ambainny

Reading Indian newspapers, is a regular morning activity for most of the people I know in Delhi. It's usually read over cups of sugary milky tea with ginger and tulsi. Some of the papers, that I have been following are Indian Express The Hindu Outlook News Magazine The Times of India Some of the main issues discussed have been. Bird flu- that was found in some cases in Navapur, Maharashtra. Lots of chickens have been slaughtered, and the current price has dropped to Rs 25 for a kg of chicken. People have stopped eating chicken and eggs. Lots of shops have put up certificates by Vets, saying their chicken is bird flu free. But people are still afraid. But they are still eating mutton and fish. Jessica Lal murder case – It's been 7 years since a model was shot at point blank range for refusing to serve a drink to Manu Sharma, at a Bar filled with people. He and 8 others, all politicians’ sons were acquitted. The witnesses did not back the prosecution, either because they were fea...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Female foeticide accounts for half a million less female births in India. In a village, Nai Majra, the ratio of girl to boy children in 0-1 age group is 437:1000. In the 0-6 age group, a study done of 477 villages, in 16 of those villages, the ratio was 500:1000. The villages were in the Punjab, in the relatively prosperous Doaba belt. Foeticide is performed after a sex determination test. Punjab has a long history of aborting and often even killing new born girl children. Polyandry is often accepted because of a shortage of women. Women are shared between brothers. The burying of the girl child is often done more by land owning zamindars than common folk. The Hindu code bill that gave equal inheritance rights to women and men, lead to more girl children being killed to protect landholdings, and keep them within the family. The female to male ratio is lowest in Punjab, compared to the whole country. In 2003, the worst offenders were Punjab 776, Himachal Pradesh 803, Haryan...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Maladi The book is set in India, from 1961 until 2000. It is centered on the lives of women, and some men, in an ashram, Tella Meda, in Southern India (probably Andhra Pradesh), overlooking the Bay of Bengal. The story is about Charvi, who was pushed into the role of Goddess by her father Ramanandam. She remains reluctant about the role, and her powers throughout the book, often displaying non-God like qualities of hate, fear, anger and love. Her father Ramandandam, is a recluse, who is protective of his family but beats his son and sleeps with a much younger woman, the orphan Kokila. Chetana, the prostitute Ambika’s daughter is the same age as Kokila, and has also been adopted by the Ashram. Chetana is always trying to find a way out of the ashram, while Kokila refuses to be married and wishes to stay at Tella Meda. Chetana marries the tody drinker and womanizer, Ravi, who gets kicked out of his house for marrying a non Brahmin woman. Kokila adopts...