Society & Culture
Why and how I wrote the novel ‘Harappa: God’s City of Civilisation’
Neither Ayodhya named in the Ramayana nor Dwaraka named in the Mahabharata have proven excavational evidence of having been ancient cities. My novel, on the other hand, draws on the world’s oldest city – Harappa...
Savitribai Phule: The Mother of Indian English
By celebrating Indian English Day every 5 October alongside a beautiful portrait of Savitribai Phule, PACPET wants to immortalize her heroic declaration in 1854 that English is the Indian mother, writes Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
80 years after Independence, we, the manual scavengers, are still fighting for our freedom
We, the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), have launched a yearlong campaign to free India from the shameful practice of manual scavenging. There is a need for all who believe in the Constitution to come together...
Why are men afraid of women’s freedom?
Men are not necessarily afraid of women’s freedom itself. Sometimes we are afraid of what women’s freedom asks us to reconsider about ourselves. It asks us to reconsider authority, masculinity, family roles, sexuality, honour and...
Unmistakably Dalitbahujan character of the Ramdev Pir Jatra
Held in the month of Bhadon, the ‘jatra’ (pilgrimage) is very different from the Kanwar Yatra. The pilgrims...
‘Dhamaal 4’ and the problem with laughing at the margins
Indian comedy is capable of laughter-filled entertainment that does not depend, like in ‘Dhamaal 4’, on body-shaming, misogyny...
Who owns a woman’s story? Rumours, reputation and resistance in ‘Maa Behen’
Maa Behen (Mother-Sister) are everyday North Indian words that serve a double function – the most sacred of...
When Jotirao Phule came to Dayanand Saraswati’s rescue
Inviting Dayanand to Pune and helping him expand his footprint in Maharashtra was a pragmatic move on the...
More posts