Turning thirty is believed to be a significant moment in an individual’s life. It is not as though the first thirty years don’t have their own milestones. At nine or ten, we enter middle school; I remember how thrilled I was - finally, finally, I was allowed to discard the pencil and take up a […]

Posted on August 31st, 2008 by apu
Filed under: In General | 2 Comments »

In a heartening development, the Supreme Court has made it clear that nobody has the license to rape a woman and claim that it’s ok because she has already been sleeping with others. The disheartening thing of course is that the Supreme Court is needed to point this out, when it should be perfectly obvious. […]

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: Women & Feminism in India | 10 Comments »

Lately, I’ve been reading a collection of Somerset Maugham’s short stories. I’m reading Maugham after a very, very long time, and I don’t remember enjoying his work, especially the short stories, this much when I was younger. For one thing, I was struck by the clarity which his descriptions produce. Reading them, it is possible to immediately […]

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: The Literary life | 13 Comments »

A couple of days ago, I was thinking - that I have no clue how to write in brief. I can’t remember too many short blog posts I’ve written. Well, that changes with this one. I’m not a big one for trivia, but I had to share this. The weirdest search term that has led […]

Posted on August 22nd, 2008 by apu
Filed under: In General | No Comments »

It is now almost 20 years since the Visakha guidelines were first put in place, to protect working women from sexual harassment at their place of work. Still, it is clear that in many cases, the implementation is not clear at all. Two days ago, Nisha Bhatia, a Director at the RAW Training Wing in […]

Posted on August 21st, 2008 by apu
Filed under: Women & Feminism in India | 3 Comments »

I’ve just finished reading noted anthropologist Richard Leakey’s lucid book on human evolution, ‘The Origin of Humankind’. In school, dreary teaching often made me feel as though science was fundamentally un-understandable. Biology was better than chemistry, which in turn was better than physics, the biggest bogey of all; still, this fear of science was almost […]

Posted on August 13th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: Book Reviews, The Literary life | 5 Comments »

4 years ago, Australian tourist Emilie Griggs was raped and murdered on her visit to India - infact, before she even had seen anything of the country, on her way out of the airport itself. Yesterday, a Delhi Court sentenced the 2 accused to death, on the basis of forensic and circumstantial evidence. This may […]

Posted on August 11th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: Women & Feminism in India | 4 Comments »

Atithi Devo Bhava, so the Upanishads say. And one would like to believe that, in a different age in India, this was very much true. I don’t know if it really was; were guests ever welcome at all times? And did it extend to any kind of guest, as our scriptures teach us to welcome? […]

Posted on August 5th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: In General | 8 Comments »

Yelagiri Hills is sometimes known as the poor man’s Ooty - I hope it stays that way! I got back yesterday after a lovely two days spent there, walking, playing games, catching up with old friends - all in Yelagiri’s pleasant not cold-not hot weather. Without the crowds and noise of Ooty. I wonder how […]

Posted on August 4th, 2008 by apu
Filed under: Travel (in India) | No Comments »