The Economic Survey 2020-2021: Growth Does Not Necessarily Work for the Poor
Dedicated to the Covid Warriors, the 561-page-long Economic Survey of India for the year 2020-21 was placed before the Parliament of India on January 29, 2021. The survey, being an analysis on the macroeconomic status of the economy, estimated the Covid-induced economic contraction at 7.7 percent of the GDP during FY 2020-21, with the GDP […]
Union Budget and the health of Democracy
I am writing this note after listening to the Finance Minister’s speech, which was accompanied by the thumping of the ruling party on the floor. After listening to the very carefully crafted rhetoric that was put before the citizenry, I (as a citizen of this country) want to present my position vis-à-vis the much-emphasised spending […]
Levitt Model for Covid-19: No room for complacency
A disease prediction model proposed by 2013 Nobel laureate Michael Levitt that relies on a simple mathematical formula was recently applied to India and various states by Prof. Bhaskaran Raman, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. Several researchers have already highlighted the limitations of this model, such as assuming a linear extrapolation of the growth […]
Remembering Nehru
Nehru’s death anniversary – May 27. I recall going, like so many others, to Teen Murty. An opportunity to reflect on Nehru’s achievements and failures. Acknowledging several failures, I see his overall contributions as positive, importantly positive. Today, ‘Nehru ke Aulaad’ has become an abuse. This is tragic. He is accused of awarding himself the […]
Indian women work much harder than men – is anyone listening?
All women work. Even those who are not considered ‘working,’ work, and work hard. That is because they are the ones who are usually responsible for all care work in the family. This is true for the entire world but truer for India and other South Asian countries. According to a global report published by […]
The question of difference (Part three of three): Poverty of Imagination
Feminist or a Womanist? . . . Those in the middle get caught in the cross—fire away at the other side. If you are not for us, then you must be against us. If you are not for us, then you must be against us. People get scared enough, they pick a team. Be it […]
The question of difference (Part two of three): Meaning of difference
Sleeping, turning in turn like planets Sleeping, turning in turn like planets rotating in their midnight meadow: a touch is enough to let us know we’re not alone in the universe, even in sleep: the dream-ghosts of two worlds walking their ghost-towns, almost address each other. I’ve wakened to your muttered words spoken light- or […]
The question of difference (Part one of three): Two stories
Postcard from God – I Yes, I do feel like a visitor, a tourist in this world that I once made. I rarely talk, except to ask the way, distrusting my interpreters, tired out by the babble of what they do not say. I walk around through battered streets, distinctly lost, looking for landmarks from […]
Supreme Court Ruling on Aadhaar and Right to Education Admissions in Karnataka
On 26th September 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the use of Aadhaar for availing any government benefit or subsidy but made the use of Aadhaar non-mandatory for the purpose of education for those in the age group of 6-14 years. Prior to this ruling, a number of government departments had made Aadhaar mandatory for availing […]
The identity of woman
. . . I have been standing all my life in the direct path of a battery of signals the most accurately transmitted most untranslatable language in the universe I am a galactic cloud so deep so invo- luted that a light wave could take 15 years to travel through me And […]
Locating key debates in Early Childhood Care and Education: insights from Indian scholarship
As part of our ongoing research to generate contextually relevant understandings of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in India, we interviewed 11 specialists with extensive research experience in the country [1]. Broadly, their expertise is situated in childhood studies, early years education and development, psychology, sociology, special educational needs, and language and literacy. Our […]
Rethinking learning assessments: insights from a study on the status of education in tribal districts in Maharashtra
In recent years, national and international assessments have received a lot of attention, largely due to concerns over the quality of education systems and their outcomes. Tests such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) have been publicised in the hope of pushing countries […]
Just Another Tea-Break Rant
Being in love with tea is the most committed relationship I have ever been in. I have been accused of romanticizing tea by the whole world and I am not shy to admit that I am indeed, guilty as charged. Each cup of tea brings a sense of tranquillity that awakens all my senses together. […]
A Tribute to Sandhya Rao
…Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise… Maya Angelou. I heard about your death the afternoon before I was to leave for Bihar. I couldn’t believe it. I kept reading the message on my cell phone over and over again, thinking it has […]
Fitting into my own shoes: Reflections from the Field
Reflexivity is customary in social anthropology and resultant epistemology. George Herbert Mead defines reflexivity as “turning back of the experience of the individual upon (her – or himself)”. Reflexivity is always retrospective, and hence this blog post is about what I was looking for in the field, what I found and how I perceived it […]
Brexit: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The recent referendum in the UK reminds me of this classic Noël Coward song, cheerfully sung also by Danny Kaye ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ [1]. Mad dogs and Englishmen [2] Go out in the midday sun… It’s such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see That though the English are effete They’re quite impervious […]
Life Imitates Art – Cinema and Violence against Women
Life imitates art far more than art imitates life – Oscar Wilde In the normal course, it is art that imitates life. The art forms – literature, painting and cinema – for the most part depended upon and depicted reality. It was art holding up the mirror to life in the description of pastoral England […]
Let us save our dear Mother India!
More than two decades ago, when I made a phone call home using a public booth near Ganga dhaba close to my hostel in JNU, my father casually informed me that the police verification for my passport was over! First I did not understand what he was referring to, as I had not yet applied […]