Monday, November 21, 2022

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? 


Tuesday, October 18, 2022

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. 

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?”

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

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/

Monday, September 26, 2022

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

Monday, September 19, 2022

Bhadu folk singers…

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