Live Wire

“He seemed like a good person. A feminist. A revolutionary. Someone who ticked all the boxes. This made it very difficult for me to accept that people like him can also be [sexual] predators,” says Pihu*, a postgraduate student at the University of Delhi (DU). The ‘he’ being spoken about …

The complexity of the idea of freedom of speech is generally not reflected in films tackling the subject that generally take the hackneyed form of a political courtroom drama or a crime thriller. 19(1)(a) is impactful because it puts the focus on how an ordinary person quietly taking agency over …

On June 22, 2022, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration issued another round of notice to the owners of dhabas, canteens and photocopy shops inside the campus, demanding hefty fines and asking them to vacate the campus by June 30. According to a statement by the varsity, the businesses have …

Just over two months ago, I packed my bags and flew a few thousand miles, leaving everything familiar, everything that I have grown up with, that I have been accustomed to – the sights, sounds and the people – to land in a bustling city in the UK that I …

I remember the wintry afternoon of January 2021 when I attended the first class of my last semester in my room. It soon dawned on me that I would be a pandemic graduate within six months. I stood clueless because half of my college life was washed away by the …

The evening is spread out against the sky, and I am spread out on my couch. The bright, wretched gloom of the tube light is no match for my phone, whose glare forms the perpetual backlight to my life. Last night, I had decided that today would be different. But …

A friend recently explained how Snapchat works, and I remember feeling slightly disconcerted. I learned that streaks are an integral part of Snapchat — you and your online friend have to send each other a Snap at least three days in a row to maintain it. These Snapstreaks come to …

While the Buddha is an extreme example of someone who renounced all his worldly privileges and attained Nirvana, it is safe to say that most of us continue to enjoy the privileges that have been bestowed upon us. The word ‘privilege’ means a special advantage that only a specific group …

It has been less than a fortnight since a 24-year-old woman in Kerala lost her life, after being repeatedly harassed for dowry. More cases where young, married women have taken their own lives have surfaced in the state since. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said, “Parents have to realise that …

Praful Patel, the newly-appointed administrator for Lakshadweep, India’s smallest union territory, seems to have missed the memo on the impending climate crisis. Since February 2021, Patel has introduced a series of new laws that are in utter conflict with the region’s cultural as well as ecological past, present and future. …

On another doom scroll run Found out, a close friend lost his mother Numb, tears incoming while I text him Some condolences along with my number Don’t know how I’ll help him, but still. A friend shares a funny video I see that right after my existential crisis I laugh …

Among the many things that are commendable about Sudha Kongara’s Soorarai Pottru (2020) is the characterisation of Bommi (Aparna Balamurali). She is Bommi, not ‘Maara’s wife’ or the ‘hero’s love interest’. You see evidence of this distinction through the course of the film. Bommi lights up the screen with her …

“Dark, f***ed up, seedy-ass tenements The roof is where gangs rape old ladies just for sentiment, yeah Now this s**t is getting real ghetto prolific Ain’t no hipsters gentrifying Gotta keep this s**t authentic” The moment Radha put on her headphones, flipped open her notepad and blurted out the lines …

A poetic commentary on women's safety across the world.

Delhi University is a Central university with a diverse student body from all across the nation. More than 10,000 students attend college annually, leaving behind their homes, with the hope of building a secure future for themselves. However, COVID-19 has slowed down the education system owing to a nationwide lockdown …

This is not a poem and I’ll tell you why, because it lacks meaning, but you’ll still try. It follows a rhyme scheme and uses elaborate words – I used the thesaurus to identify and make myself feel heard. This is not a poem yet it has repetition to exaggerate …

‘He is not dead. There is still life left in him.’ ‘O leave it, my friend, I am exhausted.’ Exhausted. That’s how many of us have been feeling lately. This isn’t something that only those part of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests are feeling, or those devastated by the recent …

Cries are comestible. Our compassion is a cuisine. Panic is an entrée. Our Agony is a meal. ... Click To See More

I grew up in a Indian middle-class nuclear family – the kind where you squeeze the toothpaste get to the last little bit, use the soap until it’s so tiny it could evaporate and use the empty Bournvita jars for storing pulses and grains. In essence, we made sure wastage …

It was 9 pm on a cold January night when thousands of people assembled at Ram Leela Maidan to witness one of India’s finest statesmen – Atal Bihari Vajpayee – speak. That night, Vajpayee spoke of freedom, democratic rights and fundamental rights to disagree with those who rule us. Today, …

Is it the perfect evening for protest? As the evening sun sets, the screams grow louder and louder and the explosions sound closer and closer. The moon rises and its cold rays cast an eerie light on the rising columns of teargas smoke. This is the first popular uprising for …

It took truly agonising words spoken by the person I loved heartily to start an inconceivable journey – a journey to recover debris of lost esteem and self-love. My mind had been abuzz with bitter thoughts when he yelled at me: “I had the pleasure of knowing the most toxic …

I live in a country which was founded on love and faith But now I’m being taught to fear and hate Come share with me this collective fate Where the people are prisoners by the will of the state. I feel numb, succumbed by these insecurities Where the roads are …

On November 18, hundreds of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University marched towards parliament to oppose the draft hostel manual approved by the university’s administration. The manual was approved without the popular consensus of the students and has been slammed as a draconian measure to make education ‘exclusive’ and ‘discriminatory’. The …

On September 19, a clash between students at Jadavpur University (JU) and members of the BJP’s youth wing Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) escalated on the day Union minister Babul Supriyo was to speak at the campus. The minister was shown black flags when he arrived and after an impasse, …

I have often searched for home, in places and people. I have felt rooms, rooftops, the arms of my friend, or the side of the bed – which are only temporary – to be my home. But it took me several years to recognise that I also looked at my …

Reporting

I don’t know what it means to live as a Muslim woman in Modi’s India. I’m terrified most of the time. All my life decisions – including the career I want to pursue or the place I want to live – are determined by the ruling dispensation’s expectations, and not …

The haunting synth music grows louder and louder to match the panic of a brown teenage girl running back home in the cold Norwegian night. As her hoop earrings jangle, my heart hammers. The scene switches between shots of the girl’s father, checking on each of his sleeping children in …

Even though I have been brought up in Bhopal for almost all my life, the streets of Old Bhopal are still alien for me. So when I came to know about an all-women iftar party, I decided to jump on the opportunity. My Jumma (Friday) at Junta Quarters began with …