dialogue
How Reading Indian Authors Rekindled My Love For Books
When the authors we read are predominantly white, we risk being othered, alienated, and bored even by the book in our hands.
We Don't Need To Take Porn Away From Women To Help Them; We Just Need To Make Better Porn
"It’s not surprising that what we want to see in our porn, in the thing we turn to for pleasure, is sex that is consensual; sex in which pleasure runs both ways. And there are many people trying to create just this."
A Stranger Watched Me Shower In A Hotel Room And It Could Happen To You Too
Hundreds of Indian women report being watched and recorded without consent every year. Hundreds more tolerate being stared at without saying a word. Where does India's obsession with voyeurism come from? And, more scarily, where does it lead?
A Guide To Fighting Daily Casteism Around You
Here's a list of some of the stereotypical (and nonsensical) arguments upper castes put forth, and how you can counter them.
Me Too: How It Feels To Be Raped When You’re Eight Years Old
As Kathua has dominated news cycles, I've been in a psychological blackhole, getting reacquainted with memories I've repressed since I was a little girl with no words for what was being done to her.
By Glorifying Churchill, Britain Is Committing New Crimes Against India
In a post-Brexit cultural crisis, Britain is using cinema to glorify its past, even when that means glorifying a racist, evil man who let millions of Indians die.
Caste Broke Our Hearts And Love Cannot Put Them Back Together
I had been trained to know what good looks are (Brahmin) and what good queerness is (English-speaking).
What It Is Like To Live With Mental Illness In India
There is so much about mental illness that is not just unseen, but hopelessly misunderstood by the law, people, and Indian society.
How Selena Gomez’s Public Battle With Illness Helped Me Fight Mine
I was diagnosed with a life-altering autoimmune disease at 18. Every single day has been a struggle since. But whenever Selena drops a catchy new single, looking like the million bucks that she does, I find hope.
4 Reasons Mandatory Attendance In Colleges Makes No Sense
JNU students are protesting against mandatory attendance. Here’s why you should too.
What My Broken Vagina Taught Me About Pain And Sex In India
Indian women are told a lot of things about sex – when to have it, how much of it to have, who to have it with. We're just never told that it's supposed to feel good.
"Padmaavat" Is Every Upper Caste Hindu Male's Wet Dream
Everyone should be protesting the film – except the Karni Sena.
Say Hello to India’s Newest and Fastest-Growing Caste
They speak English as a first language, they're highly-educated, affluent, and urban. The Indo-Anglians are both India’s most visible and yet invisible caste.
WhatsApp Family Groups Are Keeping Indian Families Together — And Driving Some Apart
Family WhatsApp groups are now inseparable from the notion of the modern Indian family itself. But some Indians say they're also an insufferable obligation.
You Are Not Alone In These Academic Agraharas
Some will probably label me a “non-meritorious” Dalit from the “reserved category”. But I am not ashamed of my identity and you shouldn't be either.
One Too Many Mishras: India's Supreme Court Is A Brahmin Bastion
The power tussle between the Chief Justice and his fellow judges has exposed the casteist core of India's judiciary.
The Making Of A Hindutva Warrior
Kumar despised Muslims before he could count to ten. Now, having graduated from college with no job prospects, he divides his time between the offices of ABVP, BJP, and VHP. "Two hours here, three hours there. It’s how my days go."
How To Pitch To Dialogue
Interested in writing personal essays or cultural criticism for BuzzFeed India? Here's everything you need to know.
Why It Is Dangerous To Be A "Chill Girl" In A World Dominated By Rape Culture
It’s been three months since I started a firestorm of sexual harassment allegations against High Spirits. Here’s what I’ve learned about how toxic spaces keep young women quiet – and coming back.
My English Isn't Broken; Your English Is Brahmin
As a poet, an academic, and a Dalit, this is the story of finding myself in English and forgetting my way home.
Why Film Stars Make Bad Leaders: As Rajinikanth Enters Politics, Remember MGR’s Misrule
Through his films, M.G. Ramachandran built a popular persona as a friend of the poor – just like Rajinikanth. He enjoyed political support on the strength of his personal popularity, and as chief minister, he remained above scrutiny despite creating a brutally repressive anti-poor state.
What Shashi Kapoor’s Death Says about India’s Drinking Problem
It would be unfair to place the entire blame for alcoholism in India at Bollywood’s door. But there appears to be an undeniable complicity.
I'm Queer And I Couldn't Care Less About Section 377
There are much more pressing issues facing the queer community besides an archaic law that criminalises anal sex, and this is particularly true for women and trans people.
The Boy And The Tower: An Illustrated Journey Through Ambedkar's Life And Ideas
From a penniless Dalit with no prospects to the maker of India's constitution and the saviour of his people.
Built To Help The Farmers, Gujarat’s Dams Are Now Drowning Them
Since the state began its battle to harness and control its water, increasingly and unforgivingly, the water has started to fight back.
Hope At The End Of The World's Most Heartbreaking Climate Summit
Conversations about the end of the world from the centre of the world.
How Young Women In Indian Academia Feel About The List
A month after Raya Sarkar's list of alleged sexual predators polarised Indian academia, an attempt at understanding its origin and impact.
7 Vitally Important Issues Have Taken A Backseat Because Of A Movie
A fictional queen has taken precedence over unbreathable air, a dysfunctional parliament, Aadhaar deaths and many other pressing matters.
What Is It Like Being Transgender On Tinder In India?
Fascinating, validating, hilarious, and sometimes scary.
How India's Political Parties Hijacked Twitter's Trending Column For Partisan Bickering
A BuzzFeed News analysis found that the popularity of at least 10 political hashtags that trended on Twitter in India during the last two months was influenced by organised campaigns.
The Pillars That Hold India's Democracy Up Are Falling Apart
The 70-year-old skyscraper we live in has deep-rooted structural flaws which are preventing real change.
Demonetisation: The Greatest Magic Act Ever Performed
Making sense of how Narendra Modi sold a disastrous economic policy to a spellbound nation.
The Undeniable Misery Of Being A Shah Rukh Khan Fan Today
While the world, and I, have grown up, Shah Rukh remains stuck in the regressive '90s. With more freedom than he's ever had, he continues to promote sexism, racism and toxic beauty standards with his work.
Why Upper-Caste Men Need To Stand Up For Raya Sarkar
We have benefited immensely from a system that is skewed in our favour. If we stay silent as it crushes others, we become enablers of injustice.
Why I Published A List Of Sexual Predators In Academia
An interview with Raya Sarkar whose crowdsourced 'cautionary list' has sparked a polarising ideological debate among Indian feminists.
What's The Best City In India To Watch A Movie?
Analysing data for nearly 600 movie theatres across 8 Indian cities to figure out the answer to one of the burning questions of our times.
#HimToo: A Reckoning
An open letter from a senior academic to some of the men in her life who abused, assaulted, or harassed her and the women who enabled them.
The Mysterious Braid Choppers Of Kashmir
A spate of unexplained attacks on women, police and government inaction, and vigilante justice have come together to create a perfect storm of fear and unrest in Kashmir.
My Experiments With Hash-Making: What Makes It Good Is Bum Fluff
Sometimes science reveals things you were better of not knowing.
Caging Women To Protect Them From Predators Is Only Making The Problem Worse
Protectionist measures that restrict women's freedom in order to protect them are just benevolent versions of the same misogyny they seek to counter.
How Feminist Men Have Sex
An erection is the same hydraulic event in political economists as it is in jackasses.
Modi's Unwillingness To Listen To Criticism Has Knocked The Halo Off His Head
The prime minister has gone from an infallible knight who could do no wrong to a leader under siege in a little over three years.
Newton: An Angry Young Man With A Caste Conscience
Amit Masurkar's Oscar-bound film reinvents a tired old trope by grounding it in the reality of the Dalit struggle.
The Selfless Indian Woman Is Tired, Angry And Wants You To Do Your Own Damn Work
Glorifying selflessness in women is a way to make us do all the work.
Rishi Kapoor: The Casteist, Khandaani, Besharam Boy Of Bollywood
Why I, a female Dalit meme-maker, got an abusive message from the patriarch of Bollywood's largest dynasty.
Inside The Testosterone-Soaked Culture Of India’s Guys-Only WhatsApp Groups
In a time when it’s decreasingly cool to be sexist, some men are retreating to the privacy of all-male WhatsApp groups to validate their misogyny.
Four Indian Athletes On The Triumphs And Challenges Of Making A Comeback After Childbirth.
What does it take to go from elite athlete to mother and back again?
Kangana Ranaut Is A Feminist Icon, But Her Breakup Isn't A Feminist Issue
Kangana Ranaut's unapologetically progressive choices have us ready to applaud her every move. So it's disappointing that we're mostly being made to applaud the messy end of a messy affair.
So Hey, Let’s Talk About The Violence In Kerala
Both the left and the right have blood on their hands, but somehow the RSS and the BJP continue to peddle the story of their innocence.
Reckless Journalism Created A Blue Whale Panic When We Should Be Talking About Mental Illness
Media hype has gotten parents, teachers and even the government more interested in a fake epidemic than a real one.
