Reading Indigo Warp’s take on the Indian family, I see many different repsonses, sort of contesting differences between cultures, and subtly (or overtly) stressing that “our” culture is best, because we can readily point out the flaws in a foreign culture. However our culture doesn’t become better by criticising other cultures. And you can criticise […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'culture and society' Category
Can she eat sattu like us ?
Having easy access to desi channels here adds to one’s entertainment in many ways. Besides the obvious doses of Hindi film and songs etc., one also gets the chance to view Indian politicians make unabashed fools of themselves on international television. This morning, on NDTV, I watched with disgust Amar Singh’s diatribe against Sonia Gandhi’s […]
Read the rest of this entry »Wardrobe malfunctions : the new social evil
I’ve been hearing obout the brouhaha over the clothing slip-ups (pun intended) at Lakme India Fashion week. Reading about the perturbations it’s causing is so much more fun though – I haven’t laughed so much in some time. Looking through the dailies on the web, I came across this gem : Probe ordered into Mumbai […]
Read the rest of this entry »Hai, that love of euphemisms ! (For Blank Noise Project Blog-a-thon)
Wikipedia defines “eve-teasing” as a euphemism. And what a euphemism ! It’s actually a nice word for molestation – hear, hear ! And we need nice words for serious problems like sexual harassment, because how would we, otherwise decent people, live in sanity in our “high-moralled cultural” society, where on one hand we revere the […]
Read the rest of this entry »That first filthy impression
In her column for the Indian Express, journalist Tavleen Singh writes about the “India Everywhere” campaign in Davos : “It was such a seductive mix of magic and modernity that many of my foreign friends promised they would come to India this year, no matter what. When I landed at Mumbai airport I thought of […]
Read the rest of this entry »The worth of our daughters
In this blog Uma writes about dowry. Plain and simple, it’s not hard to understand. What is abundantly clear from the various links she has, and from the horror stories you have head from family/friends (as I have) , that in the face of weak laws and an even weaker justice system, and a “culture” […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Bold and the Sleazy
It’s the reign of television and television channels. As news becomes more insipid and emotions over-done on Star News, Star One offers some hope, in the form of innovative stand-up comedy shows like “The Great Indian Laughter challenge” and “The Great Indian Comedy Show”, which is styled along the lines of American “Saturday Night Live”. […]
Read the rest of this entry »We want more, more, more ….
I’ve watched a couple of episodes of “Men Maange More” on Star One, and its hosted by Yudhishtir (or Yudi as he calls himself) a former Channel [V] veejay. Touted, I think, as the metrosexual man’s guide to gadgets, gizmos, fashion and all things hip, it elevates superficialness to an art form. The latest plasma […]
Read the rest of this entry »Delhi Police and “real” men
In his article, Sorit Gupto presents a Delhi Police advertisement printed in the local newspaper : “There is a scene of a bus stop where two young persons are teasing a young lady. In that frame, five persons are also there but they are just mute spectators of the event, in which one of them […]
Read the rest of this entry »Hindi films and phony accents
I am such an avid movie-watcher that it surprises me sometimes that others aren’t. Especially desi folk who don’t watch desi movies. Conversations with such desis usually runs like this : Me : Have you seen the film “Company” ? He/She : English or Hindi ? Me (flummoxed) : There is a Company in English […]
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