I voted for the BJP in 2014 and 2019. I backed GST and supported the abrogation of Article 370. But I am no bhakt. I am a BJP voter who is opposed to the CAA.

As a child, I would often ask my grandfather what August 15, 1947 was like, only to get drab one liners like “Arre, kya jashn hue the” in return. It was only on December 19, 2019, on a trip to August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai, that I got my first taste of what I think the Independence movement must have felt like.

It wasn’t JNU students who went around smashing heads with iron rods, it was the masked thugs. It wasn’t JNU students who vandalised ambulances trying to enter the campus, it was the masked thugs. Regardless of your political ideology, JNU students were under attack. They aren’t the villains here.

Since the anti-CAA protests broke out in the country last month, battle lines have been drawn between friends, colleagues, neighbours, and acquaintances. But losing a few handshakes, or invitations to a get-together along the way, might just be a fair price to pay to preserve the social fabric of our country.

This year, instead of using New Year resolutions to crib about having to include more lauki in our diets, why don’t we do things a little differently: Can we instead all agree to be informed citizens, aware of our rights and responsibilities, and active participants in a functioning democracy?

Ever since 2013, my grandparents have been on a mission to Modi-fy me. A barrage of fake news greeted me on WhatsApp every morning, until it abruptly stopped. Shortly after the nationwide protests against CAA and NRC, my grandparents started to see reason. They started questioning the BJP’s policies.

All through last 10 days, the police crackdown, the imposition of Section 144, and internet shutdowns over the Citizenship Amendment Act saw many BJP loyalists turn. They have a common complaint – they were banking on Modi’s development agenda not divisive politics.

Deshbhakti is all the fierce hijabi and burkha-clad women who refuse to be sidelined or othered. Deshbhakti is the college students picking trash off of the roads where they protested, mere hours after the police opened fire and lathi-charged.

The silver lining to the dark cloud of the anti-CAA protests is that the Act went from being something that people had heard about but not fully understood, to the subject of a mass movement. Now, there is a sense that this idea is not fringe anymore. There’s a feeling that it could get better.

What degree of "Muslimness" are we comfortable with? Are you at ease with a Muslim woman wearing a hijab to a protest? What if someone shouts Allahu Akbar? Would you be comfortable asking someone in the crowd not to chant Jai Shri Ram?

I never ended up going for several stirs I could have been a part of, because of the unanswered questions. Was I expected to carry a sign? If a scuffle breaks out, can I leave or will that be deemed cowardly? To some, especially seasoned protestors, some of these questions might seem silly, but a little bit of information would help people who genuinely want to join the good fight.

When you spend two whole days looking at videos of bleeding students staggering around campus, it’s hard to be hopeful. But considering the spirit with which India is fighting back, maybe there is a silver lining to be seen here. No matter what the politicians say about the colour of anyone’s clothes, the protests are proof that democracy is still alive in this country.

In 2019, an entire Indian region has been stripped of autonomy and the definition of Indian citizenship has been redefined. Article 370, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and NRC are the highlights of the year, as we hurtle toward an economic slowdown. Where does that leave the well-meaning Indian?

Decembers and I just don’t get along. While you’re giving thanks for all the silver linings of the year, I’m hypnotised by the dark clouds. Like a show reel of the lowest points of my year — an almost debilitating heartbreak, every missed opportunity, and my most acute failures — that’re playing on loop in my mind.

The 2010s have been the most significant decade of my life. I don’t recall any other time in my life when people, especially women, were so encouraged to accept themselves exactly as they were. Sure, the obsession with losing weight still abounded. But alongside the “Lose 50 pounds by Christmas” articles were pieces titled “Fitness at any size.”

This year, New Year’s Eve isn’t just the biggest party on the calendar, it’s also fodder for a heated debate – a debate that has driven a wedge between logic and emotion. Is January 1, 2020 the start of a new decade, or not?

Twelve years after I was first introduced to the bra, I decided to break up with it. It wasn’t a decision borne out of rebellion or one to support a socio-political movement. Some of us just like going braless.

The perception of a tortured artist is so glorified that it has become perversely aspirational. There is something highly alluring about the idea of deep sorrow and depression acting as a springboard for great pieces of art. The artists know it, and so does the market. But is this greatness worth it if you become an accomplice in your own exploitation?

Lore says that there’s a land where there are no bosses, only friends. A land where coffee and hot chocolate flow freely. In this holy land, the demon entity named Corporate Culture has been vanquished. It sounds a lot like a start-up, but don’t fall for it. Because like purple dinosaurs and superheroes, the “cool workplace” is just a figment of your imagination.

Welcome to the era where dystopia and our world overlap. An oxygen bar for a choking city might have felt like a far-flung science-fiction trope when we were kids, but today, it’s the reality in which we live.

Well into our 30s, my husband and I talk about money and “saving for the future” a lot these days. Though we have a decent monthly income, I resort to a stinginess that kills all spontaneous instincts. But is this mad chase for a “secure future” worth it? Where does it begin and when does it end?

Chaos works like Isabgol for my thoughts. I am wired to work; chasing deadlines gives me a high that no amount of fresh air from the Aravallis can. Sorry William Henry Davies, I don’t want to stand beneath the boughs (too many mosquitos there.) I’d rather stare at my phone screen than at sheep and cows.

There are many today who seem all too willing to hold Panditji guilty for all of life’s ills. But Jawaharlal Nehru is a man who escapes easy definition, and perhaps strove to definitively remain just that — a man; not a saint, nor a saviour, and not in the very least, a self-appointed chowkidar.

India is saddled with an education system that is a vestige of Britain’s industrial revolution, which churns out efficient workers, not innovative thinkers. If analyses from UNICEF and NASSCOM are to be believed, the bulk of our graduates are unemployable. We’re a country desperately in need of education reforms.

While followers of the BJP-Shiv Sena and Congress keep launching tirades against each other with cries of “bhakts” and “libtards”, their so-called “nationalist” and “secularist” leaders have abandoned their ideologies faster than Rohit Shetty abandons the laws of physics.

The centuries-old Ayodhya dispute has stifled and bolted political discourse in India to the regressive wall of hate and bigotry. It has limited the average citizen’s capacity to disassociate from the politics of religious difference. Secularism had almost turned into a hoax. Saturday’s verdict, however, may change something, if not everything.

Swara Bhasker might be one of those rare celebrities in the country whose trolls follow her actions even more closely than her fans. But between her using an expletive for a child on a talk show, and her haters descending on her en masse, the four-year-old starts looking like the most mature person involved.

I suck at multitasking. Never been able to do it, and never understood the charm. What’s so wonderful about being able to do several things haphazardly at the same time when you can politely attend to them sequentially, like nature intended?

The HRD ministry and IIT Council’s joint decision to give IIT students the option of choosing an easier, three-year BSc course rather than dropping out is progressive. It’s a refreshing alternative to bleak headlines about burnout and suicides.

Dear salaried person in your twenties who is pre-approved for a credit card, take it from me, it’s a trap. Between tempting EMI schemes and seemingly endless cashback opportunities, the more gullible ones among us tend to fall prey to getting a credit card. Exhibit A: Yours truly.