The swag machines

It’s not just tycoons and celebrities who drive luxury cars — the upper middle class is buying second-hand vehicles as if to the manor born The middle class in India is driven by aspirations, not ideology. Big cars are regarded as symbols of wellbeing, the bigger the better. A car is not merely a mode […]

Treasures from the valley

For the past few weeks, Kashmiris have faced unprecedented backlash in the country. Patriot meets craftsmen in Delhi who try and continue their work amidst the cloud that hangs As someone who has been to Kashmir as a young college student on an assignment to understand and document the lives of craftsmen there, I can […]

Misconceptions

Men’s reluctance to use contraception has pushed women into opting for measures that are injurious to health, despite rising levels of education “There are times when I’ve told my husband to get sterilised. I have already had two surgeries for our babies, I don’t want another surgery”. But 33-year-old Reena Lal’s* husband, has given her […]

It happens every month

It’s high time we stopped treating the topic of menstruation as a taboo in front of men, and stopped keeping napkins under wraps I was nervous, but still proceeded towards the medicine shop. It was full of men — not a single woman was present. I left behind all my hesitations and finally asked for […]

Killing it in a man’s world

To celebrate international Women’s Day, this entire edition is devoted to the women who are breaking new ground, refusing to be confined to the stereotypical roles Playing with fire SHUBHAM BHATIA When Taniya Sanyal from Kolkata was doing her Master’s in botany, she had no idea that one day she would become the first woman […]

Period: Start of a journey

After the documentary Period: End of Sentence won an Oscar, Patriot visits Kathikeda village to find a lot has changed for its women About 100 km from the city of Delhi, in a small district called Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, there’s a small village called Kathikheda. Over the past few days, visitors have been pouring […]

Single, not alone!

Many women want to charter their own life without the support of men. It’s not limiting but liberating Single in the city, more than 50 years of age — some may be tempted to think she’s in a deplorable condition. That’s not true for so many women. Byron Katie, an American writer who teaches a […]

Sexism still rages

The powerful women in politics are not immune to sexism — Priyanka Gandhi and Smriti Irani seem to be the pet targets There are glaring contradictions in the narrative of those who claim to be torch-bearers of liberal ideas. One of the aspects of liberal discourse is to deal with issues without getting personal about […]