By Lopa Banerjee
The summer I turned ten, I knew my mother, too, craved to sing these songs and wanted to teach me, so I could sing in the choir. Her voice ached to traverse the vast terrain of sounds between the high and low notes of the harmonium. I could not see then the atoms of the dozens of glittering particles inside her neck that toiled to spell the musical notes.
By Indranil Dey
Why would the character of a girl, clothes she wears or the company she keeps be relevant to the investigation of a rape? Logically, it doesn’t. Lawfully, it doesn’t. But, somehow, morality, religion, and the dreaded word, ‘culture’, are mobilized to torment the victims.
By Akshatha Shetty
Despite the early onset of winter, the scorching heat of Rajasthan enslaves every soul. Dust rose and settled like smoke from a dragon’s flared nostrils. Far ahead, we heard the familiar chattering of three Rajasthani women clad in vibrant colors. Their hips swayed to the tunes of the earth, while their shoulders bore the burden of poverty.
By Mosarrap H. Khan
But why is the ‘speaking up’ so selective? Even if one leaves aside cases of rapes in the rural areas and those perpetrated by the Indian Army, what about the gruesome rape cases and killings during the Muzaffarnagar Riots in early-2013? Almost three months have passed since the Muzaffarnagar Riots, has the social media ‘spoken up’ for the rape victims?
By Shreya Ila Anasuya
The ‘Take Back the Night Calcutta’ event I hurriedly announced over the microphone at my university reunion, after having spontaneously decided with a friend to hold one in solidarity with those happening in Delhi and Mumbai, was similarly re-casted.
By Manisha Bandopadhaya
Kaneez also works as a counselor for women in her area, under Muraroi Police Station. Muslim women come to the center with problems such as multiple marriages, drinking and domestic abuse, trafficking of young girls etc. She personally bore witness in the case of forty divorces (talaaq).
By Mary Ann Chacko
While walking on the streets with my sister, cousins, or friends, we would suddenly hear someone calling ‘shh!shh!’ from an alley. Your reflex action would be to turn and look and what did you see? A random guy with an erect penis trying to grab your attention.
By Mary Ann Chacko
The women and children of Liberia had become ‘collateral damage’ in the fight between a power hungry President, Charles Taylor and the Rebels, who were fighting, presumably, to end Taylor’s autocratic regime. But as the women soon realized these rebel leaders or war lords were not there to ‘save’ them or their children. Rather, they were fighting their own battles for power and wealth.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 