From the Pen of Lopa

The 19 th day of November is celebrated as the International Men’s Day, but did you notice any major campaign running around for this very day? As per what I have seen, the brands talking about Men’s Day could be counted on fingers and no more. Unlike most of the celebrated days, this event never gets enough traction neither from brands nor the people. The companies shelling out millions on campaigns related to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Women’s Day were as silent as stones and nobody would bat an eye on the same. This is the stark reality and the brutal truth of how much we value and respect the men of our society. The people who would be advocating gender equality and supporting the cause being an activist were silent on the International Men’s Day. Although it is not a new thing to be noticed, but somebody had to say it out loud and this is where I am putting my thoughts in respect to all the men out there, working day and night to support the families, with or without any su...

It is a beautiful morning and you are heading towards your office. Driving the car, you are enjoying the cool breeze with the windows down. The traffic signal turns red and you stop, following the rules being a responsible citizen that you are proud of. Suddenly, you hear some clapping nearby and you turn your head to check who is it. A group of transgenders is asking for money from vehicle to vehicle. By their movement, you are sure that one would eventually reach your car to ask for money. Without wasting any second, you hit the window switch and the glass is up. Now you are just praying that the light turns green before one of them reaches you. Moments later, the traffic moves and you hit the gas pedal to rush away as fast as you can. Nice save! Down at office, you have a position open in the company to be filled. HR comes by with some short-listed profiles to show, where you see a transgender person with suitable experience and talent. Wondering how this person would mix in ...

This is the common story of a number of families across India, quite a common practice with unfortunate outcomes. We, as humans and Indians, aim to bring a change by acting upon it and bring gender equality to create sustainable societies. Chapter 1: A Male Breathes As soon as the long desired son is born in a family, the whole scenario changes. There are celebrations as the heir has taken birth and the family’s name will be taken forward with pride. He is given all the possible love, along with facilities and an upper hand being a male. The boy is allowed to play outside, have fun and is given no serious responsibility of the homely chores. His mistakes are often forgiven and ignored, for he is a male and it is fine for him to be careless. The mother hides his petty acts and just like any other common Indian family, father plays the least role in sculpting the boy’s personality. The father is more often the figure with whom the rest of family is scared, so instead of discussin...

“A 3-year-old was raped and beheaded” “15-year-old was raped and burnt to ashes” “17-year-old was gang-raped in Delhi”  Many would agree that this news has become more of a common sight across daily newspapers. Humanity has stooped so low that they won’t even spare toddlers, it is far fetched thought to consider the criterion of consent between adults. If looked upon closely, one would find that victims not only have to deal with the predators and sexual offenders, but with the system down the line as well. As ugly as it sounds, it is an unfortunate truth that there have been a number of instances where people of power, ranging from politicians to government officials, have misused their position to molest, rape and later on, save themselves from legal proceedings. These actions not only result in troubles for the victims, but their families as well. Unnao rape case is one of the most recent cases, where a then MLA of a certain party raped the victim in pretense of giving ...

What are the criteria for success? A well-paying job, savings, assets, loving family and luxuries. If you consider these as a success, yes, I had them all and hence could be considered as a successful lady, striving towards more and more. Coming from the least known district of Rayagada - Odisha, I believed that staying back in the town won’t fulfill my larger than life dreams. Just like any other motivated youth, I moved out to achieve them, crossing one goal after another. I traveled, learned, studied and worked from Delhi to London, to Greece and back to Delhi. Check-marking almost everything in my dream list, a thought struck my mind that I could go out to achieve my dreams, but how many did actually get the opportunity of chasing their dreams? Every year, we see people migrating from rural to urban areas, in search of better education, amenities, jobs and much more. There surely would be cases of people who made it large, but unfortunately, not everyone succeeds in achi...

For ages, the societies have been majorly ruled by men, and the books of history drip blood of women for the injustice done under the name of superstitions and beliefs. Buried alive or trampled underfoot for the sin of taking birth as a girl child, countless never saw the daylight. If survived, blamed for reasons like the practice of witchcraft and burnt alive, hung from the gallows or stabbed in the heart. Women have come a long way of living an oppressed life, and sadly, the story continues even today across different parts of the world without a change. Ironically, in the subcontinent of India, on one hand people worship goddesses and on the other, seize the reach of their daughters and wives to the basic human rights; gender equality is a far-fetched thing. Not everyone would bear such oppression and hence, women from across timelines have fought back to demand justice and take control over their human rights and equality, coining a new term, Feminism. People often ten...

We see ambassadors,   diplomats and expats from different countries working day in and day out, representing their respective countries in a different nation altogether. For all they do and act, they complete their official duties, but do they have any social duty towards the nation they are living in? A general wonderment would reflect answers towards ‘no’, while they are not a citizen to the country they are currently in During the last visit of our late President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to Athens, Greece in 2007, I was lucky enough to meet him in person and discuss about different issues persisting in the societies of India and Greece. I clearly remember his response, when I asked him about the social duties of an expatriate towards the nation they are currently living in. For the noble figure he was and loved for, he said: “It is your moral and social duty to give all of your efforts to bring a wave of changes in the country you are living in. This is the...