If you are an astute observer of the world like I, whatever your religious or ideological affiliation, one thing is obvious: getting your book banned is great for sales. Lets face it, book-writers are an impoverished lot. Few of them (us?) manage to get any royalties and fewer still can live off them. In the pursuit of making a living doing what you love and in the process entertaining and illuminating people, all means must [...]
How to get your book banned in India: a step by step guide
How to get your book banned in India: a step by step guide
What if Tebow were Muslim: Indian Edition
What if Tebow were Muslim: Indian Edition
Tim Tebow is an American football player who made news because he knelt and prayed before a game. He was made fun of by night show hosts and other liberal media outlets tried to point out the Christianizing of sports. We have a very different set of values than the US. We believe in live and let live. If an Indian player makes a public display of his faith, very likely it would be talked about in a respectful way.
India & the sex selection conundrum
India & the sex selection conundrum
Let us agree to go beyond billboard exhortations to ‘love the girl child. There is nothing to disagree about the thesis of the article. The girl child is precious and vital for the well-being of our nation. The girl child is not doing very well in spite of all that we are doing for her. It is not just the poor girl child who faces trouble, but the rich ones too. The authors, Farah [...]
The Cathartist replies to Pervocracy on Consent culture
The Cathartist replies to Pervocracy on Consent culture
Molly, the author of Pervocracy a fantastic blog about sex, BDSM, and feminism, featured Consent Culture recently. She talks about how consent is the standard/default behavior we need to work towards. The post is thought provoking. While we know that consent is a great way to equalize the sex equation, we still havent found ways on how to get consent into daily lives. She suggests some ways this can be done. The Cathartist, a friend and editor [...]
Torture porn, brilliant children and radioactive silence: Links for the weekend
Torture porn, brilliant children and radioactive silence: Links for the weekend
Gayatri Jayaraman recounts her trip to a Teach For India classroom Journalism? These are kids who are not used to being told that their opinion matters, that what happens to them in life, in person, matters, that they have a point of view, or that others can want to know it, share it and consider it valid. These are the true failings of our education system. Kanchan Gupta talks about our national shame: the [...]
Shrek Comments and I reply. On Religon/Secularism
Shrek Comments and I reply. On Religon/Secularism
A reader “Shrek” posted a fantastic comment in response to my last post. It also brings up some things I should elaborate on, so I have quoted parts the comment and added my replies/explanations to it. In response to ”They know nothing about Muslims” It is seen (empirical observation- can’t vouch, don’t have data) that most polarized parts are those with significant population from multiple faiths e.g Old city- Hyderabad, parts of Gujarat etc . [...]
Dont make me put it up on E bay – Sidin Vadakut has a wish list for the next government
Dont make me put it up on E bay – Sidin Vadakut has a wish list for the next government
Great post by Sidin, his wish list has a glaring hole, though – no mention of healthcare or gender.
Book Review- Transforming Capitalism by Arun Maira
Book Review- Transforming Capitalism by Arun Maira
he last decade has seen a rise in philanthropic businesses and big businesses investing in the society. The worldwide depression brought on by the wall street, stricter laws about environment, and the rise of laws about corporate social responsibility have contributed to this. There is also a growing awareness among businesses large and small that screwing over people and the environment is bad business in the long run. Arun Maira, in his book Transforming capitalism, [...]
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but buses do it better
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but buses do it better
October 14 2011 – Drove my brand new motorcycle home. Later in the day, took the wife for a spin and crashed. Wife skinned her knees and my ego. Men are weird like that. In the following days I drove almost 300 km including a trip to Palghat with no further incidents. November 1st – On the way back from Palghat, a bus that was not supposed to be on my side of the road [...]
Let us make things better: the “Indian medical doctors on the web” survey
Let us make things better: the “Indian medical doctors on the web” survey
I am doing a survey. Do you know how many Indian medical doctors who use the Internet blog? well, no one does. Neither do we know how many of us are students, how many are on twitter and how many talk about work online. We most definitely do not know if any of us follow professional guides to using social media written specifically for doctors. I want to find out, and I think irrespective of [...]
