Reportage
Longform
People
Commentary
Essays and Commentary
Vaanthi
Pop Culture
Books
Sports
In Pictures
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♦ Reportage ♦
1. Men’s Hockey Captain Dropped. Women’s Hockey Captain Dropped. Same Story? Guess Again
By Deepika S
Days before the Indian men’s and women’s hockey squads headed to Rio for the Brazil Olympics, the two team captains were changed for different reasons that highlighted the sexism in Hockey India (HI), the national governing body for the sport. A story about the deep divide between women and men in sports.
2. If You Thought it Was Easy for Garment Workers to Protest for Their PF, You Need to Read this
By Ila Ananya
When lakhs of garment workers blocked the main roads of Bangalore in protest, the all-too-common response was to dub it a ‘traffic jam’. But the women’s resolute dissent had deep significance.
3. Investigation: Where are the ‘One Stop Centres’ for Rape Survivors Promised by the Nirbhaya Fund?
By Jasmine Lovely George
You must have heard of the new centres for rape survivors? The Government has had them up and running, right? Right? Wrong.
4. Manipur Gets Hit with a Double Whammy as the Press Shuts Shop in the Middle of an Economic Blockade
By Maya Palit
First a blockade. Next demonetisation. And then newspapers too?
5. What I Learnt at a Bra workshop: Keep Your Enemies Close and Your Bras Even Closer
By Ila Ananya
At the bra workshop, we were given an elaborate checklist. Here’s everything we learnt.
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♦ Longform ♦
By Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh
In this war, the only kind of good Kashmiri rape victim is a dead one — everyone else is a slut and a liar, Ghosh writes in this carefully researched, fiercely argued piece. What did it mean to be the #Handwaragirl?
By Nandini Krishnan
In 2014, a co-actor slapped Krishnan as a scene was being choreographed. There was no slap in the script but the perp claimed he had got “carried away”. This began Krishnan on a long and difficult journey of exposing the violence and sexism of Indian theatre.
3. It’s Hard to be a Journalist in India. Is it Harder if You’re a Woman?
By Ila Ananya
Indian women journalists not only face all the usual threats that come with rigorous reporting — from physical attacks to intimidation — but they also face a continuous stream of misogyny and harassment.
By Ivana
What is it like to visit friends and see ‘the sights’ of a new country in the shadow of guns and bombs? To be stared down by soldiers, witness the high walls of apartheid and discover graffiti that is less about artistic expression and more about resistance? Ivana tells us about her experiences of travelling through Palestine.
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♦ People ♦
1. Why Dalit Women are Marching Towards Una: An Interview with Manjula Pradeep
By Ila Ananya
A key organiser talks about the iconic protests at Una, Gujarat after four Dalit men were beaten by Gau Rakshaks, and about the participation of women in these protests.
By Ila Ananya
KR Meera talks us about her new book The Gospel of Yudas, her writing life, and other writerly things.
3. Do You Like Miss Moti Comics As Much As We Do? Meet Kripa Joshi, the Woman Behind Miss Moti
By Ila Ananya
An interview with Kripa Joshi, the creator of Miss Moti, about her delightful character Moti, the process of creating her comics, and what it’s like being a woman in the comics scene.
4. Arachnologist Rajashree Khalap on Discovering the Sorting Hat Spider that Excited even JK Rowling
By Divya Vijayakumar
A profile of Rajashree Khalap, who was on the team that found a new species of Indian spider that looks just like the Sorting Hat from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.
By Tanya Kini
The Bebaak Collective responds to the Muslim Personal Law Board’s assumption that women lack decision-making qualities and that men should comprise the face of the community.
6. Seven Questions with Gogu Shyamala about Radhika Vemula, Solidarity and Dalit Rights
By Ila Ananya
In this interview, the Dalit activist and author Gogu Shyamala talks, amongst other things, about forming the Radhika Vemula Solidarity Committee after Rohith’s death.
7. Inside the Intense Fitness Routine that Powered Deepa Malik’s Paralympic Triumph
By Deepika S
Deepa Malik altered her training routine six months before the Rio Paralympics. This is what it looked like.
8. Comedian Sumukhi Suresh is on a Secret Pan-Indian Mission to Gross Women Out
By Deepika S
Sumukhi Suresh tells us about the moment that she had a brainwave: if you put only women in a room together, they tend to laugh more at dirty jokes, or jokes everyday experiences.
9. Meet Ginni Mahi, the Young Punjabi Dalit Singer Spreading Ambedkar’s Message
By Shivani Bhasin
Gurkanwal Bharti, or ‘Ginni Mahi’, is not your average 18-year-old. An interview with one of the most powerful young voices emerging from Punjab.
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♦ Commentary ♦
1. Why is Our Media Making a Macabre Spectacle of Monika Ghurde’s Death?
By Maya Palit
Immediately after news broke of the perfumer Monika Ghurde being murdered in her Goa apartment, the national media erupted into speculation about whether she was raped, and how. From racy headlines that sexualised her no end to irritating obituaries, the grotesque coverage of Ghurde’s death, had us fuming.
By Deepika Sarma
When men whose progressive politics we think we know turn out to be no different from abusers who do not claim the distinction of being sympathetic to women, why are we so keen to overlook their transgressions in favour of their creative genius?
3. Arguing that the Nungambakkam Murder Victim Was a Good Girl is as Bad as Saying She Was a Bad Girl
By Ila Ananya
Soon after Swathi’s horrific murder, there was a lot of discussion about her good character, and that she didn’t interact with boys. This piece looks at where this argument comes from and why it’s irrelevant.
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♦ Essays and Commentary ♦
1. In Thrall of Particular Men
By Nisha Susan
Did you spend a lot of time around Particular Men – essentially, men who were granted the liberty, celebrated even, for being high maintenance? This piece reflects on how the charm of particularness fades fast, and seen without rose-tinted glasses, is pretty straightforward brat behaviour.
2. Three Years Ago I Decided to Wear the Hijab All the Time, and Everyone Lost It
By Tasneem S Pocketwala
Tasneem thinks back to the phase when she began to wear the hijab at all times, which was considered unnecessary by the people around her, and how it led to a tug-of-war situation between overtly conservative congratulations and being told that she wasn’t free-spirited enough.
3. An Ode to Drunk Girls I Meet in the Loos of Pubs
By Vijeta Kumar
There is a lot to say about the drunken women we meet in loos. And sometimes I wonder how they’re all doing.
4. Why Bipolar Might Be Making Me Evil, and Why My Arch-Nemesis is Dental, Not Mental
By Sneha Rajaram
“When I first became depressed, I desperately wanted nothing to do with it. But for the last ten years I’ve always thought, ‘Duh, yes!’ Identifying voluntarily as bipolar has always seemed like the only way to ‘own’, to take charge of, a diagnosis that was imposed on me.”
5. ‘Dressing Up is my Politics’: 16 Important Points from a Transfeminist Conversation
This piece brings to you extracts from reflections by transfeminists who debate everything from the failures of Cis Feminism and mansplaining to the politics of sex work and the real meaning of Women’s Day.
6. My Sister and I Called it #Shakeitdaddy. But We Never Told Anyone I Had Epilepsy
By Jasmine Lovely George
“Epilepsy happens. Some people swing by it, some people dance through it, and some people medicate themselves. To each their own.” What is it like to live with epilepsy? Why don’t we ever acknowledge and talk about it?
7. So Why Won’t Anyone Tell the Truth about Your Post-Baby Body & Injuries?
By Lalita Iyer
Everyone has a story. Some have been in labour for thirty hours, induced, and then C-sectioned. Some have labour as short as 20 minutes, but their placenta never came out and had to be surgically removed. Some had episiotomies that hurt for months.
8. Sex Sucks for Me and Now I’ll Tell You Why I’m Not Doing it Again
Hey Crimson Kitty Kutty! I Get What You’re Saying But Sex Doesn’t Suck For Me
Sex Used to Suck. But Now It’s Gotten Better With My Husband and Other Men
Three pieces about sex in which writers respond to each other’s views.
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♦ Vaanthi ♦
1. Want to Make Sure You Conceive a Baby Boy? This Malayalam Daily Has All the Tricks Up its Sleeve
By Theertha Raj
Malayalam daily Mangalam came up with a list of “scientifically proven” methods to conceive a baby boy. They include eating mutton, dry grapes, and salty food.
2. What do you call 3000 used condoms on JNU campus?
By Vasudha Katju
In this piece, the writer unpacks BJP MLA Gyandev Ahuja’s theory about the items found on the JNU campus.
3. So Do You Get Why Men Want to Flash Women?
By Nisha Susan
To people clutching their head and asking why anyone would do such a thing, I only have one thing to say: you were never a schoolgirl.
4. Please Can We Stop Using Gross Images in News About Rape?
By Sneha Rajaram
A woman in foetal position, a woman in the shadows, hair dishevelled and men with large shadows falling over her. Why do these images tell us only one kind of story?
5. A New Study Shows that if You Know the Person Who Raped You, Judges Impose Lighter Sentences
By Ila Ananya
Mrinal Satish’s new book on rape sentencing in India provides solid evidence for what we have suspected all along — that rapes by acquaintances invite lighter sentences; that courts impose lower sentences on defendants when the raped woman is unmarried and sexually active; ditto in the case of absence of injuries on her.
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♦ Pop Culture ♦
1. My Love Letter to the Lesbian Love Story Sancharram
By Kunjila Mascillamani
The film, Sancharram, by Ligy J. Pullapally, is about two young women, Kiran and Delilah, who discover their sexuality as lesbians and begin a relationship, but are hounded by the people around them. This piece looks at some of the scenes that the author loved. Why is this movie way ahead of a lot of lesbian films that were made after it?
2. Reading Sairat’s Rulebook of Running Away
By Vijeta Kumar
When I was watching Sairat, it seemed like any other love story, but only better because the movie takes time to show us this love story. And it’s important that when we hear/watch love stories, we are given the details.
By Anannya Baruah
The writer on watching Bhaskar Hazarika’s Kothanodi, and remembering her own grandmother.
4. Sick of TV News Channels and Shouty Newsreaders? Prepare to be Mesmerised by Real Telangana TV
By Ila Ananya
Why Real Telangana TV gives you television news with incredible panache and tongue-in-cheek satire.
5. Why Make a TV Show about a Transwoman if You Can’t be Bothered to Understand What That Even Means?
By Nihit Bhave
A Colors TV show called Shakti thought it was championing a fight for the rights of the third gender, but it actually reveals a complete lack of awareness about transgender people in the country.
6. Hello AIB, When You Made Your Adulthood Video, Did You Forget Something?
By Sharanya Gopinathan
In which All India Bakchod forgot that you might be a woman!
7. Movie Star Amala Paul Says Bye Bye to Husband, Father-in-Law, and Totally Scammy Choices
By Kunjila Mascillamani
Amala Paul and others like her are being told that they have to choose between married life and a career.
8. Everything About Me & Arunoday Singh that You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask
By Nisha Susan
In which we’re told, “We can’t show the campaign as being run by a woman! That won’t be realistic.”
9. I Wish It Wasn’t so Hard to be a Rajnikanth fan in Tamil Nadu
By Niranjana Ramesh
It is difficult being a woman and a fan of Rajinikanth anywhere, especially within the Tamil virtual or geographical community.
10. Some Folks Are Laughing At Jacintha Morris But She is My New Hero
By Sandhya Menon
How can a woman who isn’t attractive or fashionable by bland, globalised standards dare to consider herself desirable and confident? Especially if her song goes viral.
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♦ Books ♦
By Deepika S
This piece delves headfirst into the haunting memoir of poet, writer, and theatre person Mallika Sheikh and her tumultuous marriage to Namdeo Dhasal, the co-founder of Dalit Panthers. It reveals everything from her childhood memories to her first sexual encounter, and is a disturbing and immensely poignant reflection on what happens to the personal when your marriage is driven by the political.
2. ‘What Can We Do About this Girl?’ Urvashi Butalia Remembers Mahasweta Devi
By Urvashi Butalia
The passing of seminal author Mahasweta Devi in July this year prompted feminist publisher Urvashi Butalia to write a poignant obituary and throwback to discovering Devi’s writing in the ’80s, and how it seemed that, finally, here was an author who had something to say that was enormously relevant to the budding women’s movements and activism of the time.
3. Here’s What We Think of Twinkle Khanna’s Short Stories
By Nisha Susan
Although Twinkle Khanna’s columns are effortlessly excellent, what about her foray into short story writing?
By Drishti Rakhra
In her Neapolitan novels, Elena Ferrante tells me the story of what would have happened if I were brave enough to hold on to friendships that meant more than they should have.
5. ‘You Can Transcend Your Wound.’ Paromita Vohra on Love, Violence, and Writing a Comic Book
By Ila Ananya
Writer-filmmaker Paromita Vohra on writing the comic Priya’s Mirror where Priya, a gang-rape survivor meets acid attack survivors, her inspiration for Priya’s character, the challenges of writing in the comic book form, and the fascinating ways in which her filmmaking shaped her approach to the book.
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♦ Sports ♦
1. Inside the Unshakeable Confidence of Veda Krishnamurthy
By Deepika Sarma
Veda Krishnamurthy, “moves like she always knows what she wants, planting each foot wide and firm on the ground.” This is a profile of middle-order batter Veda, who always catches your eye on the field.
2. Was Your Sports Day Weird? We Asked Some Ladies and Got Some Beautiful Memories
We asked a bunch of ladies what their Sports Day was like. This is what we got.
3. The Most Important Thing about a Woman is her Clothes, and Other Rubbish Lessons from Sports
By Torsa Ghoshal
This piece contemplates the media’s fixation with women athletes and their clothing choices, and other hugely irritating tendencies in the coverage of women’s sports – the perception that some games are not for women, or how too much sports would give you ‘manly arms’.
4. PV Sindhu’s Win Fired the Starting Gun for the Uncle Olympics
Here’s a brief, helpful list of some things we spotted at the Uncle Olympics.
5. I Played Cricket. I Reported on Cricket. Here is How We Can Ensure More Women Do Both
By Anagha Rajadhyaksha
Exposure and spotlight seems like a pretty farfetched expectation, where actually all that’s really needed is to get the basics in place.
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♦ In Pictures ♦
1. The Stunning Secrets of Ziro Music Festival in Arunachal this Year
If your friends were off to Arunachal in September this year, then you know they were on their way to Ziro. Here are some stunning photographs by Kannaki Deka, Bangalore-based writer and former lecturer, who was at Ziro. And reportedly, Ziro was everything.
2. The Many Faces of the Real Indian Male
MS Gopal, who has been a photographer for 9 years, has a series of delightful photographs with the hashtag #IndianMale. He travels to various parts of Mumbai to capture the bizarre and vibrant quirks typical to men in the country–”Indian men doing very Indian men things.”
3. This Photo Series Offers a Rare Peek Into Women’s Lives in Bhutan
The first thing you notice about Bhutan Echoes, Serena Chopra’s new photo exhibition, is the breadth of experiences that it records. From the queen lounging in her palace to women indoors and outside their homes, these photographs have been taken over 12 years.
4. Is this the Ganji From Hell and is it Time to Call PC Rather Non-PC?
Perhaps this is what Priyanka Chopra and her stylist Cristina Ehrlich really wanted the T-shirt she wore on the Conde Nast cover to say.
5. Goodbye, Carrie Fisher. May the Force Always Be With You
An obituary in three panels.