Opinion

“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 ...

When it comes to discrimination, we are an exceptionally tolerant society; we stoically tolerate casteism, sexism, communalism, racism, regionalism, and a broad range of other diverse forms of discrimination in our society. Supposedly a cornerstone feature of our national unity made famous by the expression, “unity in diversity.” However, among the myriad forms of discrimination we tolerate, the highest level ...

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 ...

When I think of independence the first thing which crosses my mind is Rousseau’s most famous and contradictory quote: “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains”. This is a strong and controversial statement and my idea of independence is somewhere inspired by this thought. Independence is a relative term and it can never be absolute. Desire for absolute ...

As per the dictionary, the word ‘independence’ means the state or quality of being independent, freedom from dependence, and exemption from reliance on, or control by others. It also means the state of having sufficient means for a comfortable livelihood. Now actually what independence means to me is certainly what the word itself stands for. In simple terms it gives ...

The other day one of my friends asked me an offensive question — “Don’t you think you have become too much of a feminist lately?” Now, the question was offensive not because she thought of me as a feminist, which I am, but because it felt as if she thought being a feminist was something to look down upon. “I ...

By Syufra Malina It is less than two months before I leave India. A friend of mine asked me, do you feel sad that you’re leaving next month? I smiled, and told him that I didn’t know. I could have answered in the affirmative that I was sad, but that would have been a lie. I feel neither sad nor ...