Posted inGender
Standing with Qandeel Baloch in My Stilettos
I stayed away from heels as I had a mortal fear of being branded a “slut”. Qandeel Baloch was one of those women, one of the sluts. And she stood tall and proud.
Posted inAnimals
Why Pet Owners Are Not Always Animal Lovers
You’re not a cat mom, dog dad, cat person, or even an animal person. You’re just an empty person, trying to fill a void in your life by forcefully trying to rid an animal of its basic instincts.
Posted inPOV
Sexist Kitchens: Why We Indian Men Rarely Make For Good Home Cooks
A sexist kitchen is not some overbearing patriarchs keeping women downtrodden with the backbreaking labour of roti making. It’s a much more innocent situation that you might have even experienced at your own home.
Posted inPeople
The Importance of being Bappi Lahiri
For a post-globalisation generation struggling to find homegrown icons, Bappi Lahiri was a superhero. He was Made in India, much before Aatmnirbhar became a motto and his obstinate confidence was just the bear hug, a nervous, but emerging India needed.
Posted inPop Culture
How Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe Balances Ambition with Romance
Nahnatchka Khan’s Always Be My Maybe isn’t perfect but it is that rare rom-com that comes the closest to responding to the modern times by making its lead actress’s professional identity the sexiest thing about her. In the movie, love involves compromise, just not that of a woman’s career.
Posted inCulture
Dhakna Zaroori Hai: Why My Sindhi Family Has a Cover for Everything from the Toaster to the TV
In Sindhi households, everything is veiled. It starts at the heart of the home – the kitchen. The refrigerator handle dare not stand in nudity. The mixer, when not in use, stands gracefully under a crocheted hood. Twenty five years ago, I used to mock this great Sindhi cover-up. Today, I’m the one doing the covering.
Posted inBollywood
Why Sushant Singh Rajput’s Byomkesh Bakshy Stands Out from the Rest
Dibakar Banerjee’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is a masterful, atmospheric murder mystery but an even better coming-of-age film. Sushant Singh Rajput doesn’t essay Byomkesh as the standard brooding type. Instead, he captures a boyish charm that allows us to witness the making of a detective.
Posted inPop Culture
Rediscovering the Charm of Elaine Benes, TV’s Favourite Feminist
Sitcoms have long used what I’d call the “Robin/Lily binary” for female characters – they’re either nurturing, quirky, non-threatening women, or rebellious, outspoken women who aspire to maleness in the most superficial way. But Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes is nothing like that. She lives an independent, self-sufficient life, one in which she has all the career and personal issues that someone in their 30s might.
Posted inColumns
The View at 40 | Why We’re Silent About Rajkumar Hirani & Outraged Over Gillette’s Advertising
The View at 40 is a weekly column about ageing disgracefully. This week we try not to outrage at razors that piss us off.
Posted inPop Culture
In “What the Love!” Karan Johar Proves that He Has No Idea about Love or Millennials
Part-Queer Eye, part-Splitsvilla, and complete trainwreck, Netflix’s Indian dating reality show What The Love! is little more than another opportunity for Karan Johar to brag about the list of famous people whose numbers he has saved on his phone.