A humming word

Feminism, as per dictionary.com, is equal opportunities to both men and women. But often, this definition is reduced to male bashing and disempowerment of their rights. And, Feminist Rani (published by Penguin in collaboration SheThePeople.TV), make an honest attempt to capture voices of feminists. Feminist Rani by Shaili Chopra and Meghna Pant is a record of conversations with fourteen modern men, women, and a transgender. It doesn’t complicate the concept of feminist. Instead, it gives layers to its meaning with each of these celebrities adding a colour with their life story. For them, feminism is not a choice but a way of life. Kalki Koelchin to Gauri Sawant, the range of dialogue, discussion and dissent is vast and deep. The most popular version of feminism is humanity and defying the mind-numbing rules that serve no purpose but demean women and their desires. While Kalki did not want to be boxed into any role in Bollywood and enjoyed the variety of roles she perform...

After an enriching day of talks on Art and Protest and a day of learning at the conference in Bangalore, I washed my eyes with an art exhibition at the State Art Gallery by Bharath Yadav, who belongs to the cowherd community, displayed an array of exhibits and paintings focusing on buffaloes, pollution, meat shop. What intrigued me was the art installation by this gentleman which was a bullock cart of rusted pipes and a synchronous arrangement of milk cans with a small wooden box with a slit. How often do we think of buffaloes with a pollution mask? Never, right? And with people with masks around, it was amusing so see so. The artist effectively proves his point on how environmental damage is leading us to the claustrophobic polluted air that we've manufactured for ourselves.  The past few weeks, I was inundated with good art that have been linked to protest and focus on the margins. And a play titled Mosambi Narangi, a play abou t  two failed junior artist...

The Hyderabad Literature  Festival culminated the city's culture and heritage and mixed it with the brewing issues (like ecology) and gifted us a festival of art, dance, literature... With its guest nation as Australia and focus language as Malayalam, the HLF chose Vidyaranya High School at Saifabad as their venue. After missing the first two days, I relished the third day, like the Kesari chai in the Kulhad. Since there were several nukkads, I chose my corner of poetry and attended sessions by the renowned Kala Ramesh and a discussion on Ecopoetics by Urvashi Bahuguna and Anand Vishwanadha, two versatile poets who focused on nature.  Apart from the sessions, what I really liked was the display of art by differently abled people too. The foot artist stole my attention and I gaped as he painted with his toes. I took a picture with him, although I was embarrassed to do so. And, bought a beautiful painting by him.  While the chaos of the art and books stormed th...

Ever wondered what Kashmir looked like before the militia, the government, the terrorists and the plague of fear took over? Kalakriti Art Gallery, host to the art exhibition: Makers and Meanings, has displayed three tiny room full of photographs, clicked by R.C. Mehta. Mr. Mehta ran the first photo studio of Kashmir and he clicked animated portraits of the commoners and celebrities, alike--Pandit Nehru campaigning in the house boats to shy women and sunkissed soldiers, you will find the breath of Kashmir captured in these portraits. Also, the camera which was used was displayed too. So, go ahead, photo bugs! And, for the poets in us, walk through the bazaars where they sold bread, the farms where women toiled and campaigns in House Boats. What was impressive was that the farmers were women. This was 1940s. Can you imagine? These photo rooms, as I call it, is a time travel. You can see the Dal Lake, the Jhelum, the Shalimar Bagh of the 40s and be awestruck. As I passed by, going ...

Lakhs of people hoarding Parade Grounds, navigating the terrible diversion and walking for a kilometre, for flying kites and tasting the delicacies should give you a hint that people still gorge on the manjas and the threads and festivities. I remember as a child, hopping on to the terrace and seeing the terrace filled with kites of various sizes, shapes and colours and gorging on the sweetmeats that mother and grandmother used to prepare. A stereo was set up in our apartments as we cut each other's kites and shouted on top of our voices to express our victory. We'd ensure we take the winning kite home. Stories of children or young adults falling off from terraces would fill the pages of the newspaper, the next day. The Parade Grounds in Secunderabad brought back these memories with their fourth edition of Kites and Sweets Festival. The entire ground looked like an amalgamation of different terraces. Light Kites, Fighter Kites, Lantern Kites adorned the skies and men, wom...

Naya Qila is a hidden gem of Hyderabad and HydTrails Walks gathered a bunch of us to explore the splendour, the engineering and the gore behind these silent stone walls. Located beside Golconda, this historical place marks the conquest of Aurangazeb. Saurabh, our leader for the day, took us through the marvels--The Tombs, The Trees and the stories behind it, Janana (ladies mosque) of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. But the highlight was reaching the Majnu Burj, where the cannon used for the war with Aurangazeb was used and watching the picturesque sunset that marked it as a trail worth the effort. Our group was a wonderful mix of students, young parents, enthusiastic photographers and eager historians and authors. Thank you, Hyderabad Trails for this!

Farewell Song is a translation of Shesher Kobita by Rabindranath Tagore, set in the backdrop of Calcutta and Shillong.  Amit Rai, a city-bred boy, belongs to an aristocratic family. A polished man, Amit is well versed in the poetry of Robi Thakur and N. Choudhury. Labanya, whose home is the deodar trees and her house library at Shillong, has dedicated herself to learning and is sunk deep in philosophy, literature and her father’s wise words. Amit courts women and like a petals of flowers, he makes a pot pourri of the women he likes. While, like Arjuna, the Pandav price, Labanya doesn’t waver from her thoughts painted with her morals. She rejects advances of any kind from her father’s students, too. However, when Amit’s haughtiness brushes against Labanya’s simplicity, he is soaked in the hills and trees of Shillong, and she is painfully drawn to him.  They weave their love story with their conversations, rather, beads of literature, and that gravitates them...