Orphic Exposure

Men of Quality support Women's Equality Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone who has ever had to Google “Is it misogynistic if…?” —hold your beers! Let’s talk feminism today, and about women, too (Reminds me of that one friend in every group, lmao!). That makes you nervous, too, sometimes, right? (I mean, NEVER in my life!?) Nowadays, men hear the F word and just start looking for the nearest exit. For women, they calculate if it’s worth getting into an argument with their stupid “friend” (and that too, on someone’s treat or birthday party, preferably! Hehehe) Now, let’s bust the myth, let’s bring it all down a bit, to the core. To something that is actually meaningful. And not a perfectly fine young lady making an elderly man stand up, by saying “I am a woman so I want to have that seat” (It’s really a torture for middle-aged. The elders, at least, get to have their say..) The real thing is, feminism isn’t scary! It’s not a cult like some of you may think. It’s not like they have se...

Reprogramming psychological inheritance of colonised minds   What does it mean to be free? Not free in the way history books tell it, not the freedom of flags raised and anthems sung, not the freedom of borders drawn and treaties signed. I speak of freedom , a deeper one—the freedom of mind. And I ask you, ARE WE TRULY FREE? For centuries, outsiders came to our land with their ships and swords, with their guns and laws; they took our riches, reshaped our cities, left scars upon the earth. But what they truly sought was something far greater, something more enduring (Than any relationship in Hauz Khas, lol)—the mastery over our minds. And that, I fear, they have not fully relinquished. Yes, the Brits left a long ago. But did they really? Look around you. The language in which I speak, the very words that shape my thoughts, the structures that dictate our knowledge, our success, our aspirations—do they not still bear the imprint of their makers? (I am pretty sure everyone of you ...

"A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, certainly, without freedom, it will never be anything but bad." -Albert Camus Truth. Once, it was a reason Indian media existed. The reason why ink flowed onto paper, the reason voices echoed the air. Truth was sacred. It was dangerous. It was what turned revolutions into history. And now? Now, truth is whatever they say it is. I recently watched “The Sabarmati Report” and it led me to ponder onto the status of Indian media in this free country. Nevertheless, I think I have witnessed the transformation of Indian media through this film —not gradual, not subtle, but ruthless. I feel like this was not a decline; it was an erosion, a slow and silent replacement of substance with spectacle, of facts with fabrication. I gave seen what happens when the watchdog of democracy is trained not to bark, but to obey. If not one can always remember Joseph Goebbels , the Minister of Propaganda, and the person responsible for widespread o...

Central Reserved Police Force Do you know what it means to be forgotten? To fight, to bleed, to sacrifice everything —yet to be treated as if you are invisible? I may not know it but a fellow CRPF jawan surely does, they live it every single day. You see, when people think of valour, of sacrifice, of men standing tall against enemies, they think of the Army. They think of the BSF, patrolling the borders, watching the enemy eye to eye. They call them heroes. Shower them with medals, respect, and recognition. But I want to ask, what of the CRPF? The ones who fight within the country, in the jungles, in the streets, in the shadows, where no one cares to look? You know, sometimes I wonder—do people even know who they are? I don’t think so. To tell a long story short, it is the force that is called in a crisis and forgotten the moment it’s over. The force that has suffered more, bled more, and yet remains in the shadows. I was near Lok Kalyan Marg last month (Its where the Prime Ministe...

                               Raj Shamani right now.. I gained some time today, by doing all the necessary routine that I am obliged to; be it attending my coaching classes, courses, or doing my language lessons, researching here and there (and the remaining fodder that everyone adds up while summarizing their day). So, I sat idle for a while, ruminating, listening to Lata didi actually, then I thought of journaling but I could not (HELP, I HAVE RUN OUT OF PROMPTS NOW!). So, naturally, I opened my laptop and scrolled through my footnotes, when I developed the desire to write into a matter that has recently ignited fervent discussions across our nation—the controversy surrounding the YouTube show ”India’s Got Latent” (an idea similar to the show “Kill Tony”) and some guy who calls himself as “BeerBiceps”, who owns a podcast too, called “The Ranveer Show.” First of all, it’s so fantastic that a YouTube show...

            "A thinking man is a depraved animal" -Rousseau You know, people like to think they’re in control. Like their choices mean something. Like there’s a logic to it all, some grand design, a purpose. But if you really dig down—strip away all the niceties and illusions we’ve wrapped ourselves in—you find it’s not control. It’s just the illusion of it. We’re passengers on a ride that doesn’t care what we want. See, we all got what I call a Life Trap. Well, sometimes, I also do think that human consciousness is a tragedy, but that’s a story for another time, maybe. (And I am one of the few cursed with some) So, I’ve been thinking a lot about time. Time’s not linear, not the way we like to think it is. We build our days around the idea of moving forward—past, present, future (If you ever watch Interstellar, or Tenet, you'd have an idea of what I mean here). But that’s just how we make sense of it, like drawing lines in the dirt. Really, it’s all happeni...

गांधीजींना ' महात्मा ' म्हटले जाते . खरं तर , त्यांच्या कार्याची व्यख्या करताना त्यांना ' राष्ट्रपिता ' असे ही म्हटले जाते . पण मला प्रश्न पडतो — हे विशेषण आपण विचारपूर्वक दिले आहे का ? की तो ही एक झापडबंद दृष्टिकोन आहे ? का मी इतका गोंधळलोय ? का असं वाटतंय की आपण जितक्या श्रद्धेने त्यांना पाहतो तितक्याच कठोरतेने त्यांची तपासणी व्हायला हवी ? आज कोणी गांधींवर प्रश्न उचलला तर तो राष्ट्रद्रोही होणार हे नक्कीच . मग राष्ट्रभक्तीचा अर्थ म्हणजे प्रश्न न विचारणे , असा होतो का ? की कोणाचीही निंदा न करणे असा होतो ? नेमकी बरोबर बाजू कोणती असा देखील प्रश्न समोर येतो , आणि मग हे मायाजाल कधी संपतच नाही ... खरं म्हणायचं तर माझ्यासाठी गांधी हे महात्मा नाहीत , ते पुढारी आहेत , हे नक्कीच . पंरतु गांधी हे संत नसून ते एक राजकारणी होते हे सर्वजण नेहमीच विसरत असतात . म्हणूनच असा कोणी वक्तव्य केलं की तो माणूस हा वाईट असा ठसाच उमटवला जातो . त्यांना राष्ट्रपिता म्हणणं हे दे...