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January 01, 2020 Only a week of staying at home and witnessing the stagnation first-hand, that has come to become the only characteristic of my family that I can remember from my childhood, is the worst form of mental violence that I can ever be subjected to. There is not just physical stagnation of things and people, but also a mental and emotional impasse that was hit when I was a child and has since, sustained. I can clearly remember that there was an implicit acceptance on the part of my parents that their fate was to struggle throughout their lives, nevermind for their children. My mother had to murder her ambitions and condone her aspirations of enjoying and celebrating her life like any other woman earning over Rs. 1,00,000 per month on her own would and should harbour, in view of my father being a daily drinker who would turn hostile towards her each night (not physically, only emotionally, finding flaws in every small thing in the house) despite earning virtually nothing o

Kerala Floods: A disaster triggered by nature; caused by humans

The deluge that has embattled Kerala and thrown daily life into mayhem doesn't know of any precedents in atleast the last hundred years. The scathing disaster has been met with an equally emphatic response: both from the state authorities and the people of India. We have seen exemplary compassion pouring in from every province in India. Yet, there lingers the fundamental question: Could the disaster have been averted? The turn of events in this scenario broadly highlights that though this was a disaster triggered by nature, it was caused by man. We have empirical data which suggests that it wasn't the heavy downpour alone, but it's deadly communion with man made factors like rampant construction, mining and hydroelectric power projects, that culminated into the worst disaster to hit Kerala in a century. Worst ever in terms of economic and psychological damage done. To corroborate this accusation, we must look back - not just months, but years - to 2010, when the call to sav

Gorakhpur Tragedy- More than just Despicable

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Eversince the news of the death of 30 children, admitted in a Gorakhpur Govt. hospital started pouring in, there has been a spate of detestable incidents- the latest one being the UP CM Yogi Adityanath calling it a 'despicable' incident. I do not disagree with him, but I did not expect him to just condemn the incident and completely ignore the fact that the Public Healthcare System under his administration deserves a complete overhaul. Amidst the political drama that unfolded after the tragedy, came another news- the death toll had risen to 64, and as expected, the Govt. decided to form a committee to investigate the 'causes' of the deaths. It is no hidden fact that forming such committees is a means of buying some time for the Govt. which it uses to quickly bury the controversy and subdue the simmering anger of the victims' families and the general public. Sometimes it is also used as a means of protecting the real culprits who are near and dear to the highest

An open letter to everyone expressing hate for Babasaheb Ambedkar.

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Recent Facebook post: I think it’s about time I expressed my due indignation towards people making and sharing memes that abuse Babasaheb Ambedkar unabashedly, hiding behind the veil of their monitor screens and comfortably inciting popular outrage of ignorant, misinformed people. It is very very disheartening to see that how easy it has become for a group or an individual to denigrate national icons like Babasaheb, the greatest champion of the proletariat- and not of any particular community, by spreading photoshopped images alongwith false and pungent accusations. What’s even more unfortunate is that some of us, despite having seen these blasphemous memes being rampantly shared in our news feeds either turned a blind eye towards such miscreants or went a step further and tagged someone in the posts who didn’t get a seat in a prestigious institution. Hope you guys had a good laugh. Rules, regulations, Public policy and Govt. decisions and measures, no doubt, have always been subj

Shadows..

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