Soulful Ramblings

Photo by Andreas Wohlfahrt from Pexels In my country, unfortunately, free advice is distributed like condoms at an orgy. On 18 September 2019, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Rivan. Since then, I have received a cornucopia of advice and comments from family, friends and absolute strangers. Here are some of these gems. Baby’s Massage Lady: He is not digesting his milk. Burp him. You don’t know how to hold the baby. You should always swaddle him. You should always keep his head covered. You should never use a bottle. Stop using the AC. Don't switch on the fan. He feels cold. How will you find his powder puff if you never go out and look for it? You're too slow. He'll turn 6 months old by the time you finish putting on his diaper. Doctor: Don’t use a bottle. Husband’s relatives: (When I was carrying my baby): We are only telling you the list of names that you should not keep. Or this child will be doomed. (On the day ...

A final year medical student of Manipal University hailing from Kerala was abducted on June 20, near MCOPS building, by three persons who came in an autorickshaw and later gang-raped her. The medical student, who had suffered a fracture in her leg received treatment at the Kasturba Hospital in Manipal and was discharged on July 4. This incident triggered massive protests by commoners, students and political authorities alike. A week after the abduction and gang-rape, the police cracked the case and arrested all three accused. The accused were Yogesh Poojary (30), Hariprasad Poojary (27) and Anand Panara (28). Yogesh and Hariprasad are autorickshaw drivers, while Anand does not have any permanent occupation. Two more persons, Balachandra, brother of Yogesh, and Harindra, brother of Hariprasad, who tried to destroy evidence in the case were also taken into custody. The girl had initially refused to give a statement to the police as she was worried about being shunned by the societ...

India has always been touted as a culturally rich nation. Inspite of all the prevalent variations, it has come out strong and proved to be an insuperable country. The most vibrant form of India can be seen during festivals. No other country has as many festivals as India. The streets bustle with energy and people get in a celebratory mood. India is one such nation where festivity galore happens all year round. Tiffs and squabbles are forgotten. People come together and share their joys. All the good things in life like eating, drinking, dancing and making merry are inseparable parts of festival celebration. Everyone thoroughly enjoys festival season as this is the best time to give and receive gifts. Each festival brings with it innumerable lovely memories. Hardly a day passes without a festival taking place somewhere in India. They range from small functions to week long celebrations. All festivals are mainly cultural in nature. They can also be sub-categorized as national, ...

I live in a country where women are thought of as objects; whose primary duties are to stay within the four walls of her house, take care of her family and work in the kitchen. It is infuriating to live everyday worrying about what kind of harassment I may have to suffer today. Crimes against women have always been happening in India but in recent times there has been a shocking surge in such incidents. It makes me wonder what has suddenly gone wrong with the mentality of the men in India. Why is it so difficult to keep your thing in your pants? It’s absolutely sickening to see hypocritical sex-crazed men worship goddesses at home and then go out and rape women. What surprises me more is men who have ladies in their family and still do not feel any shame in going out and raping other women. What is it that has drastically gone wrong in mindset of men that makes them believe that women are objects and they can be treated like trash on the road? All those gender biased statemen...