Soul Sister

  ‘A’ For Ambo, ‘Z’ For Zhadd… When I went to school I learnt A for apple and Z for zebra, neither of which I could relate to. I did not know what an apple tree looked like or which season it grew nor did I know about the zebra, what it ate, or how many hours a day it slept. Nothing in my learning years even allowed me the potential to ask these questions. My results depended on my ability to rote learn what was taught in class and reproduce. The better I was at it the more attention I received. I realized rote learning was like a sorting machine that would sort us into smart, not so smart and failures. Later, on the other side of the desk, as a teacher I learnt more than I ever did as a student. I realized that not so smart in my classroom would never equate to “not so smart” in life and living. Every teacher gauge their students’ performance and ability based on their ability to grasp the information being taught to them. We make assumptions about their future performance. I ...

  THE POLITICS OF PROSTITUTION Amongst the many other words you cannot use appropriately in our country, sex takes precedence. Ever watched a TV serial, where anything to do with the word sex, had been masked with sounds, which are sometimes even more ridiculous than the actual word itself. And then there are the visuals of indecent exposures, which are blurred to give the special effect of attention: please do not fantasize. This makes me wonder whether we have “sex” in India. But not for long. We get busted! Every few weeks the headlines of rape and recused young women is a reminder that it’s not only about sex but sexual deviations that we need to urgently address and talk about.   The raids on massage parlors and spas opens our own precious Pandora’s Box that we so much like to hide and sweep under the carpet.   Even then, sadly, we find a way out. We blame indecent dress code and the prostitutes!   Who are we fooling, but ourselves? The politics of sex i...

 Being born a woman ..   For being born a woman, I never felt different, until one day I came face to face with the difference. Is it true than that we have to do the things we do because of gender? I asked myself. I was surprised at the answer, little suspecting that while I advocated empowerment I needed to be free myself. The space in our heads that determines who we are is confined within limitations. Not born at birth but in constant interactions; confined in a cage, wanting freedom, not knowing when, where and how my identity seeking expression. I considered myself lucky, for in my country, I was born into privileges very few others of my gender would even dare to dream.   Ignorance was bliss.   I had the opportunities to education. I was allowed to dream of careers and challenges. Find ways to escape long hours of study to play cricket with the kids from my village, climb trees and hills, swim in the river and challenge my siblings to a game of card...