Of poetry and lockdown diaries
As a writer, raconteur and storyteller, I like to find my material, my stories in the real world. I then imbue them with a setting, a context and characters that find a voice to cut across the real and bring to life a message in my work that needs to be repeated constantly. My most recent work which came...
Community bonds over Hindu temple cemetery restoration project in Hong Kong
The capacity for people to give of themselves even in hard times is a wonder of the human spirit. Recently this was evident as a forgotten cemetery behind a Hindu temple in Hong Kong was saved by an eager crowd of volunteers. Arianne Baldesimo, a Filipino teacher who calls Hong Kong her home, has been in the Hindu Temple at...
Lockdown Diaries: Intolerance against Afghan Sikhs in a time of pandemic damned by Sikhs across the world
The world is reeling from a global coronavirus pandemic. Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, went into lockdown for three weeks, beginning on 27 March. Residents are supposed to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel. With bigger problems in the world, you might think that there would be some tolerance and understanding in these times, but clearly not. I am...
Lockdown Diaries: Respecting the anxieties of a five-year-old during the prolonged lockdown period
I am keeping lockdown diaries of my five-year-old daughter Inishka Bhattacharya for research. I talk with her to understand the tensions that she is going through during the lockdown period. All the bits shared at the bottom are her words from my COVID-19 diaries. I thought it would be good to share these as it can help other parents to...
Lockdown Diaries: Senior journalist Senthil Chengalvarayan shares a Chicken Badun recipe to impress your wife
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in massive ways. Pollution has dropped, community spirit is up, and the importance of general hygiene has been given the prominence it rightly deserves. An interesting trend that's popped up is that a lot of men, particularly in cultures where it's traditionally the woman's role to cook, have taken up cooking. They are...
Feeling Zoomed Out? – Advice for the fatigued
Do you remember when a videoconference was an infrequent occurrence - something special that you looked forward to? Whilst being locked down, video-calling gave us a way to see each other, even when we couldn't be with each other. The novelty wears thin My first few months of the pandemic were filled with virtual business meetings, virtual learning, virtual happy hour, and...
Lockdown Diaries: Ankit Bhuptani’s views on self-isolation and how our actions will define a generation
50 or 100 years from today we will not be able to talk about the year 2020 without talking about this COVID-19 pandemic. I wonder, will a teen of that time be able to believe that all the commercial planes of the world were grounded? Businesspersons, film-stars, industry leaders and other powerful people who hardly had time to eat a meal peacefully,...
KASHISH 2020: Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s Season Greetings pays homage to Rituparno, LGBTQ+ themes
For cinema connoisseurs and Rituparno fans, journalist-turned director Ram Kamal Mukherjee's Season's Greetings was a delightful 45-minutes tribute to the celebrated filmmaker with subtle references from Ghosh's films overlapping at various moments, making it an intense watch, for the first time, on Zee5, earlier this year. You can now catch the movie on 26th July 5pm Indian time as part...
Kaushalya UK’s upcoming project will share stories to empower and uplift women around the world
An upcoming anthology of women titled ‘The New Woman’ - a project lead by Ritu Sharma, is a collection of 34 stories of women who have undergone transformation through adversity, spread across five continents,. The book will be launched on 27 July. Under the umbrella of Ritu's organisation Kaushalya UK, the anthology will showcase "women who have been broken by...
Lockdown Diaries: Explore new-age Indian classical music learning with Harmoniverse
COVID-19 has brought about a massive transformation in our day-to-day lives. We are not only losing precious time, but also opportunities for exploration, creativity, and transformation, which are essential for a high standard of life. Music - a healer Amongst all the gloom, social distancing and isolation, it has once again proved that music is a healer. Communities around the world...
