yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Footpaths have been in the news in recent times for more than one reason, primary being the safety of those walking on them. I am a big fan of walking, including in our towns and cities, and increasingly have encountered more and more impediments as I walk. Many a time I walk together with mumi, and I must add it is increasingly getting difficult to walk with her.   Let me share some of the innovative ways in which some of us obstruct others from walking on the footpaths - Please add other impediments and obstructions that you have come across in the comments or write to me and I will be happy to add in the text. Security Cabins and Generators - Few of us with large houses install these fixed structures on the footpaths rather than inside our compounds and ensure that not only do we encroach the footpaths but also that the fumes from the generator are meant more for eyes and throats of those on the roads than for ours. This I first encountered in Gurgaon and the blessed genera...

Title:  Shaping and Denying Education: Role of Class, Caste, and Gender Author:  Aman Madan   Illustrator:  AbiraBandhyopadhyay Publisher:  Eklavya Foundation Price: 360/- Pages: 299 License:  Creative Commons   Development Support:  Tata Trusts Education : An uneven playing field Up at Teacher Plus , July 2026.  In his latest book, author Aman Madan talks about the impact of inequalities in our society ( gender, class, and caste ) on education, the dynamic nature of these inequalities, and how societal changes in the recent decades have impacted them. The book is spread across 14 chapters, each with its own set of references. The first two chapters lay the premise, the next five focus on caste and class, the three that follow talk about gender, and the final four about government policies and intersectionality. Towards the end is a list of further readings.   Caste and class. The author talks about caste and class in a manner that is un...

T hese are times of unprecedented chao s. O ur streets are teeming with vehicles and people - few times more than the numbers they are meant to accommodate. Our refuges for the serene and tranquil in the hills are teeming with chaos - traffic jams, absence of parking spaces, water shortages, and such. The wildlife sanctuaries have weddings and music concerts in their immediate vicinity. Moving on from transport and travel to entertainment and media - our films have gotten more violent and gory, our celebrations are incomplete without the violence belted to the ear drums by the DJs, and, in an age where social media’s adverse impacts are discussed with alarming regularity, we are number 1 when it comes to viewers on youtube, messages on Whatsapp, and subscribers on facebook. Talking about numbers, the devotional congregations too are witnessing people throng in numbers not witnessed previously. And, our temples, once associated with peace, have mind bogglingly long queues - people linin...

“ Emails are a major cause of today’s problems ” - someone wiser had once told me. This was some years ago, before we went all ga-ga over social-media with our tweets and re-tweets, posts and re-posts, reels, videos and what not. I had looked at him quizzically and he had taken time to respond. Image Credits : Ribkhan / Pixabay His explanation was on these lines. During earlier times if we were angry or frustrated or disagreed vehemently with someone and wanted to convey - we would have to write a letter. Writing a letter warrants a paper, a pen, an envelope, stamps and some space at our disposal, and on occasions, it just seemed too much of an effort given the reason. Sometimes the paper, or pen, or envelope or the stamps went missing and it could also take a while to find a place to sit and write, by which time some of the anger would taper off. Sometimes it also happened that what we wrote did not appear worth sending or effective and rewriting appeared an onerous uphill task that w...

A World of Possibilities Thanks to the team at The Hindu. Published here .  Recently, a board was installed at our institution to to put up newspaper articles. The idea was to encourage students and teachers to read newspapers. Actually, to just read. We began with an open mind and four dailies. We were keen to get to know of the developments in the country and the subjects we pursued. We began by reading and rereading the newspapers, short-listing articles, pondering over them, and neatly putting them up on the boards. In course of a few weeks, we increased the board area and made it more reader-friendly. ‘ Shall we read? ’ talked of parents’ and bookstores’ efforts to increase reading. We were doing our bit here. Next came the themes. AI is extensively written about these days. We put up articles on how it reinforces gender and caste biases ( Sociology ) or even on how it discourages creativity . We also had articles on the water guzzling and carbon-footprint ( ESD ) that go into...