Before they came to power, their lawless bullies roamed the streets and enforced self-declared edicts of morality on girls by not allowing them to hang out with boys and visit recreational facilities. When they came to power, they officially used the police to crack down on hotels to see what men and women were doing in private and how they could control it.
If the bullies of Sri Ram Sena in Mangalore chased and punched young girls because they visited pubs, in Maharashtra, the police rounded up several couples who were spending time in hotels near Mumbai, manhandled them, humiliated them and got away after imposing a fine for “public indecency” for whatever they did in private.
In India, the debate around sex work is often convoluted between that of, legalization, abolition and an in-between demand for decriminalization. Opinions oscillate between- sex cannot be work because it is an intimate human act and should not be sold, to equating it with any other form of labor and hence completely valid.
The debate is further made complex by the socio-political scenario as the Indian state maintains an ambiguous stand on sex-work; neither overtly approving it nor disapproving it and allowing it to exist in the underbelly of our society.
On 5th of August 2015, two passenger trains ran headlong into a very billowy Machak river, between Khirkiya and Bhirangi stations on Khandwa-Irasi sections, some 160 km from Bhopal, in Northern Madhya Pradesh. Kamayani express connecting Mumbai to Varanasi and Janta Express from Patna, bound for Mumbai hit the river only minutes after each other following a late-night derailment, killing 29 passengers, a number that is currently being debated.
“The government is willing to discuss everything“, or so said our Parliamentary Affairs minister before this fiasco of a parliament session started.
Apparently, our government is willing to discuss everything but what needs to be discussed. As an Indian citizen, it completely befuddles me: Why is our social media-savvy prime minister tight-lipped at this crisis? However, a closer look seems to reveal that Modi is not as outspoken as he claimed before the election.
Starting with the Pune techie murder case last June where Hindu Rashtra Sena members beat to death a Muslim software engineer to the demands of Humara Adhikar protests in December, NaMo has maintained a dubious silence on controversial grounds despite all his tweets and selfies.
Every generation's progress comes at the cost of the existing status quo. When motor cars became the norm, horse-drawn buggies had to call it a day. When computers became commonplace, typewriters died a natural death. Someday when renewable energy becomes viable, fossil fuels will be a thing of the past. As we speak, there is a silent transition that is in progress, noted by few but affecting millions.
The slow demise of the web designer
The internet has, in the last 20 years, been shaped by the mouse clicks of web designers. From flashy banners to material design, we have come a long way in terms of how we see, perceive and interact with the internet.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in Chennai to be part of the National Handloom Day celebrations, there arises the pertinent question as to how designers and boutiques across India can help the handloom sector.
Many globally renowned designers in south India, like Gaurang Shah, Vivek Karunakaran and Shravan Kumar Ramaswamy whose clients include a long list of Indian celebs, have been consistently working with weavers and handlooms. Applauding the creation of a National Handloom Day to throw the limelight on a dying craft, Hyderbad-based designer and textile revivalist Gaurang Shah says, “It’s motivational and the most satisfying moment for a designer like me as the Prime Minister dedicates this day for handlooms.
After the buzz over India’s mission to Mars and the Prime Minister’s high-decibel Make-in-India, both meant to be showcases of the nation’s engineering talent, here is the latest, grim reminder of the quality of freshly minted engineers:
• While 97% want jobs either in software or core engineering, only 3% are good enough to be engineers in software/product roles, and only 7% can handle core engineering tasks.
• Only 11% find jobs in knowledge-intensive sectors because their English skills are poor (74%), as are their analytical or quantitative skills (58%).
• A student from a tier-3 college will get Rs 66,000 per annum less than a student of equal merit from a tier-1 college.
"This is a suit-boot-ki-sarkar", said one Rahul, the Congress Dynast. "This is not the Modi government", said another Rahul, a patriarch of the Bajaj Auto group. The two statements are pregnant with meaning. The Dynast's meaning was to suggest that Narendra Modi's government favours crony businessmen. Rahul Bajaj’s quip was intended to suggest that Modi was not proving to be the friend of business that he was thought to be.
All the current problems faced by Modi – the parliamentary gridlock, failure to pass key legislation, the lack of new energy in the economy, and growing business disillusionment with him - can best be explained by the wide gulf between the statements of the two Rahuls.
