The Market and The Jester
With viral videos like “I Come from Two Indias”, Vir Das and other modern comedians can afford to be more biting in their attacks against the ruling class, as they don’t receive direct patronage from them. But they are now bound to the attention economy, desperately pushing for extremes instead of striving for meaningful cultural critique. By Aditi Murti
Mental Health in India: Purity, Pollution, Caste, and Mental Health
In India, our approach and understanding of mental health concerns are often further complicated by the historical weight of the caste-system and a yearning for cultural ‘purity’. By Sadaf Vidha
Selective Scarcity: A Queer Lens at India’s Health Care Imbalance
Survival in the pandemic continues to favour the powerful and privileged, while those in the margins face a scarcity and failure of the health care system. Aryan Somaiya and Sadaf Vidha confront this imbalance from a queer lens.
A Tale of Two Pandemics: COVID and Disinformation
Narratives of pseudoscience and ‘alternative’ remedies have proven to be extremely harmful during the pandemic in India. With many refusing to take the vaccine, Shefali Saldanha argues that the worst may be yet to come.
Mental Health in India: Academic Spaces as Centres of Well-Being and Resilience
After a lengthy lay-off, Indian academic institutions have begun to re-open and welcome students back to campus. In interviews with students from around the country, Sadaf Vidha explores how visible and invisible structures in academic spaces affect their mental health.
The Uncredited Authors of India’s Growth Story
90% of India’s workforce remains informal and unaccounted for. Until more of our small businesses and employment contracts are formalised, this vast majority will not have access to the rights and protections that should be afforded to all citizens. By Shefali Saldanha.
Spectacle of the Stars: A memory of magic from the night sky
Paromita Patranobish was a 13-year-old on the rooftop in Durgapur when a meteor shower changed her life, birthing a love of stargazing: ‘That night, 22 years ago, I understood the universe as a living, pulsating ecosystem… the Leonid shower had me as a witness to the power of worlds infinitely beyond my finite one.’
Mental Health in India: Gaps in mental health care for India’s LGBTQ+ community
There are no special provisions for mental health for India’s sexual minorities, considering that they are often more likely to be economically marginalised, and may need more support. Sadaf Vidha explores the gaps and possible silver linings.
An Ode to December
‘All things on earth must return to earth—humans, too.’ From schoolboy cardigans to his muted Christmas merriment, Ronald Tuhin D’Rozario’s personal essay explores frozen memories of the past and lamentations of the present.
Mental Health in India: Religion and mental health distress
Historically, religion has had a complicated role in serving as an alternative to therapy. Sadaf Vidah explores the opportunities and challenges from both Indian and Western religious traditions in regards to mental health.
India’s Prevention Paradox
COVID-19 has again put the failures of our health care system in the spotlight. Shefali Saldanha argues that an overhaul should bring to the forefront the conversation about preventing sickness, before treating the survivors of our failed health policy.
Mental Health in India: Capitalism, Productivity and Mental Health Distress
How a for-profit society creates not just joblessness, productivity cults, and work anxiety, but also other forms of inequality, leading to a mental health crisis in the country. - By Sadaf Vidah