Yours Sincerely

Trigger warning: Rape apologia, Misogyny Content note: Long post By now, it is old news that the ugly colors of gender inequality have shown themselves in the form of molestation on New Year's eve in Bengaluru ( link ).  What is worse now is, that the ugly colors of rape apologetic attitudes and regressive notions on how women should cover / lock themselves up to 'prevent' sexual harassment ( and thereby implying that those women who did not do so were / are responsible for crimes against themselves ) have remained unchanged. Four years after Nirbhaya ( link ), not much has changed. The proof of it can be seen in the Quora post ( link ) which I am responding to which asserts that women locking themselves up is a solution to prevent sexual assaults, and the number of people who have up-voted it, and the number of people who empathised with the author's views in their replies (some replies rightly criticise the author but many more support or agree with him). The

As a new year treat, I am sharing this beautiful poem written by an anonymous poet. I actually came across it on Whatsapp during last new year when it was being circulated. The forward says it's written by Gulzar but I couldn't trace any source to confirm this, and any original source to link this to, so I am just pasting it here - It doesn't matter who wrote it. It is as beautiful as it is touching: Aahista chal zindagi, abhi kai karz chukana baaki hai Kuch dard mitana baaki hai, kuch farz nibhana baaki hai Raftaar mein tere chalne se kuchh rooth gaye, kuch chhoot gaye Roothon ko manana baaki hai, roton ko hasana baki hai Kuch hasraatein abhi adhuri hain, kuch kaam bhi aur zaruri hai Kuch rishte ban kar toot gaye, kuch judte-judte chhoot gaye Un toote-chhoote rishton ke zakhmon ko mitana baki hai Tu aage chal main aata hoon, kya chhod tujhe ji paunga? In saanson par haqq hai jinka, unko samjhaana baaki hai Aahista chal zindagi, abhi kai karz chukana baki hai So how

Happy new year everyone!! And....I am back! So you got it right - my new year resolution is: to write more . Whether it is on this blog or elsewhere, I want to spend more time doing this one thing which I love to do. So this isn't a 'fix the problem' resolution. It is more of a but this is more of a 'let myself free' resolution which I am taking to do what I truly want to do rather than what I am supposed to do. First things first. I'm sorry for the long, mysterious disappearance. I have no explanation to offer other than that I lost track and things got in between and well, I didn't create time for this. To be fairly honest, it is hard to explain how much I really missed this space. Let me just say that I feel alive typing this now. So many times my hands have itched to rant here, and for too long, I kept myself locked away whenever my mind wandered and my thoughts swayed with these winds. And finally, with the new year, I decided that there is goin