Archive for the Category ◊ Now in Print ◊

19 Aug 2010 Now in Print: Elle
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I have an article in this month’s issue of Elle’s Indian edition titled “A Bitter Pill.”

By the end of the day today, more than 100 million women around the world will have taken a birth control pill. It’s completely possible that you know not one of them. While the pill has brought sexual freedom and choices to the Wet, its acceptance in India has been dismal. The birth control pill is the preferred form of contraeption in the West, but in India, only about three per cent of women use it, according to the National Family Health Survey.

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Check it out if you get a chance.

04 Jul 2010 Now in Print
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My latest story “A plane crash, a fake passport and a slew of questions,” is up on GlobalPost.

When an Air India Express flight from Dubai overshot the runway in Mangalore, India, and burst into flames, killing 158 passengers and crew, the Indian press was abuzz with stories about airline safety, the national carrier’s recent troubles and its many mistakes.

But as names and passport numbers of the dead flashed on television screens across the country, another scandal was about to be exposed: That of a fake passport racket.

Read it here.

10 Jun 2010 Now in Print: Elle
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Just another quick interruption in your day. Don’t mind me, I’m being super productive this month.

My piece, “This Time It’s Female” appears in this month’s issue of Elle, India. I write about how, for centuries, the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have been told from a male perspective, and how a new generation of modern feminist women are changing that.

The stories fascinated me with their entertaining twists and turns, the melodrama and the complex characters. But even as a child, it occurred to me that while the men seemed well-portrayed in both the epics, the motivations and the thoughts of the women weren’t as readily available. What went through Sita’s mind as she went through trial after trial? Why didn’t her sister Urmila accompany her husband, too? Did Gandhari ever want to throw off that blindfold that she had so willingly taken?

Half of each of these stories has seemed to be missing. Until now. In the last five years, an overwhelming number of women are questioning the epics and the female role in them. Twenty years after I first started questioning, I’m beginning to find some answers.

As always, this piece isn’t online, but the issue is now out on stands.

09 Jun 2010 Now in Print: GlobalPost
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I have a story on GlobalPost about the Church of Scientology and its operations in India.

Ironically, however, in a country overcrowded with religions and beliefs, Scientology has taken a different approach: it’s being taught as a business tool. With 19 “technologies,” each focusing on a different area of life, Scientology courses give advice on business, disaster management, communication, the art of selling, even marriage and family. Scientologists, while not offering a direct explanation of what exactly these technologies entail, claim to have the best how-to manuals you’ll ever need.

Branches are called “Churches of Scientology” in the West, but in India the words church and mission are curiously missing.

You can read the full story here.

02 Jun 2010 Now in Print

My piece for the International Herald Tribune, India Could Be Next Big Destination for Gay Tourists, is in the June 1 edition.

ETA: I’ve also just been told that it was in the New York Times earlier this week. Yay.

27 May 2010 Also in Print
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This piece for the Christian Science Monitor.

Bad loan? India firm sends in the women.