POLICY CENTRE AND GENDER LAB

 Introduction The “Bell Jar” is a novel written by American poet, novelist, and short-story writer Sylvia Plath. It’s a semi - autobiographical novel in which the names of the characters and places have been altered. It was published in January 1963, one month before she died by suicide (asphyxiation). The first time it was published under the pen name, "Victoria Lucas", and then posthumously ,in 1966, under the author's real name. The book revolves around the story of a young woman, Esther Greenwood, who has been highly ambitious since childhood and wants to become a poet. Plath has poured her own life experiences and the protagonist in the novel has been inspired by Plath's character. The book describes the mental breakdown of the protagonist and her eventual recovery towards the end of the novel. It is based on madness and sanity. The title of the book, "The Bell Jar", denotes the suffocation of the protagonist because she constantly feels caged inside an...

 Crimson of shame, sometimes peered through my school salwar, when the bodice of a pubescent twelve-year-old me, became a thing of gawking, at last. Translucent white, so obstinate, to make things transparent and vile. A cotton dupatta was no relief as it failed to obscure the skin, which even my innerwear didn’t care to conceal. The two thick oily braids of mine also became a part of the struggle, trying to hide, the white straps which mustn’t look so daringly, at “them”. Them, who were suddenly interested in sitting behind us in the hopes of adding color to their dark fantasies. Source-Pinterest By- Bifng Vaguely aware of this, as my brothers often warned me in hints I began lamenting winter days, when the blazers became my only mates. An obnoxious rangoli, long remains a source of consternation for me, crammed with the color black in it same as their intentions about my long skirt. Which, then exposed a bit of what was beneath it while I was ludicrous and busy with what I should...

Source- Pinterest By- Dribble Ignite flames of faith in times of despair Give a needy your helping hand of care Strive for the pleasant and fear-free air Carry the hope of good old days in prayers Greet everyone with a merry smile you wear Let our unfailing efforts not blind us by glare Pay respect to the Covid warriors full of dare Make this pandemic less hard for 'em to bear To sow the seeds of generosity in our hearts Spring arrives with love to heal our scars By- Eshita Nirwan

DEBATE COMPETITION This house believes that sex work should be legalised . DEBATE BEGINS AT 6:00 PM RULES 1. There will be 2 debators for each slot. (4 in total) 2. Each slot will be divided in minutes. (P denotes Participant) FORMAT 0:05 minutes- P1- Overview FOR the motion . Word limit- 100-150 words 0:10 minutes- P2- Overview AGAINST the motion . Word limit- 100-150 words 0:30 minutes- P1- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words 0:50 minutes- P2- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words 01:00 hour- P1- Conclusory stance (300 words) 01:10 minutes- P2- Conclusory stance (300 words) 3. Each participant will make 3 comments in total. Every comment must start with  (NAME, FOR/AGAINST). 4. Participants will be judged on the following criteria: A. Fluency of words / Style of writing B. Strength of arguments / Backhand of research C. Adherence to the word limit D. Interactive tone E. Adherence to the time limit 5. Anonymity is not permitted. The participants must use their register...

  DEBATE COMPETITION  This house believes that household work should not be paid. DEBATE BEGINS AT 7:00 PM RULES 1. There will be 2 debators for each slot. (4 in total) 2. Each slot will be divided in minutes. (P denotes Participant) FORMAT 0:05 minutes- P1- Overview FOR the motion . Word limit- 100-150 words 0:10 minutes- P2- Overview AGAINST the motion . Word limit- 100-150 words 0:30 minutes- P1- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words 0:50 minutes- P2- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words 01:00 hour- P1- Conclusory stance (300 words) 01:10 minutes- P2- Conclusory stance (300 words) 3. Each participant will make 3 comments in total. Every comment must start with  (NAME, FOR/AGAINST) . 4. Participants will be judged on the following criteria: A. Fluency of words/ Style of writing B. Strength of arguments / Backhand of research C. Adherence to the word limit D. Interactive tone E. Adherence to the time limit 5. Anonymity is not permitted. The participants must...

30 WORDS STORY WRITING COMPETITION   THEME- ' A WOMAN IN BUS' RULES: 1. You can submit a story or a snippet word limit- 30 words . 2. Story/snippet should be strictly original and only in English . 3. The entry should not contain any obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit,  hate inciting, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. 4. Anonymity is not permitted. The participant should use their registered name and mail id to submit their response. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: 1. Theme for the competition is - 'A WOMAN IN BUS' . Your story/snippet should revolve around this given theme. 2. Type your entry in the comment section . 3. One participant can only submit one entry . 4. A time window of 40 minutes will be given to submit your entries in the comment section after which no entry will be entertained. 5. Deadline for receiving entries is 4th Feb, 2:40pm . CRITERIA FOR WINNER: 1. Entry should fulfill all the terms and conditions of the competition ...

Source- Unsplash By- M.  When your gaze was settling firmly on my chest as I walked into the corridors  And, I hurriedly ignored as I tried to squirm my body out of your line of gaze. Or I freeze. When you tried to push yourself onto me inside a cab,  When I found you groping me on the trains and buses, When you 'accidentally on purpose' brushed up against me, When you voluntarily stood in my way, physically blocking my movements When you made sexually offensive gestures, When you paid excessive attention, staring at my body up and down, When you inappropriately touched my private parts in the crowd, And followed me around. I was in disbelief and felt so numb. I felt as if it was my fault. Embarrassed me felt so weak and dirty; Helpless me felt gross, confused, and uneasy; Your 'unwelcomed touch' left me uncomfortable, demoralised, and intimidated. My silence or lack of protest doesn’t mean my consent.  I still re-live, re-experience those unpleasant memories over an...

 Constitution Order 2019 came at a time when all hopes and ideas of ushering a new era of peace and progress in Kashmir (which is believed to be heaven on earth but is afflicted by terror, turbulence and torment) started to fade away. The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order,2019 took away the special status conferred to J&K by Article 370. Before one dive deep into the impacts and vision of this order, it is crucial to know the backdrops of it. It is a well-known fact that Article 370 of the Indian Constitution conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Only two articles could apply to J&K: Article 1, which defines India, and Article 370 itself, which provided that other provisions of the Indian Constitution can apply to J&K “subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify”, and with the concurrence of the state government. The state’s residents lived under a separate set of laws such as those related to citizensh...

 On Dec 12, 2019 the draft of the already contested Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha and what followed this, was to make headlines for the next couple of months- the nationwide anti-CAA protests. Perhaps an important aspect here, is to analyze how it not only stirred mass dissent but also changed its face. Newspapers, TV journalists were struck by one peculiar aspect of these protests, i.e., their collective feminine leadership, challenging the typical ‘feminine’ itself.  The days following Dec 12 saw popular mobilization in Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia and UP’s Aligarh Muslim University. The protests then were in their nascent stage which changed after the police crackdown in Jamia on Dec 14. A group of women on the following day sat on an indefinite strike in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, an area near Jamia college. Since a number of students studying in the University are from the same locality, many see the Shaheen Bagh sit-in as the spillover of outrage over po...

Before I begin, let me narrate an incident to set the context.  A few days ago, I visited a friend of mine -a married friend- who wasn’t even able to take out just ten minutes to come and chat with me as she was busy doing her household chores that she apparently “ loved doing ”. Interestingly, even after ‘donating’ herself, her health as well as her time to her home and her family, all that she gets in return are the gibes of doing "nothing" the entire day. This is very intriguing for a country like India where approximately 160 million women are considered to have ‘household work’ as their main occupation, according to the 2011 Census of India.  Are all these women who work hard day and night, cook for their families, clean their houses, nurture their children etc. then doing nothing?  The answer to this question is known to everyone. The housework done by a woman for her family has never been put under the category of ‘work’, instead it is simply considered to be a “d...