The Swachh Bharat campaign, admirable though it is, imagines that it can sweep the plastic away from public places. But where to? The city dump yards have been full for many years now, our villages are the new dump yards.
When Sabyasachi stated that Indian women who don’t know how to wear saris should be ashamed of themselves, he didn’t explicitly state that Indian women should wear saris at all times. But to burden them with a compulsion is unfair.
We are living at a time when one wonders if an opinion is even an opinion if it doesn’t offend someone! The ‘topics that hurt’ range from something as inane as Snapchat dogfilters to something as intense as Padmavati. Deepika Padukone’s nose can smell the smog of intolerance, literally.
Google’s annual list of most-searched people included many men, but the reasons for their making the list really has another story to tell – that this year has actually been of the survivors, the women, the victims who have spoken up and supported each other.
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli are now officially Virushka (or would they prefer Korma?), but the partnership made in heaven still has to address some very tough questions – from what was served at the wedding to honeymoon destination, the inquisition will last a while. Just don’t take it too seriously!
The title, TIME Person of the Year, irrespective of its decision to remain gender-neutral, has ended up time and again privileging and acknowledging men in positions of power. It is only the eighth time in the title’s 89 years of existence that women made it to the cover.
By naming ‘The Silence Breakers’ of the #MeToo movement as the Person of the Year for 2017, Time magazine has put the spotlight on how two simple words brought about a huge wave of awareness across the globe.
Javed Akhtar tweeted out a tribute on the demise of Thumri singer Girija Devi, with an ‘autocorrect’ typo, but the poet-lyricist was incessantly trolled even after he apologised. When will this culture of ‘trolling just for the heck of it’ really end?
By no longer being isolated narratives, the hashtag #MeToo and the stories of sexual abuse have created a comforting and reassuring solidarity among the survivors and have also propelled some perpetrators to ‘speak up’. The movement, however, is not passing judgement but is merely creating a space for conversation.
It’s just sad, the desperate attempt to get attention, in whatever form. The Internet is a powerful medium, but with great power comes with great responsibility, and we must put it to good use. It’s also a bit scary that an unthinking mass of shrill folk can be summoned for just about anything.
Black, overall, stands for negativity or, at best, creates an air of mystery. So, whether it’s a black or “evil” heart, black magic, Black Friday or just dark despair, black, defined as the absence of light, is rarely a harbinger of joy.
Next time we’re ready to scream ourselves hoarse, let’s check the facts and pick battles we are going to stick with in the long run. Otherwise, it’s all just noise.
‘What were you wearing?’ This powerful video takes a dig at the laconic nature of public outrage.
From being a single hapless mother to becoming Bangladesh’s ‘only’ female rickshaw-puller, Jasmine’s journey, undoubtedly, has been an uphill as well as an inspiring one.
The so-called park is actually a slaughter farm!
The advertisement that not only mocks women but implies that being ‘carefree and cool’ is actually bad!
Here’s a letter for US President Donald Trump.
“If I decided to write an open letter today, it is to point out the challenges in being a Bollywood fan of another ethnicity,” writes Fabienne Menoud.
While US President Donald Trump seems to follow through with his pre-election claims, Melania Trump is still bit of a wild card.
Reportedly, one of the men, in the video, told the woman, “You have been raped”.
Tired of women’s clothing being blamed for rape and molestation, a Mumbai-based photography and videography startup designed a hard-hitting photo series to highlight that it’s not the victim’s clothing that’s responsible.
Sadly, this is not the first time such insensitivity of people on social media has come to light.
Despite our claims of being rational and reasonable thinkers, it seems there’s still a lot of work to do.
Part of the pandemonium is the price a celebrity Bollywood couple is forced to pay. Some of it is, however, plain absurd.
How could the countless people (and one is being hopeful that gender equality exists) charged with assessing the various sensibilities of an ad miss these offensive tonalities?
