akshitawrites

[akshitawrites]

Ludhianvi’s debut book Talkhiyaan (1943) is likely the most-sold Urdu poetry book after grand-man Mirza Ghalib’s. He was a 23-year-old, just out of college when he wrote the book whose poems also turned into our most-hummable lyrics, and romantic anthems, especially in albums from Pyaasa to Kabhie Kabhie.

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On India’s 2nd museum commemorating the 1947 Partition of South Asia

Delhi, the refugee city, got its first museum to recognise its turbulent history in 1947 Partition. I took a guided tour with the museum’s founder and found resonance with my own Partition-migrant family, my city, and the pop-culture i grew on

[akshitawrites]

A Pulitzer-funded queer journalism long-form report that i translated from English to Hindi

[akshitawrites]

On the latest book by cancer-physician and Pulitzer-winning-writer Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee

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India’s abortion law received its first substantial amendment 50 years during the coronavirus pandemic. The amendments are a lip service to reproductive rights in view of women’s rights and health technologies, say activists. But why? Read on to find out.

[akshitawrites]

On slain Pakistani entertainer Qandeel Baloch’s first death anniversary after a conviction in her murder case, a check-up on what’s changed in the patriarchal ecology of South Asian women; based on  A Woman Like Her: The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star by Pakistani journalist Sanam Maher.

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Religion has repeatedly been used as a vehicle for caste mobility in Punjab, leading to the creation of competing caste hierarchies among different religions. For instance, Jatts – who were in Shudra category according to the Hindu varna system – sought the then-new religion of Sikhism for social mobility once they had economic power. This intersection of novel religions, caste assertion, and mobility is notable in understanding why anti-caste music in Punjab gets a violent response from religious and caste groups.

[akshitawrites]

I have reported from Kathputli Colony or puppeteers’ colony since 2014. This report is on the struggles of displaced artistes of Delhi’s Kathputli Colony during COVID-19 lockdown. They’d inspired the ‘magician’s ghetto’ in Salman Rushdie’s Booker-winning Midnight’s Children; entertained diplomatic banquets by India’s PMs and presidents; performed world-famous magic tricks, and are in Guinness World Records. In 2017, their houses were demolished and they were relocated between 5 & 30 kilometres away, affecting their earnings. Now, the lockdown has entirely eaten their usually uncertain incomes, dented their dignity to beg for food and funds.  #covid19 # #covidlockdown #artistes #BookerPrize #GuinnessWorldRecords #Puppetry #magician #acrobat

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Women’s rights activists appeal government to recognise aid provision as essential service, device offline measures to reach womxn facing domestic violence during the COVID lockdown, and also recognise sexual and reproductive health consequences of domestic violence as essential services.

[akshitawrites]

In India, Dey said there is "resistance to partaking of food" between different communities because of the "rules of inter-dining, specifically prohibitions around exchange of water and cooked food". But the anti-CAA protesters are subverting such ideas, thereby challenging the divisive rhetoric of Prime Minister Modi...

Meer said the availability of food at such protests brings a sense of comfort and togetherness. "It isn't just for a certain group of people, but for everybody," said Meer.

[akshitawrites]

The language essential to over 71 lakh Indians is denied. A petition to make it India’s 23rd official language opened conversation on the silence around Indian Sign Language and deaf culture. #disability #deaf #deafness #IndianSignLanguage #ISL #DeafCulture #DeafCommunity

[akshitawrites]

An illustrated children’s book from Kashmir rakes political ideas of belonging and language for children in a region of conflict. “At least in Okus-Bokus, the roads have no blockades, Billa-Munni have high-speed internet to outsmart Naen, and Yaemberzal blooms away from the shadow of guns.”

[akshitawrites]

Water sources in India’s capital city (and across the country) are running dry while the newly elected Central government is making large promises about piped water supply to all households, without addressing the elephant in the room: where will this water come from?

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This report is about the six-year long denial of social security allowance to destitute elderly in India’s capital city, by municipal corporations headed by BJP, the Hindu nationalist party that is also at the helm of India’s Central government. The piece also covers the structural flaws in the State’s pension schemes.

#socialsecurity #elderly #oldagepensions #seniorcitizens

[akshitawrites]

Through the open door, Tanzania’s inviting food-scents waft to the all neighbouring Indians, friendly or not.