An issue…

everyone is desperately trying to deal with:

https://www.telegraphindia.com/education/learners-covid-students-seem-more-reserved-less-eager-to-engage-in-group-activities/cid/1899535

The article is about students abroad, but students world over are suffering the same issues…the loss of 2 years of their lives is huge, and every student, in some way or the other, has been deeply affected by the havoc the virus caused. Little children who were starting school for the first time, suddenly find themselves in the 3rd year of school life, because soon after they were enrolled, the lockdown happened. This same problem hit every child, of every class. Senior children find themselves in College after missing out on the last two years of school. The mental, social, emotional adjustments children have to make is scary and daunting to say the least. Instead of growing into every class, they have had to jump 2 classes… As adults many of us are still coping with the changes the virus has brought about in our lives. Imagine the confusion and fear in the minds of children? 

A disconcerting future…

stares us in the face. Everything around us is seething: the alarming attacks on the marginalised, the virulent upsurge of fascism, and the unconscionable assault on himan rights. 

Noam Chomsky reminds us: “Human agency has  not ended.” Our hope lies in the fact that many of us can rise above uncertainty and demand an end to the prevailing narrative of deceit. 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/liberation-through-incredulity-a-disconcerting-future-stares-us-in-the-face/cid/1892692

A brilliant piece by Rajmohan Gandhi…

on the politics of hate in our country today… “Many sad things are happening; terrible things are happening. And do you know the saddest of all things? The silence about cruelty from the top.”

He says: “….. if you are a leader of a nation or a person with any influential platform and people listen to you and respect you, and they take their line of thinking from you, should you not say something when something cruel happens, when something callous happens?”

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/rajmohan-gandhi-rues-fake-news-about-jawaharlal-nehru/cid/1892660

Check this out…

 Calcutta’s latest venture:

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/my-kolkata/places/bengal-paddle-a-steamer-from-the-1940s-will-ferry-passengers-on-the-river-hooghly-once-more/cid/1888221

Calcutta has so much going for it but it all gets lost, somehow, in the mire of politics…

Anti-veil protests…

go beyond Iran.

Mahsa Amini has become a rallying point for women the world over. Maybe the time has come for the world to sit up and take notice of women, for we are the foundation on which the world is built. We have tried many ways to make the world understand this, accept us and give us our rightful place. Mahsa is the latest among a long line of women who, down the ages, have tried to make the world SEE them—-see us women not just as commodities or who can bring money in, but as persons with intelligence, feelings, and capabilities. But the world just refuses to do so. The fact that the protests in Iran are being picked up by women in other parts of the world is a signal going out that we sisters will stand together to fight for what is our basic right….we will fight to be seen and heard…we will fight for each other…the fight has gone beyond the hijab, it is now our soul that we are fighting for…

https://indianexpress.com/photos/world-news/in-pictures-iran-protest-continues-long-history-of-resistance-8177968/3/

The Puja in Calcutta…

is a whole lot more than worship of the goddess…it is not only the victory and celebration of good over evil, it is also the triumph and celebration of man’s art and craftsmanship. 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/education/the-durga-puja-is-a-mega-opportunity-for-art-college-students-not-only-to-watch-senior-artists-at-work-but-also-to-lend-a-hand-themselves/cid/1888968

Bhadu folk singers…

from East Burdwan’s Khangodosh highlight their poverty and unemployment through songs, travelling across 40 villages in the district. 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/west-bengal/villain-in-folk-songs-no-jobs-under-mgnrega/cid/1887431

To war, in step…

Raibeshe, known to be a virile war dance, being performed at Gonnaserandi village in Bengal’s East Burdwan district by a troupe of girls. The dance breaks into fierce acrobatic movements after the initial few minutes. Another glass ceiling broken by girls…

Check it out here: 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/culture/to-war-in-step-a-dance-form-that-has-broken-gender-and-caste-formats/cid/1887317

Russians and the Queen…

The Kremlin paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth on her passing and dozens of Russians laid flowers at the British Embassy despite the dire state of relations between London and Moscow. “The Queen and the royal house have always been the personification of peace and goodness,” said Muscovite Anton Avramets. 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/world/some-russians-mourn-queen-elizabeth-ii/cid/1885659

Meet…

Subrata Ghosh of Durgapur in West Bengal. Not only does he cultivate roses,  but he is full of stories about each one of them….

https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/he-rose-he-rose-he-rose-from-the-beds-meet-engineer-of-roses-and-his-bouquet-of-curiosities/cid/1885901

Taking part in…

a French regatta are two bravehearts-Swapan Purakait and Sunayana Shetty. This couple from Gariahat are in Libourne in southwestern France. 

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/my-kolkata/news/kolkata-couple-from-gariahat-to-vie-in-double-sculls-in-french-regatta/cid/1885270

Barefoot College…

Sanjit (Bunker) Roy, an alum of a top-ranked school and college opted for the path less trodden. His is a fascinating journey. Read about his work here:

https://www.educationworld.in/barefoot-college-tilonia/amp/

From the border…

Separated by governments, yet sharing the same taste in music, the same culture, and the same language, two champs, from the same bit of land separated by a line running through it, bond seamlessly with each other…

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/commonwealth-games/pakistans-nooh-dastgir-butt-and-indias-gurdeep-singh-celebrate-weightlifting-podium-finish-with-moosewala-songs-8071378/

Amritsar calling…

 At every nook and cranny, you will find one guy making that one sweetmeat that sets the bar of excellence. The Ambarsari is of course on a first name basis with the guy, much as he in turn knows the buyer, his progeny and his ancestry.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/amritsar/from-gian-di-lassi-and-gurdas-di-jalebi-savour-the-mouth-watering-treats-in-the-holy-city-7718911/

A Janus situation?

 Whether to go along with bloodthirsty calls for genocide 

Or

Whether to be kind and compassionate to all human beings

We are forgetting that we are all made of clay in the image of Him who created us.

Silence is acquiescence

Our government and all those in authority by keeping quiet over hate-induced violence for the minority communities is, in effect, condoning it. Rabbi Robert Marx says that silence is acquiescence. When you acquiesce to injustice, you are contributing to it. 

This continuing senseless bullying of all people who don’t fall into the ‘Hindu’ category is condemnable. I pray that sense prevails sooner than later, and saves the beautiful fabric of our country. 

Fathima Sheikh

Fathima Sheikh was honored by Google yesterday on her 191st birth anniversary. Fathima was our first Muslim woman educator. In the 1840s she started the “Beti padhao” movement. She worked for the upliftment of girls from poor, and marginalized commuities. The first school for girls was started in her home in 1848.