So, life is a rat race. And our little ones are the new rats on the block, scurrying around to the tune of their parents’ weighty expectations. Can the parents be reigned in? asks Nivedita Louis. Tthe race is on. As the rats look either side and run faster, I stand clenching my hands in tension and anticipation. My baby rat is on the right most lane and I crane my neck to have a peek. Prayers are sent Heavenwards for divine intervention to save my baby rat. All the spectators have their own prayers, some folding hands, some kneeling…
Author: oiop
Food constitutes more than 40% of an Indian household’s budget. Can inflation be lower if food is more expensive? A look at the economics of agricultural growth and food consumption in India. The cue for this column was a comment overheard at the grocery store. A loud cantankerous voice wanted to know how the Governor of the Reserve Bank had decided that inflation had fallen. The old gentleman was paying for edibles, fruits and vegetables. He said, loudly again, that almost everything was more expensive than 6 months ago. I leaned over to help him with his bag and mentioned…
The promotion policy outlined in the Right to Education (RTE) Act has many detractors, and a few supporters. Are we bringing up a generation of ‘lazy’ students who may never know what it is to be competent or are we holding out a helping hand to weak students who will benefit from it? E. Vijayalakshmi Rajan peeks into this Pandora’s box. The Indian primary education system is at a crossroads today. Ever since the seminal Right to Education (RTE) Bill was passed by the Parliament in 2009 and came into effect from April 1, 2010, there has been a raging…
Sunder Ramu of Chennai is on a mission to date 365 women this year. He has dated 176 women already. Outrageous idea? A publicity gimmick? But his intentions are noble. He meets the women, has a conversation with them, and they pay for the meal. These dates are not romantic, he assures. The women have the option of cooking him a meal too. In return, he sponsors and shares a meal every month at an orphanage or any other NGO which works for the underprivileged. Ramu has dated celebrities as also fruit vendors and garbage collectors. He says he has…
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has notched up many air miles in furtherance of India’s foreign policy. These trips to countries as varied as the US to Ireland, promise to bring a lot of investment and goodwill India’s way. V. Pramod gives us a round-up. Any analysis of India’s foreign policy would necessitate a somewhat detailed look at Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s recent visits to countries from Ireland to the United States (US). The G4 meet When PM Modi hosted the G4 meet at the United Nations (UN), he sent out a very powerful message to the world that…
India’s Partition may have happened almost 70 years ago, but it still looms large in our collective conscience. It also continues to spawn stories of grief and grit. Like the movie Rajkahini, which is a uniquely told story set in what was once East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. Shoma A. Chatterji reviews the film and its premise. “When Sir Cyril Radcliffe drew the line dividing the country, he had no freaking idea of the topography, demographics or socioeconomic divisions. The only driving principle was the ratio of majority versus minority on the basis of religion. The division was random…
Do today’s kids read story books? Or are they completely lost to the world of screens? Do you yourself think that book reading is obsolete? Vinitha Ramchandani makes a case for picking a book and reading. A habit you must cultivate in your kids and yourself, pronto! It’s something we had to contend with when I worked with a book publishing house – the debate ‘Is book reading getting severely endangered?’ We often argued fiercely about it; old timers citing that the same was said when television became the norm, while young blood maintained that this time the digital platform…
Bonded labour still exists in “free” India, where young girls under 15 work in textile mills in exchange for a monetary package that goes towards meeting their dowry. Deprived of their childhood, education and even wages, these girls who slog for 16 to 18 hours a day in challenging conditions, land up with crippling ailments at a young age, writes Kirthi Jayakumar. Mallika is 34-years-old and spends her days taking care of her home and three boys, who keep her on her toes. They run around her all day vying for her attention and she tries her best to get…
Court poet and wise jester (early 16th century) The story of Tenali Ramakrishna, the court poet-jester of Emperor Krishnadevaraya, is a unique one. From a poor boy who lost his father early in life, he rose to be a well-known historical figure. Born in present Andhra state during the early 16th century, he grew up in his uncle’s town Tenali and thus the moniker ‘Tenali’ Ramakrishna. In those days, education meant the study of the Vedas, the Upanishads and religious texts. The powerful Vaishnavites, however, did not accept him as a disciple because Tenali was a Shaivite. Even Shaivite scholars,…
In these times of increasing material wealth and ‘use and throw’ philosophy, the unintended victims of this materialism are our young children. Where are the conversations and security that the children need to experience in their daily lives? asks Dr. Harish Shetty, as he tries to dissect a society gone wrong. The juvenile mind is changing. Battered by a new age where ‘Dollar’ is the God and siblings are an endangered species, s/he is defining newer boundaries and engaging in thrilling encounters of a destructive kind. The other side of the picture though has a large number of the young…