Yours Sincerely

Yesterday was Men's Day. Do men need a day to celebrate themselves? Of course. Everybody has the right to celebrate their identity. Do men have anything to accomplish in terms of gender equality? Read this amazing post by IndianHomeMaker: What do men need liberation from - link One of the biggest lies anti-feminists tell you is that feminism is about men Vs women. Which it is not. It's about Patriarchy Vs  Equality. //  For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong, there is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable. For every woman who is tired of being called “an emotional female”, there is a man who is denied the right to weep and to be gentle. For every woman who is tired of being a sex object, there is a man who must worry about his potency. For every woman who is called unfeminine when she competes, there is a man for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity. For every woman who ...

Like the many other 'well-intentioned'  misogynists, who want to 'balance their acts' by sending contradictory messages which claim that they are in favour of women empowerment and then act or support actions which do the opposite, you seem to be confused. You sending these signals is a matter of concern, because you're the standing Minister of Women and Child Development. You said you are happy that there is a Me Too movement in India. I don't understand what you are happy about, when at the same time you also said that the campaign shouldn't "go out of control" and women should refrain from "targeting those who have offended them in some way" (meant to be 'some other way then sexual harassment') ( link ). While there is nothing technically wrong with what you said, the context in which it was said and the deemed necessity on your part to state it specifically are very problematic to me . What is the Me Too movement (link) ...

//  T he Supreme Court in a majority opinion of 4:1 on Friday, lifted the centuries-old practice of prohibiting women from the age of menarche to menopause to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. // - link //  It said that exclusion on grounds of biological and physiological features like menstruation was unconstitutional. It amounted to discrimination based on a biological factor exclusive to gender. It was violative of the right to equality and dignity of women. // And the best of all, for addressing the issue of celibacy, see the even better separate but concurring opinion from Justice Chandrachud: //  He said the logic behind the ban was that presence of women deviated men from celibacy. This was placing the burden of a men's celibacy on women thus, stigmatising women and stereotyping them. // Interestingly: //  Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the Constitution Bench, dissented from the majority opinion. She held that th...

Wow.... SC seems to be on form. First scrapping section 377 ( link ) and now scrapping adultery law ( link ). Something good seems to be happening in our country, finally. Section 497 of the IPC: //  Adultery.—Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offense of rape, is guilty of the offense of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor . // - link So what's the problem?  // Only an adulterous woman’s husband could prosecute her lover, though she could not be punished; an adulterous man’s wife had no such right. // // H er affair with another would not amount to adultery if it had the consent of her husband. “The history of Section 497 ...

Thank God for small mercies! A much awaited victory for the LGBTQ community: // In a unanimous 5-0 verdict, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra led justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra in declaring that a two-judge bench's decision in December 2013 in the Suresh Koushal case, which had recriminalised section 377, "was arbitrary, fallacious and retrograde. // Read more heartening details here - link Teaspoon by teaspoon, we will make progress... There's a long road to cover.... Someday, hopefully not too far in the future, we will stop giving legal sanctions to marital rape . For now, let's celebrate and rejoice in this progress we made as a country towards implementing human rights. Cheers and happy weekend folks!

Why didn't I say anything - Don't make a scene... I was travelling in an auto alone in Mumbai recently and all was well till we were 10 mins due to reach my destination: Hiranandani hospital. And then this conversation happened: Driver:     'Madam, yeah itna bada building hotel hai kya?' Me:          'Nahi yeah hospital hai' Driver:     'Par itna bada hai - idhar aap rehte ho' Me:          'Nahi main Vikhroli mein rehti hoon' Driver:     'Idhar rooms nahi hote hain kya' Me:          'Haan par woh patients jo admit hote hain unke liye hain. Yahaan koi rehta nahi. Shayad kuch resident doctors quarters mein rehte hai' Driver:     'Aap phir Vikhroli jaaoge na?' (indicating if he should wait for return) Me:          'Haan par mujhe time lagega. Atleast half an hour so aap chale jao' (indicating I don't want him ...

Here's how I want to celebrate women's day. This is for all the feminists who broke the norms throughout history to achieve something like equality for us today. I cannot express my gratitude for you enough. To all those inspirational names in history who have given the women of today someone to look upto, and to all those nameless, faceless spirits whose pages have faded away in history, to the conscious fighters, the suffragettes and the open rebels who fought for what was right and due, and to the modest movers who took small steps towards personal liberation without even knowing they were fighting for feminism.... Every small step you've taken has taken humanity closer to achieving equality. I may not have known you, I may not have seen you, the world or history may not recognise your names or faces, but I am aware that even my basic rights like voting, financial independence, and education are privileges hard-earned through your struggles in the course of...