Somnath Pati “It has an affirmation of life, a triumphing, agreeable sensation in life, and that to draw up a lawbook such as Manu means to permit oneself to get the upper hand, to become perfect, to be ambitious of the highest art of living.” – Friedrich Nietzsche (attributed) Finding Manu’s verses “inspiring” and acting …
Words Of The Ordained Women
Dr Amritpal Kaur ‘What becometh a woman best, and first of all? SILENCE. What second? SILENCE. What third? SILENCE. What fourth? SILENCE. Yea, if a man should aske me till Domes daie I would still crie Silence, Silence… ‘ – Thomas Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique, 1560. Women have long been expected to govern their …
Hypocrisy of Hindu Society
A Rajeshbabu Born in a Hindu family, I grew up listening to the phrase ‘Matha Pitha Guru Deivam’ which emphasizes that mother comes first in the universe and everyone else comes next, even God. I often see various posts on social media that praise the teachings of Hindu society saying, we love and respect our …
Muslimophobia, Misogyny and Muslimah
Bobby Kunhu “Just as Muslims have the right to argue that the hijab is not religiously mandated, they should also have the right to argue that it is religiously mandated” Shadi Hamid, The Right to Choose to Wear (or not) Hijab If there is one thing uniform about the history of humankind across geographies, it is the …
Liberal narrative and Afghanistan
Vinith Kumar These last few weeks have been about the Taliban. But it hasn’t really been about them. The reports, the end of the war, the exit of the American forces, the tragic images from the Kabul airport, all of these things were about the Taliban, but also not one of them were really about …
We the People: Expanding the Idea of Democracy – Part 3
Pranav Jeevan P People normally blame democracy by saying it is not a good model of governance citing the issues that plague our country like poverty, corruption, unemployment and under-development. They believe that we are facing these issues because we are a functioning democracy and somehow it is the democratic process which is causing this …
‘Chak De! India’ and Women’s Hockey
Khakhlari Recently the Indian women’s field hockey team made headlines as they qualified for the Olympic semi-finals for the first time in Tokyo. Quite predictably and not without fair reason, Chak De! India started trending. In the fervor of the win, jubilant fans drew parallels between the team and the movie. Shah Rukh Khan …
Caste management through feminism in India
Kanika S There was a time some 5-6 years ago when feminism tried to undermine Dr Ambedkar by pointing out that he carried a penis.1 Now he is just as fantastically a carrier of feminist ideals because his work helped women achieve voting rights, property rights, divorce rights, etc.2,3,4 And that alone is a sufficient …
Sunflower giving Mother
“If there was no night, women would not even have a chance to rest” – Smt. Kusum Nigam Dhamma Darshan Nigam Our mother once said that “अगर रात नहीं होती तो महिलाओं को आराम करने का मौक़ा भी नहीं मिलता” (If there was no night, women would not even have a chance to rest). One …