I remember hearing Viswanathan Anand in an interview talking about his parents’ reaction to his being featured in Time Magazine or some such achievement. Apparently his parents were most matter of fact about that – the whole “OK, well done beta ! Now let’s get you down to earth !” routine. I can almost see […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'culture and society' Category
T.I.L.I.I
Kids run around. They fall. They hurt themselves. All the time. My son seems to have a knack for it. When this happens in school, they’ll give me a note which explains what happened and what they did to correct it. I remember this one note years ago, as my little boy proudly displayed his […]
Read the rest of this entry »TV : The “Love and Honor” syndrome
I’ve written about it here and here, but here’s another article, this time by Indian Express columnist Shailaja Bajpai, where she talks of Indian television propagating harmful ways of thinking instead of doing the reverse : In all soaps, the most important entity is the Family, the most critical event, the Wedding, the central theme […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Great Indian tamasha : Tharoor and the IPL
All the Indian media can talk about is Shashi Tharoor and the IPL scandal. The head honchos of Indian politics are ready to make important decisions about his suitability as a Minister, and everyone’s horrified at the “inappropriate” behavior. Wow – you think that there may be some shady dealings in the IPL ? In […]
Read the rest of this entry »Is this empowerment ?
When I saw this promo on TV, I thought finally – someone with their head screwed on the right way :[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVfL6kmciXM] Unfortunately and horrifyingly, as it turns out in this serial, the heroine, the girl who speaks up, marries the ring-leader of the molesters (the guy in black). Disturbing, to put it mildly. Sevati Ninan […]
Read the rest of this entry »The unbearable lightness of being
The BBC reports : . . . demand for fair-complexioned brides and grooms to grace these occasions is as high as everFuelling this demand are the country’s 75-odd reality TV shows where being fair, lovely and handsome means instant stardom.As a result, the Indian whitening cream market is expanding at a rate of nearly 18% […]
Read the rest of this entry »Feminism gone astray ?
There are varying views of feminism. And while feminism has core concerns such as equality for women, adequate wages etc., there are also many aspects which are being palmed off as female empowerment, when they are not. I have written about them here and here, and recently I came across an article in the Times […]
Read the rest of this entry »Maharashtra : Falling from grace
An excellent editorial in the Indian Express : The second dimension of this crisis is the blot it represents on our freedoms. We tend to see each episode of Sena mania in isolation: sometimes it is taxi drivers, sometimes Shah Rukh Khan. The Sena may be a weakening electoral force. But the price it extracts […]
Read the rest of this entry »Indian television and women
I’m watching TV. The husband comes in. He : Why are you watching this crap ? I : What crap ? “This”, he points at the TV. “This is not crap, it’s Perfect Bride.” “Same thing.” He exits. Cut to 2 weeks later. He tells me, eyeing the clock “Your program is coming on” and […]
Read the rest of this entry »Apathy
Watched this news on NDTV, and it is bone-chillingly horrifying. A wounded policeman lies on the side of the road, begging for help. Gangsters have chopped off one of his legs. The ministers and their convoy pass by, stop, but dither around and then call for an ambulance, which does not come. It takes them […]
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