Columns

I was getting ready for college when the news flashed on TV: “A 20-year-old tribal girl gang-raped by 10 members of a Kangaroo court as a punishment for loving a boy from another tribe in West Bengal.” What I felt was neither disgust nor anger. It wasn’t even a chill down my spine. What I felt can be vaguely described ...

On the afternoon of January 13 this year, I went to the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) at Teen Murti Bhavan in central Delhi, with a friend to find out the procedure of getting a library membership card. I am an Mphil student in the Academy of International Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, and I thought a library membership ...

In our lifetime we have been either exalted or shattered by our names on a list. Our entry on lists starts from birth. First it’s the male or female list at the hospital. Then on an admission list for school. While in school, we are on the pass or fail list. In our social life our politics is decided through ...

Back in September, Yuva Sena president, Aaditya Thackeray submitted a proposal to Mumbai’s municipal authorities to keep open shops, eateries, chemists and milk services 24×7. [Link] This makes good economic sense since India’s service sector is no longer in-sync with a conventional work day. So it is natural that support services such as eateries would adapt to a new business ...

Plants and trees are pieces of the earth’s green soul as a gift of nature; like a loaf of bread for human life without which imagination of existence is out of thought. We are not only breathing because of this greenery but thousands of other activities and needs are being fulfilled by the lending hand of this greenery. In spite ...

“I knew a man who once said, ‘Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.'” These words were spoken by Russell Crowe in the movie “The Gladiator.” But of course, people don’t speak like this anymore. Death is a mystery to us all. It’s termed as both ‘beautiful’ and ‘bloodcurdling’. It’s a word which makes ...

 “Beta, bas graduation kar lo phir rishta dekhna start kardengey.” “25 plus ladkiyon ke liye bahut zaroori hai shaadi karna aur ladkon ka toh thoda bahut aagey piche chal bhi jaata hai.” Those are some of the lines from the great Indian shaadinama our parents, our rishtedaar, and more often than not our aas pados ke log start saying once ...

Jamia Millia Islamia is a university that contributes to society by countering several societal issues, of which gender inequality is one. As a university, it not only sets itself as an eminent educational institution, but is also among those working to empower women. As a girl studying in Jamia, I feel safe on the campus because it has an efficient ...

It started raining at 3 o’ clock when I was sitting at the English Department with my friend Eeliya. Monsoon is at its peak and the showers were welcomed in this humid weather. The grey sky beautifully contrasted with the lush greenery of Jamia. We looked on quietly at the ambiance which our surroundings created. The rain it seemed was ...

The bird soared high into the sky relishing every moment of the freedom that had been granted to it unknowingly by the little boy who had inadvertently opened the cage. The shopkeeper was furious at the child and didn’t calm down until he had been paid in full the price of the bird by the little boy’s mother. But the ...