Stray Thoughts

I was most surprised to learn that "Unseen Passage" in the grade 12 English language question paper of DPS Noida was on the need to work with men and MenEngage Delhi Symposium. Its fabulous to see this idea mainstreamed into every day spaces.  Thank you Manaswini and Rimjhim  for spotting it, and many thanks to the examiner who set this paper. I am reproducing the text -   I couldn't have said it better. The text - "Q5 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: Patriarchy is the social idea that men are superior to women and should both control and dominate them. Throughout history this idea has fostered untold injustice ,unequal chances for education and work, endemic violence and suffering in most human societies .patriarchy privileges men ;it also damages them. Therefore, men have not just a duty but also a stake in fighting gender injustice. Patriarchy and gender injustice remain defining characteristics of societies around the world, ...

Today morning I was in a brief debate with some friends on the broad topic ‘Is reservation fair’? As you can well imagine it was a very charged conversation. Overall there seemed to be an agreement on educational support but complete disagreement on caste-based support. It is needless to say that the group involved in this conversation comprised completely of non-dalits. As we are in the ‘silly’ election season reservation was dismissed as a ‘political ploy’ of a particular party. Without going into the merits of the different point of view in that conversation, I feel that any discussion on reservation cannot happen without a more nuanced understanding of equality, diversity and disadvantage. Today the discussion on equality seems particularly relevant because the world over there are contests about who is the ‘bhumiputra’ or son of the soil. It is primarily about men because women often cannot claim any independent ownership of either property or even an idea. It’s all mediated t...