If exit polls are to be believed, the BJP is likely to improve its tally in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal. Some suggest a neck-and-neck fight between Trinamool and the BJP. But for those hoping for a change in the state, the two parties have more in common than they would like to admit.

Men exercise power in sexual harassment cases not by fighting the charges levelled at them, but through counter-charges that invalidate complaints made against them. Only days after the allegation against Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi by an ex-SC staffer, there was a parallel discussion on how he had been framed as a part of a larger conspiracy to “deactivate” the CJI’s office.

Throughout history, women have been publicly shamed for any number of reasons, from adultery, witchcraft, smiling, walking, even existing. We shamed “aunty ji” for her comments, for her clothes, her appearance, her accent — even though we’re aware that public shaming has never been a tool of those who know better.

The furore at the border meant that there was neither the time nor the mental space for people or the media to truly examine the significance of the ordinance amending the rules around the Aadhaar Act. It isn’t just the timing that’s problematic, it’s the fact that the Cabinet has used the ordinance to bypass normal legislative process.

Very rarely in the annals of history has an active government resorted to protests. It does seem rather redundant that the very keepers of administration would abandon it in favour of large-scale disruption of everyday life.

The Andaman & Nicobar islands are at best an oddity forced onto the consciousness of us mainlanders. The archipelago’s location and exoticism makes it ideal for vacations. However, as a part of the nation of India, it receives only irresponsibility, forgetfulness, and exploitation.

Informing the public at the cost of their personal safety and liberty, journalists walk a razor’s edge. But what’s worse than our increasing disregard for the freedom of press? The fact that we continue to enjoy the benefits of a free press – but don’t want to sign up for the fight that is required to preserve it.

Confronting my grandmother about my sister’s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.

The toxic reaction to Tanushree Dutta’s attempt to share her story of harassment by Nana Patekar underlines how it isn’t just a victim’s responsibility to speak up. It took my friend being publicly accused of harassment for me to see I’d played my part in the crime by not confronting him when I should have.

For women, “Did you like it?” is always a loaded question. Not because, we don’t know the answer to it. But how on earth do we answer it with honesty without making our partners feel insecure, defensive, or insulted?

The extreme torture in Netflix’s Ghoul is not merely a dystopian fantasy, nor is it reserved exclusively for “certified terrorists”. Today, activists have been picked up from their homes in Goa and Delhi, but it’s been standard practice in parts of India that we leave out of our mental map of progress.

There’s a new stock character type in Bollywood, and she is the token feminist. Always powerful, headstrong, and argumentative, you’ll see her in everything from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to Sacred Games. She’s the effeminate gay man of this decade.