In 2018, I attended the UNDP National Youth Parliament as a media corespondent. Young delegates from every state in the country came to participate…which brought to fore a predictable problem.

Floor-time was largely spent on voicing grievances about the lack of translators. Delegates from the Hindi belt weren’t comfortable with English, while delegates from the Southern and North-Eastern regions weren’t comfortable with Hindi. I don’t remember what the conference agenda was because we barely got around to it.

Fast forward to 2020, a Physiotherapist discusses with me the impact of COVID-19 on her practice. “Explaining precautions in Telugu or Hindi…

I studied the UK board at a private school & had internet access to English media world-over. As a consequence, I’ve been assured (by virtue of repetition) that the Jewish Holocaust was humanity’s most memorable dark hour. Schindler’s List, Inglorious Bastards, The Boy In Striped Pyjamas — I know of Nazis & their atrocities not just from history textbooks but from the dignity afforded to the Jewish Holocaust in everything from popular movies, documentaries, & global commemorations.

How widespread is the school & media discourse on crimes against humanity from other parts of the world? Not so much. Korea &…

The most significant impact of euphemisms is that they soften the blow of unsavoury concepts, making them seem less grave, less urgent, robbing them of gravitas. This is its function — if a euphemism feels comfortable, it’s doing its job.

Some may argue that ‘political correctness’ (PC) is a euphemism for ‘euphemisms’. That PC culture also tries to make unsavoury things more palatable. The distinction is that the function of a euphemism is to make the speaker feel more comfortable; political correctness is to make the subject being spoken about feel respected.

Calling Hindu-supremacy an ‘Indic Lens’ is euphemism. Saying…

Originally published by India Fellow, Dec ‘20.

Start a social enterprise Have otherwise formally unemployed women in Rajasthan make dupattas. Have women in Rajasthan make dupattas, count the sweat that falls from their chins, and add it to the GDP. Count sweat by the sound it makes when hitting the ground and memorise the taal before the dupattas sweep it up. Dupattas will sell well in Delhi, in Hyderabad, not so much in Bangalore. Wash, iron, pack, ship. Nevermind the remaining dabs of ghee, spots of haldi, and hints from where the needle pricked the otherwise formally unemployed woman in…

March 8th, 2020 — This International Women’s Day, Aditya Tiwari was awarded ‘World’s Best Mommy’. Tiwari has adopted Avnish, a 22 month-old child with Down Syndrome in 2016.

An Incredible Parent, Disability Activist

There is no doubt of Tiwari’s love for his son. He is the only parent to opt to adopt a special need’s child, for whom he had to fight for months. Today, they travel the country spreading awareness on disabilities, holding workshops and talks for all audiences.

Tiwari also took it upon himself to challenge the Centre on the prescribed categories of disabled persons eligible for a disability certificate. There was no…

Like any other human construction, Economics is not infallible. It assumes that human nature is characterised fundamentally by self-interest, which has implications on all social processes. It compels policy-makers to take for granted that corporations and governments will place profits and growth over long-term global sustainability and social responsibility. This complacency with corporate moral indolence first created and now fuels a culture of unaccountability.

Narratives shape us. A student studying at Plato’s Academy would not have the same notion of human rights as a student studying at Ashoka University today. …

What’s the big deal?

Art is everywhere & it is political. For centuries, aggressors have been using art to propagate hate & hierarchy, while the aggrieved have been using it as a means of protest.

India follows a Quasi Federal system. We restrict the powers of Central government to extend laws to States without the approval of the State’s representatives. The assumption is that each State knows best for itself. This process transfers some important powers to the local level rather than concentrating power at the Center, also known as ‘de-centralisation’. So far so good!

We are all invariably and unknowingly, affected by centralization in some capacity. Over 9000 speeches from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly were heard (and rejected) before Telangana was formed. Kashmir was made a Union Territory by the Center in violation of…