It's Just Me

"The greatest event of our age..."

2011-12-03T19:27:00.001+05:30

I wanted to blog this quotation a while ago, but am just getting around to it. I found it on the cover of the folder I was given at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in September. "The greatest event of our age is the meeting of cultures, meeting of civilizations, meeting of different points of view, making us understand that we should not adhere to any one kind of single faith, but respect

Talking toilets

2011-12-03T16:17:00.000+05:30

I was at an IFMR seminar this morning, a presentation on public toilets in Chennai by the Transparent Chennai project team. I learned many things, and I want to share my notes here in the interest of public debate on the issue. Please note I am just typing the notes I jotted down, without checking or polishing them. At some point all this information should be available on their website, if it

Bearing Witness: A new report on women in conflict zones

2011-10-06T15:13:00.000+05:30

In October, two Catholic nuns from India made news. First, news broke about the gang rape of a nun in Kandhamal on August 25, 2008. Her rape was part of the anti-Christian mob frenzy that

Work as extreme sport

2008-11-03T18:42:00.002+05:30

Swarna Rajagopalan, Going to work is fraught with great risk, New Indian Express, October 13, 2008. Recently reported events have demonstrated that earning a living is becoming a dangerous undertaking. The first is Saumya Vishwanathan's murder while returning from her work at a news channel late into the night. The Delhi Chief Minister acknowledged that Delhi was unsafe and then described

Gender and disasters

2008-11-03T18:33:00.002+05:30

Swarna Rajagopalan, Kosi’s distressed daughters, New Indian Express, Chennai, September 17, 2008. On August 18, the Kosi river broke through its embankments to flood most of Bihar and change course. The disaster has taken several lives, displaced over a million people and laid waste to hundreds of villages, not counting those who will die of waterborne infectious diseases in its wake. So far,

Peacekeeping and Gender

2008-11-03T18:32:00.001+05:30

Swarna Rajagopalan, Guardians stray from the straight path, New Indian Express, Chennai, August 25, 2008.The exemplary record of India’s peacekeeping troops is in danger, and thus, one of its claims to good global citizenship. An internal UN investigation has reported that some Indian peacekeepers in the Congo supported and perhaps even participated in a child prostitution racket near their base

Articles in New Indian Express

2008-11-03T18:20:00.004+05:30

Swarna Rajagopalan, Guardians stray from the straight path, New Indian Express, Chennai, August 25, 2008.Swarna Rajagopalan, Kosi’s distressed daughters, New Indian Express, Chennai, September 17, 2008.Swarna Rajagopalan, Going to work is fraught with great risk, New Indian Express, Chennai, October 13, 2008.Swarna Rajagopalan, Through their bodies we strive, New Indian Express, Chennai, November

Whose security are we talking about?

2008-11-03T18:17:00.001+05:30

Published in InfoChange, November 3, 2008.Whose security are we talking about? Security is not just about nation-states. It is about the Delhi journalist killed on the streets, the Christian suddenly prey in her home, the bewildered victim of a terror attack, says Swarna Rajagopalan in this new series on security The festive season in India

For Kosi's distressed daughters, September 17, 2008

2008-09-17T08:45:00.002+05:30

Swarna Rajagopalan, Kosi's distressed daughters, New Indian Express, Chennai, September 17, 2008.On August 18, the Kosi river broke through its embankments to flood most of Bihar and change course. The disaster has taken several lives, displaced over a million people and laid waste to hundreds of villages, not counting those who will die of waterborne infectious diseases in its wake.So far, women

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections 7

2008-09-11T19:55:00.003+05:30

The six preceding blog posts are my attempt to begin thinking through this challenge: of designing from scratch with no preconceived ideas about what we are doing a course that captures many of the issues that we are interested in as we reflect on contemporary South India.Maybe a completely non-derivative way of doing this is impossible. But I am just trying to start as far away from where the

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections 6

2008-09-11T19:37:00.004+05:30

What would I teach? Let me back up and describe the issues I think it would be interesting and fun to explore at this point, sitting in South India. In no particular order.This year, we were struck by urban renewal/conservation issues. Particularly because we were visiting heritage sites that were once an integral part of planned urban centres.I think models of 'development' are interesting. What

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections 5

2008-09-11T18:55:00.002+05:30

So what is this course about?As it is usually taught in the US, it is about everything. A little bit about colonialism, a little bit about nationalism, a little bit about development, a little bit about gender and a little bit about international relations.In India, we do not teach politics as if it is special in a developmental context but as students in Bombay University a couple of decades ago

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections 4

2008-09-11T18:24:00.003+05:30

Courses in this area are usually some extension or variation of "Government and Politics of.." courses. By appending Third World, I think they aspire to capture something of the process of change. Once they do that, they cannot be just about politics.'Third World' states were more or less the same as those states of Asia and Africa and on some issues, Latin America, that had once been colonized.

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections 3

2008-09-11T15:48:00.002+05:30

A linear view of history and the human experience makes it possible to place communities along a continuum and label them 'backward' and 'advanced'. All of us do it in the judgments we pass on each other on a daily basis. However, as an intellectual construct, it is hard to accept and harder still to teach.One could place colonial-nationalist-postcolonial on some sort of a timeline, but what did

Teaching "Third World Politics":Reflections 2

2008-09-11T15:41:00.003+05:30

Let's start with this 'Third World' tag.Forget the political correctness stuff. Dress the term any way you like and you still have no way of understanding what it means.povertyinequalitytraditionold technologyunresolved political issues'backwardness'Where can you find these? Today, practically everywhere. Being 'Third World' is a condition not a location. Teaching in nice classrooms in the 'First

Teaching 'Third World Politics': Reflections

2008-09-11T15:09:00.004+05:30

One of the crosses one bears when one teaches politics in the West and is a lowly, non-Western person, is that one sometimes has to teach a course that is variously modeled as 'Politics of development,' 'Third World Politics' or in my alma mater, 'Emerging Nations.' I did not enjoy this course in any incarnation for the simple reason that it seemed to need to be about everything with only

Morality, dress and the state

2008-08-06T20:47:00.003+05:30

Saris with tummies exposed too sexy for Nigeria, IANS/ CNN-IBN, August 6, 2008.Talk about imported moralities--traditional dress that bares the midriff is also suspect.

Something positive?

2008-08-06T15:54:00.006+05:30

I just found this extremely cheering:Nimisha Srivastava, McVada: What's cooking between Shiv Sena and Macs, CNN-IBN, August 6, 2008.Maybe it's the prospect of something having taste at MacDonald's should I ever be forced to eat there again.

Research visas for non-Indian scholars

2008-08-05T18:39:00.002+05:30

According to this Times of India report, the procedure for applying for a research visa appears to have gotten easier.D Suresh Kumar, New rules for foreign scholars, TNN/ Times of India, 4 Aug 2008.Watch this space for updates.

How we preserve our heritage

2008-07-16T20:57:00.006+05:30

I am on the road with a group of visiting students and we visited the Brihadeeshwara Temple in Thanjavur. This is the main temple in a complex of Chola temples in and around Thanjavur, designated as World Heritage Monuments. The designation has funded a great deal of restoration activity which is ongoing, but in the meanwhile, our own unique instinct for cultural conservation has led visitors to.

Making a difference, making us proud

2008-06-08T10:13:00.001+05:30

Tiana Tozer, who studied Political Science at Illinois when I did, makes us proud over and over again. Check out this NBC news report that features her.

You cannot have it all!!!

2008-05-21T15:27:00.003+05:30

A speech by Mr. Aziz Narejo is posted on Indus Asia Journal Online. I am thrilled that Mr. Narejo has read my book to learn about Sindhi history, but dismayed that he thinks I am a man.You cannot have it all, so in this instance, I will just thank him, wherever he is for citing my work.But, Mr. Narejo, I do not belong to the default gender. No, no, no, sir!

New book on Indian cinema and Soviet audiences

2008-05-07T16:18:00.004+05:30

Check this out: Urmi Sahni, Book recounts Russian penchant for Indian films, CNN/IBN, May 7, 2008.Everyone is nepotistic; why not me?!

Two things I read this morning and enjoyed

2008-05-02T07:30:00.002+05:30

The easy way out for a blogger is to link to good stuff written by others. I returned to read the Hindustan Times column section this morning after a long gap, and this is what I enjoyed reading:Vir Sanghvi, Mood of Middle India, Hindustan Times, April 26, 2008.Which lets you read scores of questionnaires over his shoulder, a fascinating sample survey or snapshot of who we are.Vir Sanghvi, Pity

How to punish the victim, again and again and again

2008-02-01T08:54:00.000+05:30

Opt for marriage or get jail term: Court to rape accused, Indian Express, February 1, 2008.For the second time in the last couple of years, a court has regarded marriage between a rapist and his victim a suitable conclusion for charges of rape.There are so many things so very wrong with this point of view.1. Rape is not a crime of passion; it is an act of violence perpetrated on the body of the

Indo-Stalinist Architecture: A New Masterpiece

2008-01-26T08:05:00.000+05:30

The Ministry of External Affairs is getting a new home on Rajpath, that magnificent road in front of Raisina Hill, and it will be designed and built by those masters of Indo-Stalinist architecture: The Central Public Works Department.Gautam Bhatia, PWD Classic on Rajpath, Indian Express, January 26, 2008.Now the difference between Bombay and Delhi will be the difference between Indo-Gothic and

Do Indian women feel safe?

2008-01-24T05:46:00.000+05:30

If you need to think about that answer, here is some information you could use.Yogendra Yadav and Sanjay Kumar, Outside home, Indian woman unsafe; inside, she needs luck, Indian Express, January 24, 2007.See also their box with data 1 and box with data 2.

Sanitation newswatch continues

2008-01-23T07:24:00.000+05:30

How did I miss this one?Yamini Aiyar, No toilets please, we’re Indian, Indian Express, November 20, 2007.

Because I know her mother...

2008-01-19T09:25:00.000+05:30

Nina Paley is a well-known American cartoonist who discovered the Ramayana when she lived in India for a while.Shocked by what Sita had to endure, she did what every Indian has done since the first appearance of this story, and retold it the way she liked as 'Sitayana.' This narrative has since evolved and taken the form of a critically acclaimed animation film: When Sita Sang the Blues.A

Beyond comment

2008-01-14T07:35:00.000+05:30

Jatin Gandhi, Shame: Rape is India’s fastest growing crime, Hindustan Times, January 13, 2008.

Mister ya Missus? Neither please, leave me alone!

2008-01-13T15:55:00.000+05:30

Statutory warning: This is not a post or an essay so much as a rant, and a rant which has brewed a long time.I have noticed in the last few years how people cannot tell gender any more: from name, from dress, from voice, from personal appearance. The reason it has taken so long to record this rant is that I get irritated by this to the point of incoherence.Some examples of what I mean:1. The

Somewhere, someone... cares!

2008-01-13T11:43:00.001+05:30

2008 is the International Year of Sanitation, the UN Secretary-General has declared.Do also check out WaterAid's report on The State of the World's Toilets 2007.Finally, I propose that now that Ratan Tata is done with his one-lakh car project, he turn his attention and ability to get things done to another people's need: public toilets in India. I think that Shahrukh Khan, whose views resemble

What Gandhiji, Dev Anand and Vikram Sarabhai have in common

2008-01-08T13:04:00.000+05:30

I have read three biographies in the last twelve months, choosing to do so with great enthusiasm either for the author or the subject or both. Last night, as I made my way through the third, I was struck by the similarity between these remarkable individuals, however unlikely it seems when I list their names: Gandhiji, Dev Anand and Vikram Sarabhai.GandhijiGandhiji is a fixture of any Indian

Celebrating xenophobia: The second round

2007-12-02T07:45:00.000+05:30

The Indian Express filed an RTI on the question of foreign research scholars being denied visas. Finally, they have a positive response. Read on:Shubhajit Roy, Now you will know why and how Govt rejects foreign scholars, asks them to change subjects, Indian Express, December 02, 2007.Just to remind you, here is a link to the older post on this issue:Back in Alberuni's India (But did we ever leave

Say it again, sister!

2007-11-07T05:34:00.000+05:30

Anubha Yadav, Last waterloo, Indian Express, November 7, 2007.

Geert Mak's "In Europe"

2007-10-21T17:43:00.000+05:30

Earlier this year, I got a copy of Geert Mak's "In Europe: Travels through the Twentieth Century." I dipped into it at a couple of bookstores, and was convinced I should read it. I brought it back to India and started it in June. I just finished it last week. Admittedly, it is a huge book (over 800 pages) and I have been very busy, but that is still a very long time for me to take over one

Gandhi and me (and you, if you like)

2007-10-04T05:58:00.001+05:30

Everyone is writing about Gandhiji, why not me?Earlier this year, I read Rajmohan Gandhi's 'Mohandas' and found it utterly absorbing. Having grown up on a mind-numbing diet of Gandhian hagiographical texts that caricatured and rendered him boring, I was captivated to discover him as a person, and a person I could have related to, in this account.Six months after that reading, the image that

If they're good enough for Kabul.....

2007-09-28T19:14:00.000+05:30

...why can't we have more of them here? How can I fail to link to this report that the Government of India is assisting with the construction of Sulabh Shauchalayas in Kabul?Meanwhile, with the felling of trees and the excavation of roads in my neighbourhood, all in the name of building a flyover, I do not want to imagine what the state of the side-streets (aka public lavatories) will be when

What's wrong with being a feminist?

2007-06-17T07:41:00.000+05:30

In the last two or three days, I have met several people who want to reassure me that someone or the other is not a feminist. Since I AM a feminist, this puzzles me.I have always been a feminist, before I knew the word, before I knew there was theory to go with it, before I knew much about women's movements. The marvelous definition that Cheris Kramerae and Paula Treichler came up with ("Feminism

High Office, High Status?

2007-06-15T08:08:00.000+05:30

In the sixtieth year of the Indian Republic (which it is not), the nomination of Pratibha Patil is being greeted as a mark of Indian respect for women (which it is not).Let me address why I do not think this is a mark of respect for women. The post of President in the Indian Republic is a symbolic and ceremonial one. If it seems important today, that is a function of the character and calibre of

Home Thoughts from Abroad, Written at Home

2007-06-02T10:20:00.000+05:30

(I have been updating my other blog far more regularly than this one. Now that I am back from my holiday, I am crossposting my last entries there into this blog as well: one and two.)Home Thoughts from Abroad, Written at HomeI start this post on a sultry morning, wondering where all the words vanished that I composed so brilliantly as we drove around Holland. Let's see if their remains can

Swachchha Narayani: A Goddess We Need

2007-04-10T12:52:00.000+05:30

Sometimes when friends initiate discussions on random statements by politicians or are incensed about matters of high politics, I express my irritation with a dismissive statement which I really mean seriously: I think the most pressing policy issue in India may be the lack of public toilets, or sanitation. So I read this old blog entry by Madhu Kishwar with surprise and joy.But seriously, why do

The role (if any) of public intellectuals (if any) in India

2007-03-30T21:11:00.000+05:30

At the risk of this seeming like an Indian Express promotion blog, I want to point to two articles in that paper that raise important question about the role of intellectuals in Indian public discourse.Pratap Bhanu Mehta, On their Marx, ready to bow, Indian Express, March 27, 2007.Peter Ronald DeSouza, And miles to go before they wake, Indian Express, March 30, 2007.For Dr. Mehta, these questions

1971

2007-03-25T09:46:00.000+05:30

There is a new movie about the 1971 conflict, one reads, but that is not why I am thinking about the events of that year in South Asia. Last night, we were reminiscing about a little girl I used to know.We were both little girls. Standard I or younger, St. Joseph's, RC Church, Bombay. She lived a few buildings away from me in the Port Trust compound in Colaba. Her name was Nafisa and we used to