Lockdown Diaries: Migrants miseries multiply in India as government continues with its mum’s the word
The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the open secret of the Indian economy, and its inability and failure to support the backbone of the industrial prowess - the 114 million strong, ductile and undemanding work-force and migrant labourers that have been left in the lurch during the eight-week-long lockdown (as we go to print.) Mass exodus The workplaces are shut or denied...
Lockdown Diaries: The importance of exercise during lockdown and beyond
When compared to the spectre of death and global economic collapse, gym closures seem pretty low on the list of calamities caused by the pandemic, but exercise is particularly important now because it boosts us physically and mentally. Physical activity helps to keep our immune systems working effectively as it flushes bacteria from the lungs and airways, increases white blood...
Open Oven: Baking it Even!
With the world witnessing a paradigm shift, food still holds fort as a constant source of relief. Entrepreneurial ventures stocking on comfort and utility food has become the need of the hour. One such immensely popular bakery in Kolkata, India is the Open Oven Bakery. Instituted by Reshma Sengupta, Open Oven has been supplying tasty and healthy baked food...
Remembering Chiku, our squirrel child
This poem's been inspired by real events and has been written to make children understand the power of compassion towards animals. It is meant to encourage them to love them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I heard the crows scream out quite loud And ran outside to see, There lay on the grass in our Mumbai backyard Tiny balls of three! It was early hours, we were barely awake But...
Lockdown Diaries: Director-Producer Faraz Ansari raises funds to support transgenders and daily wage earners in the film industry
The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the worst epidemics that the world has witnessed within living memory. The lockdown imposed by governments across the world has been a huge setback for industries across the world, and for many in the busy Bollywood industry, this shutdown has spelt doom for the thousands making their living out of it. Faraz Arif...
Lockdown Diaries: Biker doc Nilay explores India on two wheels to inspire and uplift
They say "smile a while and while you smile, there will be miles and miles of smiles because you smile."Â I have taken this saying so seriously that i create smiles as a full time dentist and ride for miles on end all over the country as a hobby. So for all those who don't know me I am Dr. Nilay...
Dallas textiles firm supports US medical workers by pivoting into PPE
More than 35 million (and counting) pieces of personal protection equipment (PPE) have been shipped to hospitals, school districts, and government agencies around the country through Nextt Shield, a new division of Dallas-based textiles company Nextt Affiliated, created during the pandemic. Known worldwide for its sheets, bedding, and towels, Nextt -owned by Indian-born Arun Agarwalhas - has now pivoted to...
Lockdown Diaries: Children express themselves in the times of Corona
Children in times of Corona is one example of challenging usual pathways. It started as an idea to create an intercultural digital space that then expanded even further as a platform to co-create, co-produce creative content with children between the age of five and fifteen, mainly working with South-Asian community, nurseries and schools in United Kingdom. We understand the...
Lockdown Diaries: Apsara Reddy fights against heightened abuse and vulnerability during curfew in India
Apsara Reddy is the first trans-gender Indian politician, who has led the way and been an inspiration to thousands in the community in India and across the world. The inspirational leader was appointed the National General Secretary of All India Mahila (Women's) Congress, in January 2019 by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. The lockdown period imposed by the government of...
KASHISH 2020 to screen India’s first gay film ‘Badnam Basti’, lost and found after 49 years
Register for KASHISH 2020 at http://mumbaiqueerfest.com/attend/ Director Prem Kapoor's 'Badnam Basti', India's first gay film released in 1971, only to be lost to obscurity for around five decades, and found in a Berlin archive, will be screened at KASHISH 2020. Considered as one of first Indian films to explore same-sex relationship, Badnam Basti was made in 1971 and features a...
