Gail Omvedt was a towering figure in the social sciences in India for decades. Author of over 25 books and a series of well-received columns for the Hindu of yesteryears, she was also an incisive and insightful analyst of Indian society, and a grounded grassroots activist as well. Despite being born and educated in the US, she made India her[Read More…]
As the Covid-19 lockdown kicked in March, Bangalore and most other cities in India witnessed an exodus of migrant workers returning to their homes in northern and eastern India, by every conceivable means including by cycle and by walking, with women carrying their small children. But there were some people who could not even leave, because they were not migrant[Read More…]
There’s a well-known story, often included in children’s story anthologies, about the legendary wisdom of King Solomon. Once a dispute between two women was brought to him to resolve. Both of them were mother’s of two small babies, and they lived in the same house. One morning one of the babies was found dead, smothered in bed. Then each of[Read More…]
The state of the nation is disturbed. The economic data is at a historic low – GDP, Employment, NPAs in banks, cost overruns, even falling demand not only in the automotive but also in rural markets for FMCGs, even undergarments! For the first time in my memory we are seeing falling demand for POWER!! Thermal power plants are shutting down[Read More…]
I have recently been reading and re-reading some of the important works which attempt to understand the various strands that make up the tangled strands of present-day India. In my day to day work too I have been encountering facets of the Indian state and its institutions as encountered by the women especially those marginalised in society. Their access to[Read More…]
Dehko, o deewano, yeah kaamnakaro, Ram kanaambadnaamna karo… The plaintive song from the past runs through my head as one reads the news reports of the competitive slogan mongering that rang through the hallowed portals.of.the Parliament ad the fresh lot of MPs were sworn in. It doesn’t augur well for the monsoon session, that MPs are heckled by their colleagues[Read More…]
The social ferment presently being witnessed all over India and abroad, where the Indian diaspora has spread out, is the background in which Modi has set out on his latest whistle-stop tours abroad.The month of April has been very restive, with country-wide Bandh call on 2nd April by the Dalits who constitute about 17% of India’s population. This was followed[Read More…]
Namo…nnamaha! Vande Mataram!
Mothers and sisters, our salutations to you!
Only make sure your limbs are fully swathed
Smothered with textile, yard upon yard of silk or polyester
Head covered, face veiled with ghungat or scarf.
This article is part of a series called “Heroes And Sheroes Of Plural India” under #AnHourForCommunalHramony campaign to celebrate the Heroes and Sheroes who struggled to shape modern India in all its plurality. Today we celebrate Savitribai Phule “The First Lady of Indian Women’s Education”. All are welcome to contribute an hour of your day, in celebrating these Heroes and Sheroes[Read More…]
Affordable health care is now becoming increasingly inaccessible to the poor and lower middle classes in India, given the drive to privatization in all parts of the social sector. Sally Ogun, a patient’s rights activist from America says, “The provision of health care … is part of a social contract, one that assures citizens access to the tools they need[Read More…]
“Eat Dust! Eat Dust!”, chanted the villagers who had gathered in the Public Hearing by the Environment ministry on the environmental impact of a mining lease which was due to be extended. As they chanted, they tossed fistfuls of the crushed red earth in the air. They were enraged by the attitude of the governmental officials who were there to[Read More…]
The events in Kandhamal in 2008 shook the entire country. The large number of tribal and Dalit Christians in this remote district of the then Orissa (now Odisha) state were subjected to months, even years of displacement, dispossession , death for a few and ‘forced conversion’ for those who remained, by the saffron forces which termed it ‘ghar wapsi’ or[Read More…]
The festive season in India begins with Nag Panchami. Ganesh Chaturthi follows. A few weeks later come the ten-day festivities of Dussehra, culminating in Ram Leela where effigies of Ravana are burnt in public functions in towns and cities across north India. Finally, there is Diwali, the festival of lights. Almost all Indian festivals – from the ever popular Diwali[Read More…]
The ongoing Mahishasur movement in North India has stirred up the Dravidian subconscious in south India. This year, on the day of Dussehra, effigies of Ram, Sita and Lakshman were burnt in Chennai. Eleven Periyar supporters who dodged a large police presence to burn the effigies were arrested. These Periyarites have been demanding a ban on the practice of burning[Read More…]
Investigative book ‘Who killed Swami Laxmanananda?’ authored by senior journalist Anto Akkara, came in for wide acclaim at its release in Bangalore on July 23 with eminent jurist and former Advocate-General of Karnataka Ravivarma Kumar describing it as a ‘wake up call for the nation’. “The content of the book has grave implications for Indian democracy,’ remarked Kumar while releasing[Read More…]
A journalism professor accused of making insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Smriti Irani has been jailed for insulting Lord Rama. Professor BP Mahesh Guru, who teaches at the Mysore University, was arrested on June 17 when he appeared before a Mysore court in connection with a case registered against him for allegedly insulting the Hindu god[Read More…]
DIPAM’s hasty moves to disinvest the government’s residual share in HZL highly imprudent and against the public interest 
A Climate of Betrayal 
Deserving Each Other: The PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger 
The World Economy Is Changing—the People Know, but Their Leaders Don’t 
Tribute to Chris Hani on 30th martyrdom Anniversary 
Proper Treatment of Rail Accident Victims Demands Long-term Commitment and Support 
What the Kailasa Con Job Reveals About the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh 
Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case 
The writing is on the wall: Farmers warn Parliamentarians 
The End Stage of American Empire 
End the culture of impunity and arrest accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh now 
Brasilia summit: Lula and Maduro reboot regional integration 
Steaming Ahead: Sikkim’s First Rail Project to Boost Connectivity by 2024 
Five years behind bars for five activists 
Five Years Since The First Arrests In Bhima-Koregaon Case 
Diluted Sovereignty: A Very Australian Example 
Conflict, Migration, and Demography in Russia and Its Border Regions 
Railway Safety Has Been Short of Funds, Needs Early Increase 
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
Looking for Home in an Overheating World – If Emissions Continue, Will We All Be Migrants Someday? 
From Ploughshares to Swords—Sudden Militarism of Those Who Once Stood for Peace 
Transreality 
Australia stands to benefit from India only if Indian democracy survives, not from rallies 
Whether Rhetoric or Serious, Arab Diplomacy Can’t Be Ignored! 
Unleashing the Power of Sports: How Sporting Events Drive Tourism Growth 
Black Panther and the need to dream for a better world 
Mexico’s Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on “the Verge of Civil War” 
Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed 
Stop Plastic Pollution as We Commemorate 50th World Environment Day 2023 
Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore 
Thoughts on World Environment Day 
Nuclear Fusion: Eternal Energy = Eternal Damnation 
Why There Should Be A Treaty Against the Use of Weaponized Drones 
Protests in Germany after Anti-fascists sent to five years in prison 
Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan 
Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony? 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
