congress Archives

The Politics of Love: How I Date a Modi Supporter as a Good Little Liberal

A few months into a new relationship, I discovered the man I am dating is a Modi supporter. And I’m the textbook definition of a liberal. How were we going to make this work?

Parita Patel July 26, 2016

POV

Why Is Our Government Insistent on Changing the Constitution?

BJP ministers Anant Kumar Hegde and Yogi Adityanath have made it amply clear that they’d like to change the Constitution, the word secular particularly. They should listen to what advocate-activist Menaka Guruswamy has to say: The beauty of the Constitution is it compels us to unlearn the prejudices that we hold true.

Dushyant Shekhawat July 26, 2016

POV

Dear Indians, Our WhatsApp Hysteria is Not Going to Resolve the India-Pakistan Tensions

Since India-Pakistan tensions have escalated every civilian has turned into a defence expert. WhatsApp and social media have turned war into a dinner-table conversation, where we now plan how to “finish Pakistan” and “kill Masood Azhar like the US killed Osama”.

Hardik Rajgor July 23, 2016

Pop Culture

Hey Netflix, Ditch Narcos. The Karnataka Elections Deserve a Show

News reports, think pieces, and analysis aren’t doing the cliffhanger elections in Karnataka any justice. With all the absurd drama that has unfolded this week, our netas deserve their own multi-genre TV show – working title, Kar-Naatak, The Wild Wild State.

#VALUE! July 21, 2016

POV

Loan-Waiver Schemes Got 99 Problems. And Implementation is One

As Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath announced loan waivers for his state's farmers, the demand across the country has only gotten louder. With the general elections a few months away, the governments might just cave in. But while farm loan waivers might make good political sense, do they make good moral and economic sense?

Hardik Rajgor July 6, 2016

POV

One Pepperoni Pizza, With a Topping of Politics, Please

In an age where everything from sharing a hug on the metro to booking an Ola cab is political fodder, perhaps it was only a matter of time before paying for your Swiggy order would be fraught with similar tensions. Or is it already?

Kahini Iyer June 24, 2016

Money Matters

Finance Ministry to Announce Much-Anticipated Release Date for Next Economic Recession

Recessions are like black swans. They’re rare, come out of nowhere, and people frown upon you when you say they look delicious. Is the next one staring us between the eyes? Because it’s been a while since the last one so maybe the next one should just hurry up and get here. And Urjit Patel’s resignation has not helped things.

Adhirath Sethi June 21, 2016

POV

Sabarimala vs Triple Talaq: Dear PM, There’s No Choice Between Hindu & Islamic Oppression of Women

In a rare interview, PM Modi stated that banning triple talaq has helped secure gender equality, but the Sabarimala ban on women is a tradition that has nothing to do with discrimination. But if treating women’s bodies as sacrilege isn’t blatant discrimination, what is?

Kahini Iyer June 7, 2016

Pop Culture

2017: The Year That Destroyed ’90s Bollywood

This was the year our rose-tinted memories of the glorious ’90s died. “Oonchi Hai Building” is permanently sullied by Varun Dhawan and we’ll never look at Govinda, Sridevi, and Sanjay Dutt the same way again.

Poulomi Das May 31, 2016

Gender

How I Fought Patriarchy in My Family By Voting for a Candidate of My Choice

In my family, it is always the men who take all the important decisions. Elections are all about herd voting, where my father announces his political leanings and the rest follow. Women, they believe, are incapable of understanding the affairs of the State. But this year, despite all the pestering, I voted for a candidate of my choice.

Shubhangani Jain May 29, 2016