By Chhaya Kaul
A former colleague, during a casual discussion on the plight of government schools rightly commented that what our education system needs is NOT just an overhaul but a complete reboot, even if that means bringing it to a halt and starting anew.
By Neha Basnet
Young women contribute greatly to the youth initiatives, specifically in freedom struggle, but they are conspicuously absent in the conceptualization of ‘Youth’. Drawing upon youth initiatives during the freedom movement in India and the post-conflict context of contemporary Nepal, this piece questions the limited participation and conspicuous absence of young women vis-à-vis young men.
By EPM Swalih
Akhil Gupta’s study is different from other postcolonial scholars working within a western theoretical framework. He shows a unique way to engage with Euro-American theories. And that is why I began to love his work. His interrogation of the theories of governmentality, biopolitics, and sovereign ban results from his grounding in Mandi district of Western Uttar Pradesh, India. He compels us to think with the Euro-American theories only if we are able to critically approach them. I find his attempts in provincializing Europe[1] as one of the most rewarding tasks ever undertaken by the postcolonial scholars.
By Lopa Banerjee
Being born a girl, I should have sensed when invaders had pushed through the padding of closed doors, throwing me back into the irredeemable domain of bruise and hopelessness. By now, I should have learnt to focus on my own life as an outcast, to thrive in my madness and be pleased to walk alone amid the crowded city streets with impetuous fools.
By Safia Begum
In the month of Ramadan, she was observing fast and stitching the heavy dining-table cover. Since the new academic year has started, she has to pay for her children’s school fees and buy books for them. Her husband asks her to stop the girls’ education as they can’t afford to pay so much money. With a salary of three-thousand-rupees per month, she barely manages to pay for their education.
By Mary Ann Chacko
In this ‘Cafe Dissensus’ conversation, internationally acclaimed actor and social worker, Nandita Das speaks to Mary Ann Chacko, an Editor of Cafe Dissensus, NYC.
By Elena Vinokurova
You have no future and all that awaits you is death from an overdose of sun, freedom, and chili peppers…and, then, you wake up in a gray city apartment in a gray concrete high-rise under a gray sky among people dressed in gray ties.
By Cafe Dissensus
In this ‘Cafe Dissensus’ conversation, Mr. Amit Khanna, Ex-Chairman, Reliance Entertainment, talks about the Indian entertainment industry.
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 Cafe Dissensus
Café Dissensus welcomes submissions of short opinion pieces from our readers. Our special election issue will be published on 15 March, 2014. We invite our readers to submit their opinion.
By Mary Ann Chacko
That was years ago. Today my heart is filled with gratitude and the precious memories of teaching in a residential school for boys in Yercaud, Tamil Nadu. But, looking back, I realize that my meltdown was only partially triggered by the thought of dreams remaining unfulfilled. I was raging because I recognized the low-status of school teachers and teacher education colleges in India. Hence I did not want to be associated with the profession or with the degree.
By Shreya Ila Anasuya
Given that this law was passed in 1860 by the colonial government, it is doubly absurd that it is now being upheld in order to preserve ‘Indian culture’. Even a cursory interrogation of this law will place it firmly within the framework of Victorian morality, which then becomes violently translated into upper-caste, elite Hindu nationalism.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 