[Chowk] The Girl Who Lived
This short story by M Singh was published on Chowk two years ago, Prerna is a girl with three sisters and a young brother. As her parents are preparing her for marriage, she finds out there were meant to be three more sisters between herself and her brother – a fact she reveals to her [...]
Fathers and Daughters
“You look like a whore” my father told me as I walked out of my room in a tank top and mini-skirt. I was fourteen, awkward, and trying to fit in with my friends. This was the first time I had felt sexually objectified and had never imagined it would come from him. The damage [...]
Rights Advocate Neeti Kushwaha: Be a human!
For our Indian audience, here is an inspirational poem from our Lucknow-based rights advocate Neeti Kushwaha about the struggles of being a woman in a repressive society. And for the non-Hindi speakers, here’s an English translation: Will these handcuffs ever break? Will there ever be a change in the way that society functions? Or will women [...]
Feeling the “Power Cuts” in Delhi
Who am I? It’s a question I find myself asking more and more these days. Am I British? An “Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)?” A “trailing spouse?” Perhaps I should explain: I was born and brought up in England, the daughter of Punjabi parents who emigrated to the UK in the 1960s. I moved to [...]
Veena Malik stands up against unfair scrutiny
Watch Pakistani actress Veena Malik stand up for herself and other women who are victims of cruel and repressive standards in the media: Here’s an interview shortly after that television segment aired where she explains the experience with more depth: The video got a lot of traction with the media who found her courage to [...]
Damsel in Dress or Distress
After studying English literature for 3 years in Delhi University, and staying with people like Saumya Aneja, I had become a loyal preacher of Feminism and Women Liberation. The books I read, the lectures I attended, the teachers I heard and all the brainstorming sessions had all made me look beyond the beliefs which saw [...]
Women & Mental Health – Bell Bajao! for Behl Sisters
The case of the Noida sisters is one of great tragedy, especially for the contemporary Indian society. Several articles and publications are exploring the reasons as to why two well educated adult women would abandon society and self preservation in the solitary confinement of their home. HT CITY has criticized the general apathy among neighbours [...]
Who am I?
It was 13th Feb 1999, I could not sleep the whole night, kept turning from one side to other in the bed. Early morning the labor pain became unbearable, my mother in law admitted me to the nearest hospital. After number of internal examinations, medicines and injections I was put under the knife. When I [...]
From ‘Let your Father Come …' and ‘Let Your Son Come …’ to ‘Let My Brother Come … ’ and ‘Let My Son Come …’
Many have heard mothers say this to their erring children, ‘let your father come … ‘ and many of us have heard of family violence where daughters-in-law tell their ailing-and-not-liked and sometimes troublesome mothers-in-law, ‘let your son come …’. Why is it that these women are not able to speak in a straight language? Why do they need to speak through their spouse?
