க்குட்டிகளுக்கான தேவையின் அதிகரிப்பு குறிப்பிடத்தக்க ஒன்றாகும்.  “லாப்ரடார், ஹஸ்கி மற்றும் கோல்டன் ரெட்ரீவர் போன்ற அடுக்குமாடி குடியிருப்பு நாய்களுக்கான தேவை கடந்த ஆறு மாதங்களில் ஐம்பது சதவீதத்திற்கு மேலாக அதிகரித்துள்ளது.  அனைத்துத் தரப்பு மக்களும் ஒரு நாயை வாங்குவதிலோ அல்லது தத்தெடுப்பதிலோ ஆர்வம் காட்டுகிறார்கள்“, என்கிறார் கோகுல்ராஜ் தர்மலிங்கம் எனும் நாய் வளர்ப்பாளர். ஆனால் நம்மில் எத்தனை பேருக்கு ஒரு செல்லப்பிராணியை எவ்வாறு கவனித்துக் கொள்வது என்பது தெரியும்? ஒரு பொறுப்பான செல்லப்பிராணி வளர்ப்பாளராக இருப்பதற்கு அது குறித்த அறிவும் அனுபவமும் தேவைப்படுகிறது, அதனால்தான் சமூக ஊடக சேனல்களில் புதிய செல்லப்பிராணி வளர்ப்பாளர்கள் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ளும்…

 “The concept of a second home, especially within a radius of 20 to 40 kms from the city has really picked up post-COVID,” said Monil Parikh, Real Estate Expert, Parikh Infracon Pvt Ltd and former chair of Young Indians--Confederation of India Industries (CII). “People realise that an isolated, self-sufficient farm house where they can go and relax and their families can stay safe is a good investment. The demand for such homes, from areas around Shilaj to Racharda, has increased by around 40 per cent.”  Of course, not everyone can afford this, but Ahmedabad has plenty of people with the resources…

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), like other places across the world, was forced to hit pause in late-March 2020 with the onset of COVID-19, putting a complete halt to life as it was. The lockdown caught people off-guard, with no food or income to fall back on for millions of the region’s poorest. With governmental support kicking in only weeks later and still leaving many people outside its ambit, uncertainty was high.  Looking back at those weeks, what stands out is how the city came together to support its own. While the pandemic unleashed a massive humanitarian crisis, it also…