WOMEN

"Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose", said someone. But, for many people who often lose the little that they have, freedom is another wor(l)d. And that wor(l)d did not appear on 15th August 1947 or later for the majority who live in India at present. In fact, such a wor(l)d may never exist at all for this majority. So, sometime in mid 2007 some of us in Bangalore and other parts of the country decided that we should support and celebrate ongoing struggles for freedom. From that emerged the idea of a Civil Society Summit (CSS) -…

  That was how around 40 of us reclaimed our space vociferously and visibly on the roads of Madiwala (South Bangalore) and its environs between 5.00-7.00 pm last Saturday, 4th August. We energetically and emphatically expressed our views against various recent cases of moral policing and sexual assault across India including Guwahati, Mandya (Karnataka) and Mangalore. Ithi (meaning "a start" in Sanskrit), a support forum for women employed in the IT/ITeS industry organized the action which attracted necessary attention from local residents, college students and onlookers some of who joined us. Starting with a stationary protest at a busy corner…

  That was how around 40 of us reclaimed our space vociferously and visibly on the roads of Madiwala (South Bangalore) and its environs between 5.00-7.00 pm last Saturday, 4th August. We energetically and emphatically expressed our views against various recent cases of moral policing and sexual assault across India including Guwahati, Mandya (Karnataka) and Mangalore. Ithi (meaning "a start" in Sanskrit), a support forum for women employed in the IT/ITeS industry organized the action which attracted necessary attention from local residents, college students and onlookers some of who joined us. Starting with a stationary protest at a busy corner…

The wedding and festival season is about to kick off. Be it a wedding reception or Ganesh Chaturthi, people want to show off their personal styles. Uniqueness is the key here. Copycat designs aren’t popular. Enter, designer wear. Khwaish designer store. Pic courtesy: Khwaish The unique and innovative designs, not available in the regular shops, are becoming a trend. And this is not limited to young people alone. People are ready to pay huge sums for unique outfits. Debasmita Ghosh, Director of Morph Image Consulting and a resident of Koramangala believes that the designer clothes are custom made to fit.…

The wedding and festival season is about to kick off. Be it a wedding reception or Ganesh Chaturthi, people want to show off their personal styles. Uniqueness is the key here. Copycat designs aren’t popular. Enter, designer wear. Khwaish designer store. Pic courtesy: Khwaish The unique and innovative designs, not available in the regular shops, are becoming a trend. And this is not limited to young people alone. People are ready to pay huge sums for unique outfits. Debasmita Ghosh, Director of Morph Image Consulting and a resident of Koramangala believes that the designer clothes are custom made to fit.…

Fifty percent of us are women. And there is a Women's Day, yes. Yet, there are scores of stories about the struggles, achievements, journeys, and worries of women in our cities. We cannot cram all these into a paper just on Women's Day. So for our part at Citizen Matters, as the city's premier newsmagazine, we simply decided to dedicate this issue on the theme. And we found plenty to report to you.Many of us may not pay attention to women related topics, unless we spend a conscience-pricked hour in front of Satyameva Jayate. But much of society’s attitude is…

Fifty percent of us are women. And there is a Women's Day, yes. Yet, there are scores of stories about the struggles, achievements, journeys, and worries of women in our cities. We cannot cram all these into a paper just on Women's Day. So for our part at Citizen Matters, as the city's premier newsmagazine, we simply decided to dedicate this issue on the theme. And we found plenty to report to you.Many of us may not pay attention to women related topics, unless we spend a conscience-pricked hour in front of Satyameva Jayate. But much of society’s attitude is…

"I brought my younger daughter to the park as she has her summer holidays and was keen to find out what this event is all about. My older girl is in doing well in high school", beamed Rafiq Ahmed (name changed) who visits Bangalore regularly from Tumkur. He was one of the eager members of the audience that swelled after the annual Global Walk for India's Missing Girls that started outside the Haji Ismail Sait mosque in Frazer Town reached Coles Park around 4 pm on Saturday, May-5, 2012. The motivation behind the Global Walk (which has been conducted in over…

"I brought my younger daughter to the park as she has her summer holidays and was keen to find out what this event is all about. My older girl is in doing well in high school", beamed Rafiq Ahmed (name changed) who visits Bangalore regularly from Tumkur. He was one of the eager members of the audience that swelled after the annual Global Walk for India's Missing Girls that started outside the Haji Ismail Sait mosque in Frazer Town reached Coles Park around 4 pm on Saturday, May-5, 2012. The motivation behind the Global Walk (which has been conducted in over…

   Around mid August this year, 21 volunteers from 14 countries arrived in southern India to work and learn from marginalized communities about their challenges pertinent to health and sanitation. They were part of "Health on Stage", a six week project where they learnt to use forum theatre to initiate simultaneous dialogues on public health in low income areas of Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. And on 30th September, the 3 groups of participants, their trainers and faciliators gathered in Bangalore to share their experiences with healthcare professionals, media persons and theatre artists.It is well known that water related illnesses are…