Writing about travel, culture, geek stuff, and more!
I was in Amritsar in January 2018 with my cousin, and while researching the many activities that we wanted to undertake, visiting the Wagah Border and witnessing the flag ceremony between India and Pakistan was something she definitely wanted to do, and I thought, 'Well why not?'. While hunting around for the best way to … Continue reading Visiting the Wagah Border from Amritsar, India
Book: One & A Half Wife Author: Meghna Pant Excerpt: "It was as if immigrants transported the soul of their culture to the skeleton of another culture, and then plastered the former so it couldn't come in contact with the host culture." ----------------- There was something else I identified with, and laughed at a bit. … Continue reading What I’m reading #3
I kissed her cold, clammy cheek as tears rolled down mine. The room was filled with deathly silence interspersed with bursts of noisy tears from some. As the calming music played on softly, my grandmother lay cold and lifeless on the floor. And I was with her when she died. Going without sleep for almost 44 … Continue reading I was with her when she died…
Sampat Pal Devi of the gulabi In March, the Indian upper parliament passed a historic affirmative-action bill. If approved by the lower house, the law would reserve 33 percent of all parliamentary seats for women. You might think this would be well-received by rural women in India. But they long ago gave up on the … Continue reading The women’s gangs of India. – By Amana Fontanella-Khan – Slate Magazine
I know people who got married when they were 18 or 19 years old. And I considered that too young. But getting married at 18 or 19 is absolutely nothing comparison to children as young as 10 or 11 being thrust into a state of wedlock. When I read this article in the Global Post … Continue reading Yet another bane: Child Marriage
Search for 'Voltaire' on my blog. Go on. It will now show up in three posts. I really must stop quoting him. Well, not him exactly. The quote which actually comes from The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S.G. Tallentyre is so apt, how can I not use … Continue reading The Freedom Express
Many years ago, the mailboxes of a television network crashed. Newspapers were writing of the tragedy of someone's death. People were in tears. Why? Because a character on a television soap died (eventually the makers of the series had to bring the character 'back to life' under immense public pressure). The power of television in … Continue reading Soaps of our Indian lives
As is my wont to ask random questions, I once put forth this query to someone I knew: "What is your take on honour killings? He replied: "I think it's acceptable under some circumstances." I was - and still am - aghast that an educated person could think that a ritual as barbaric as honour … Continue reading Honour (?) in the modern world
Every morning, I'm on my Chrome 4.1 browser checking my many email accounts (of which I have 7. Or 8. I can never remember), looking at my Twitter feed on Seesmic and Skype-ing away simultaneously. All this before my breakfast, mind you. Yet some people haven't even seen a computer, forget knowing what a 'trending … Continue reading Bridging the Digital Divide
July 2003: I was 16 and for the most part, ungainly and awkward. I had volunteered to assist the school librarian during the summer vacation to re-organize stacks of books in the library. My trade-off was getting books to read. One day, I took a shortcut on my walk home which meant passing through a … Continue reading Of Pink Pants and Eve-Teasing
Devina Divecha's Journals 