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: Ten-plus-year olds review animation film Sitara, make statements to stop child marriage
Sitara: Let Girls Dream, made by renowned two-time Academy and three-time Emmy Award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, is the best film we've seen in the last weeks during the Coronavirus lockdown. It is out on Netflix. As sisters aged ten and eleven, we were quite excited when our mum showed us the trailer of the movie about two sisters in the...
Lockdown Diaries: Ashish Pandya, Sukhdeep Singh, Anwesh Sahoo continue their work for LGBTQ+ communities from their homes
The coronavirus lockdown in India, that has been carrying on from 25 March, is nearly four weeks old as we go to print. While this has been quite an anxious time for everyone, the situation has been especially tough for the LGBTQ+ individuals living away from home. Their family, work, and personal lives have come to a halt, affecting...
Lockdown Diaries: A child’s perspective about managing adults during this period
Adults and parents are often the cause of a child’s confusion and irritation. This is a piece of writing to help children understand and manage adults (especially parents) better. Behavior Adult behavior is very peculiar, at least to children. The behaviors vary as much as teenagers. They can be happy, angry, tired, and the one I am most familiar with (and I’m...
Lockdown Diaries: Sumit Pawar makes the most of the lockdown, helps others keep mentally fit in isolation
The uncertain arrival of a highly unwanted guest, the COVID19 was unexpected for most people, including me. In my entire life I never thought or even had a distant nightmare of a scenario where we will have to lock ourselves inside our homes for weeks on end, like this. The beginning of the lockdown was very difficult for a...
Immunity boosting Indian soup Rasam becomes hot favourite for Covid patients in New York hospitals
At a time when the entire world is looking up to the US for a “medical miracle” to contain Covid, those in New York, New Jersey, and Princeton are betting on a South Indian staple to beat the virus — the humble 'rasam'. Behind the “viral trend”, obviously, is a chef from Tamil Nadu. The idea came during the middle...
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...
Lockdown Diaries: Restauranteur Chinten Pandya supports NHS workers and the needy with free Indian meals
Chinten Pandya, a civil engineer and restaurant owner of Desi Dhaba, had to close his businesses following the government's guidelines but he and his wife Mona have never been busier. They are using his Feb-launched restaurant to feed hundreds of NHS workers, the vulnerable and needy in the community. The Wembley-based Director of Apna Construction Ltd. has turned the restaurant...
Alka Bagri shares her excitement as LIFF’s title supporter for the seventh year
The Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) 2021 is set for it's Gala Opening Night on the 17th June in London, with a positive, power-packed documentary Women Of My Billion (WOMB); in a back-drop of a rather grim Covid scenario in India. LIFF this year is poised to premiere the very best of new indie films from the Indian subcontinent with...
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...
