Columns

Every phase in life is a learning experience in itself and without any doubt hostel life is one of those. As you get an opportunity to face life, people and situations all on your own, you are prepared for your life ahead in a more mature and better way. In the beginning, the place feels so strange to you that ...

Love is a very sacred and pious feeling in us and it is the very essence of our existence. Nowadays, we don’t love someone as much as we choose to love. Loving is different from choosing to love. When we choose to love, it means we love a choice and not the person whom we claim to love. I differentiate ...

This is a strange story of fate and opportunity coming together. This is the story of being clueless about my future to sitting in one of India’s most prestigious media colleges. This is about my journey to Jamia’s AJK Mass Communication Research Centre. So let me rewind a little. Year 2013. I had finished my graduation in English literature with ...

An enlightened mind once said: “Every nation gets the government it deserves.” In a democracy, electing a government by casting votes is a fundamental right of every citizen of the nation. Today, when the average Indian is young and is greatly inclined to strive for his betterment, the 16th Lok Sabha election becomes more important to the previously held elections. ...

While watching an interview of a movie actor, I was struck by something said. He was asked, “what is it that he likes most about women?” He replied, “their warmth, their love, and the way they care and so on.” Then he was asked the same question about men, to which he gave an interesting reply. He said, “Men are ...

There was a front page advertisement in the newspaper yesterday. It had ‘Let’s fight corruption’ written in big bold letters alongside a picture of Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate of BJP for the General Elections 2014. It also had three other sentences which went like this, Let’s minimise government and maximise governance. Let’s use technology for greater public scrutiny. Let’s ...

Partition was probably the saddest thing that has ever happened on this pure land. While some claim that the Partition should have never happened, some see it as a successful culmination of a national movement for the achievement of Pakistan. However, it was uniquely tragic, no matter from which side of the border one looked at it. It divided a ...

For more than 1000 years, Hindus and Muslims have inhabited this ancient land in somewhat perfect harmony. Their dwellings occupied a common landscape in primordial villages. Their children played and learned together. A chunk of stories are told about the comity of these two, tales of their acceptance of each other abound,  of donation of land to wealthy merchants from ...

“Confession is good for the soul even after the soul has been claimed” (p. 381).” ― Mona Rodriguez “A fair, beautiful, 5’5, educated girl wanted for a groom of a wealthy family”, an advertisement that perfectly defines our so called perfect society. Everyone in our society wishes a pretty bahurani. Weird as it sounds it is actually true.  For marriage, ...

[Editor’s Note: This column is in response to the death of Nido Taniam, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, believed to be the victim of a race-related hate crime in Delhi.] I have witnessed many parents lament their child’s misbehavior with the phrase, “Where did we go wrong?”. This is usually when their child talks back to them, or gets into ...