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Prisoner of Conscience or Conscious Prisoner?

V.P.Singh is back with a new Jan Morcha. Look at the timing. ‘Mandal 2’ is staining the streets. Is he capitalising on the wave? He says in this interview, “We are sitting on a volcano. The very backward are looking up to me. In 15 years

Leave No Grain for Tomorrow

No cross-border love story, no internet romance between an Indian and a Pakistani, can come anywhere close to what Imroz and Amrita Pritam experienced. The day I met her, she had asked, “How can one completely express the agony and ecstasy of life?&

Modi’s Men and their Mean Machines

Every illegal religious shrine ought to be demolished. Yet, I wish to know how a 200-year-old dargah of a Sufi saint qualifies as being ‘illegal’, is bulldozed and leads to mob violence. Gujarat is becoming an experimental lab for the Hindu Ra

No Ground Beneath Their Feet

They have nowhere to go. Only a mother to call their own. But even their mothers have too many men to cater too. ‘Fathers’ who keep coming in and out of the mother’s room. The biggest problem was: how do you ask a five-year-old what pros

Celebrity Courts and Kangaroo Justice

I protest against this abuse of a cause by people like Aamir Khan, for it is gimmicky and counter-productive. News channels are behaving like nautch girls and social butterflies as the nawabs of vigilance. Page 3 justice is the latest fad

Ba, Beti aur Bahu

Uma Bharti is putting on the loner act for only one reason – to save the BJP’s top rung. The real loner here is Sonia. Her godfathers are ghosts. Are both of them “mind-controlled victims”?

Kibbutz Criminals

Can we ever imagine a Jewish Mob? Can we see any identity for them beyond the rabbi, the kibbutz, the Holocaust? Can we even think about a vengeful Jew? So, has the Jewish persecution machinery been working overtime?

In the Dying Light

I do not see the dead bodies of Varanasi. It is like wanting to remember something that one has cherished as it was. I am not denying what happened, I know it is something that needs to be probed into, but I cannot get myself to even think

Love Ya, Dubya

'Do not protest against Bush,'says the Indian PM. Who is the establishment to tell us how and when to raise our voices and against what? Is there no room for going against the tide in our society?

Husain, Hinduism, Hindustan: Testing Tolerance

M. F. Husain is very much a part of the Hinduisation of India charade. He is using his canvas/temple to pay obeisance. For all this, he is put on a ‘dharmic’ pedestal by the Indian liberals as a paragon of secular virtue

Heidi Fleiss and Shahrukh Khan – Spot the Difference!

Will Heidi’s male brothel empower women? In Shahrukh’s film why does the woman submit to a ghost only when he transforms into a look-alike of her husband? Why has it now become our overarching ambition to reveal liberalism mostly through the l

The Algebra of Arundhati’s Injudiciousness

By rejecting an Indian award does Roy approve of Occidental freedom of speech versus ours? Indirectly, she is sponsored by the Western powers she opposes. The dichotomy of social consciousness is not to sleep with the enemy, but it’s okay to use its

Pervez Musharraf Ko Peace Do

If we cannot trust Musharraf, then let us be honest and upfront and tell him, “Look sir, you are a liar, a cheat, a dictator. We are a peace-loving nation; non-violence is our anthem.”

Nowhere: The Utopian Destination

Every philosopher/prophet/freedom fighter/terrorist had to break the norms. Unlike the stratified and codified democracies of the West where you are riled for snorting but not for bombing, the subcontinent has a dynamic protocol-less mutinous edge

L’affaires, Americans and Desis

Elton John prepares for a gay wedding; Tom Cruise gets Katie preggie; Victoria tells a Spanish woman to lay off her hubby…and I realise in the US I have to sound like I have returned from a massage parlour

Raj Karega Jalsaa?

Raj Thackeray became the Sena’s hitman. As sidekick he got a few brownie points and a place next to that ridiculous Maharaja chair. But he was no Birbal or Chanakya

Ouch, It ‘Stings’?

Why do journalists use easy targets? No one expects politicians, film stars, gangsters to be aboveboard. Why don’t these brave-hearts do sting operations on industrial houses, NGOs, the media?

The Invisible Editor, My Foot!

I ask you: What is professional? That you wear formal clothes, sit in a swivel chair, look important, and throw around management jargon?

Amitabh to Ayodhya

Will Amitabh Bachchan send out a request for people to stop crowding places of worship? Does Ayodhya need Rs. 54 crore to protect it?

If Robert Fisk were Rameez Farooq…

His words have the patronising tinge of the White Man’s burden. He is using Muslims and those dolts are making asses of themselves while he says it is okay. Every word that spews forth with his pork-and ale breath is considered a holy verse.

Did Imran get the money?

A signed bat by Imran started with a bid of just $500. A blue-chip celebrity, a blue-chip audience and a genuine cause were reduced in that moment of indiscretion

Brick in the Wall

I can wriggle out a Mona Lisa smile for you anyday, but don’t you feel that you are at least dealing with a person you know?

A Voice

Chowk has no nationality; it has an identity. This identity is driven by every interactor. It has no political agenda; it has several political viewpoints. It has no religion; it has faith.

The Argumentative Amartya?

He may have rejected “voodoo economics”, but he paid his taxes to America. Cambridge glorified his work because it did not have to live with the reality he spoke and continues to speak about. So, what do we preen about?

Samosey mein aloo: why not Laloo?

Dishonesty and corruption are a part of democratic politics. Laloo is upfront about both. You know where you stand with him, and you know where to place him.

Chasing bloodhounds ... Lest we Forget

Who was Simon Wiesenthal and why was he gunning after the Nazis? In his words, 'I have spent my entire life remembering and reminding the world of the consequences of indifference and silence.'

Get off her back…

We elect leaders; it is our job to tell them how they must run this country, to ask inconvenient questions. Arundhati Roy has done this effectively. Use of hyperbole and rhetoric may get the message across. It does not mean they are replacing dedication.

The Dance of the Damned

'We Dalits are like animals. The moment we are born we are on our own. There is no support system. We are constantly made aware that we are apart.'

Mercy beau-coup?

What do we know about Sarabjit Singh that we are ready to behave like beggars asking for mercy? It is now trendy to take up cross-border causes. It is political expediency and superficial bonhomie. Ordinary people should see through the game.

Through the Parsi Prism

Why don’t Parsis express their opinion on general political matters? They can truly be non-partisan representatives of minorities. But there is a feeling they want to retain the purity of their race. Chances are, they won’t be a race for long.

Fleshened Bones

It was always love for me. Let me hold you in my arms, Sister, mother, fellow bitch, I won’t applaud you for your spirit

How green is their valley?

This was not 1947. People had begun to move things. Every Kashmiri Pandit had two-three bags. They were rehabilitated within a year. Our education is our strength. You won't find a jobless Pandit. Ghar khadey kar diye eik saal mein.

When Puppets Hide Behind Pomposity

Journalism is full of the evils it accuses society of. The Press has in the past exposed leaders and even brought down governments.Ever heard about a media baron being at the receiving end?

Dance of the wolves

No part of the temple has been damaged. But the red alert has been sounded. To protect temples and other religious places. Not human beings.

Are all Women Witches?

We are witches because we read, we write, we fight. Yet it makes me angry that while the fancy witch can give tips on eternal youth and beauty, the suffering witch can still feel the revolting smell of faeces in her mouth

Bunty aur Babli: The latest RSS-BJP tango

The con-game has been going on for over a decade.Advani was the RSS’ foot soldier who did all he could in Pakistan to lay the foundation for the return of Hindutva. He followed his brief well: Create confusion and fulfil the mission of the hardliner

Tales from Behind the Bar

The bar dancers have come out in the streets to protest, some with the ends of their sarees covering their faces.I cannot imagine Pooja Devi covering her face. 'I broke a bottle and stood in front of one man's table,' she says.

The Book is also Just a Book

Forget about killing myself. I felt no anger, no hurt, no disgust when I read the Newsweek report regarding the ’desecration’ of the ’holy Quran’. The Quran is at various levels merely a symbol, and an individual one at that.

Adultery Anonymous

The Other Woman is a floozy? The Other Man is a slimeball? No. In fact, it could be you.

Soapbox Sania

Is Sania Mirza changing the impression people have of Muslims? She is doing far worse than all the veiled women put together with her hypocrisy; she makes it appear that the on-court clothes she wears is due to compulsions so god will forgive her

The Sweltering Sky

Why do I persist in standing transfixed, watching Amna, the little girl with big hands and big eyes, scrape a vessel of its shine? Why don’t I tell her to get out across the border and rot there instead of being an eyesore here?

The Dour Ascetic

An interview with Morarji Desai: 'He (Gandhiji) would not have permitted it. I, too, don't believe in these things, but since I had accepted the Pakistani award I could not refuse this one (Bharat Ratna).'

The Meera Trinity

The Pakistani Meera, Krishna’s Meera and the Mahatma’s Mira -- puppets or puppeteers?

The Criminal as Victim

I am an Indian and I think that for once America has made absolutely the right decision. If we did not believe in a farcical democracy, we should even consider revoking Narendra Modi’s citizenship of India.

Such Anais Journey!

How many of us women can accept the verdict of being the 'Madonna of St. Clitoris' or the 'Venus with an over-bite'? Anais Nin could because it was while clothed in words that she stood most naked.

Hell’s Angel

Shoaib Akhtar has already won the series for Pakistan. How our neighbour fares on the field is immaterial; it has scored its victory by keeping the bad boy away.

Desperately Seeking Dictators and Dissenters

Indians might want to celebrate the disclosure that the Pakistani leader is among the worst dicatators, but wait a minute. When was the last time we looked in the mirror? Do we truly believe the West is sparing us because we do not have problems?

Black Longings

'Will you kiss me, please?' she pleaded. Are the desires and dreams of the disabled all bleak? I had spoken to two blind people to understand their concept of love and sex.Why should their needs and emotions be any different from ours?

If Godhra did not happen…

Has the possibility of the kar sevaks being a suicide squad not occurred to anyone? Could they not have been terrorists out to create trouble?

Let’s talk to Mallika Sherawat’s Breasts

Does that reduce her in any way? Do you know of any woman who has got silicon implants to help in research or because she wants to be a well-padded mamma to her nursing infant? Was Paula Jones wrong in posing nude to support her kids?

Movie: Swades

The patriotism of a film like ‘Swades’ is worse than the jingoism we see around us. For, it posits one kind of Indian against another.

Hey JC, won’t you smile for me?

Are we ready to believe that Jesus was not of virgin birth, he did not die on the Cross, he got married and was the father of three? As a woman, I find the idea of a male prophet who is vulnerable quite tantalising.

When Vagina met Viagra

The moment he puts you in his mouth, I can feel her anticipation. And we wait. When it works they say it’s because of you, for when it doesn’t they can say the same too!

A Tale of Two NRIs

These are the legitimised ’traitors’ who are feted and fawned-upon. Many of them are not an asset to either the country they adopt or where they were born. But how do we judge Sabeer Bhatia and Vijay Mallya?

The Mystic Masseur

How is ’finishing off’ a seer the same as finishing off Hindu society? If I had my way then I would most definitely book the Kanchi Swami for murder.

Zaheera’s Jihad

Her bravery is forgotten, she is called an opportunist.Who made her into a star witness and what was the underlying agenda? Modi becomes a star symbol for the death of 2000 people, why is no one pointing fingers at him?

Deconstructing Durga

She took away the privy purses, but kept the princes; spoke of social democracy but gave a fillip to the license permit raj. She thrived on strife. Operation Bluestar was based on lies. Bhindranwale was the Osama to Indira’s Bush. She had propped hi

Grey lining, Silver cloud

Licking each other’s sweat, Our thirst quenched, Another journey we commenced

You Can’t Strip The Army

President Musharraf should seriously consider dropping his clothes. How can you discuss diplomatic ties with a man who has medals for doing undiplomatic things? This is a petty question; the important one is: Has he discovered women?

When Darcy and Lalita get laid…

The top-angle shots of the crowds with jiggling bellies and oxen bottoms clearly reveal that we have lusty Kumbh Mela mating with coitus interrupted Kama Sutra - neither reaches its ordained climax

Here’s looking at me…

When I came out of self-hypnosis I was in a sweat and the faces around me a blur. Did I imagine that we would all be transformed into aliens with laser-beam eyes and horns visible only to the ’inner circle’?

The Doll’s House

How can Hindus dare to point fingers at Muslim regressiveness when they have not been able to improve the lot of their own people?How can they talk disparagingly about Muslim ghettos when India is divided along regional, culinary, caste, status lines?

Mohammed Ali Jinnah Haazir Ho

India lost out on Jinnah and Pakistan has chosen to lose him. Anger against him in India is due to the impression that he put the germ of the lost land in the romantic’s head and a niggling suspicion in the fundamentalist’s.

In Condom Country

Shall I wear a condom tonight? Just want to play it safe. It looks good, feels snug and makes me shine. And it leaves no room for experimentation and dithering. Just go forth and conquer.

Manmohan Singh Ko Ghussa Aata Hai Kya?

Vajpayee’s ’letter’ to the PM:They are calling you the rudest prime minister ever. This is your moment of glory. Enjoy it. Do something like what I did in Goa. If you can find someone like Narendra Modi in your party, life will be

My Friend, My Enemy

Are mine bigger than yours? I hate to say this, but during the week when Karachi’s streets were supposed to be reeling under fear, I was nibbling on tidbits.

Indian Womb, Pakistani Soil

Dr. Hafsa Khan is flaunting her son as a Pakistani. If she is deported will she forgo the child? Would that child be recognised as a Pakistani? Would her husband want that child? Would she then have the right to claim him to be an Indian?

The Battered Body

He managed to accost her, rape her and even hold a conversation in which he said that he was not a bad man, he had a wife and children - this automatically seems to exonerate EVERY man.

An Open Letter to Jemima Khan

Many celebrated alliances in the West have fallen apart due to straying and jealousy. But you, Jemima, were one neat shoulder from which to fire the gun at the ‘jihadis’.

The Triple Conspiracy

On July 4, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board is likely to adopt a resolution scrapping the ’triple talaq’. Many Islamic countries, including Pakistan, do not follow the system. Even within India, there are differing opinions. But the sys

Lesbians vs. Gays vs. Hinduism vs. Modernity?

The only reason I am glad about the Girlfriend ’outing’ is because it concerns women. Lesbians have always been the secondary sex among gays. Patriarchy, even of the limp-wristed kind, still rules.

Careless Consciences

Vajpayee is invoking the inner voice. And if the Mahatma could use it, then it ought not to surprise anyone that Sonia Gandhi is resorting to it too.

Bring on The Empty Horses

They are the new face of Indian politics. The branding of democracy with a stamp of supra-populism. The marketplace where you do not need to buy masses to listen to speeches, but to purchase the glamour of fringe stars

Haraam Bombay

It wrenched my heart to see the city of my dreams and my life look like a patheticwax work. They talk about tits as though Bombay does not know about them.

The Palate’s Passionplay

A low moan is the sound of satiation, after breaking bread as well as in bed. Both food and sex make full use of our senses

Murder on Helm Street

Under the BJP regime, democracy is dying. The “Vision Document 2004” is a sure case of “mooh mein Ram, bagal mein chhooree”. It is such a sly piece of garbage.

Half a Night

...you bleed her bits and call her a bitch? Roll over, dog.

Unbinding India

“The heroes here are not the Gandhis and Nehrus but the banias…Hindutva is such an impoverished image of our past. Spirituality is only one strand. There is medicine, astronomy, mathematics.”

Paper Ciphers

That wordless little ‘sweet note’ was my first love letter. It started my affair with myself...

A Brief History of Lies?

Stephen Hawking is a respected and renowned scientist. He is also the latest tragedy king. It is said Elaine, his wife, has been rough with him. Couldn’t Hawking be kinky?

Can Pasta Become Paratha?

When we flaunt a Praveen Togadia who is shoving Hindu heritage down our throats, why must we have a problem with a woman who talks about Indian culture?Sonia Gandhi certainly has more of a right to speak on behalf of the country than the NRIs.

My SAARC Diary

The Indian journalists in Pakistan have been behaving as though they are in a mela with candy floss in their hands. Everything looks pink and rosy, or perhaps it does not, and they are merely enjoying the weather.

’Complements’ Of The Season

Will Mushy and Atal meet? So what does OBL do in a cave? What’s with the group ‘Junoon’?Whoever said you cannot eat and have your cake?

Why is Santa Not a Woman?

Have you seen him cry? Have you seen him complain and crib? Have you seen him lose his temper? Have you seen him throw a tantrum? Have you seen him get hysterical?

Broken Stones

I had forgotten that my mother was a Hindu. They had changed her name from Savita Damle to Salma Khan. To me it did not matter…Yet, I wondered whether that stone was for me or them.

Taslima’s Lies, Ismat’s Truth

Taslima Nasreen has written a book about the men she has slept with. Yet, if there is any woman who enjoys bondage, it is she. She is the candle to Ismat Chugtai’s wind.

The Great Turn-On

India and Pakistan were about to sign a joint declaration. President Pervez Musharraf got so terribly excited he had to rush in to change his clothes. By then it was all over.

Toronto Talks in Whispers

Canadian culture is open but reserved; there is a glass wall which lets you look in and look out, but not walk through.

Primetime Pope and the Maverick Mother

Can we pull up the Pope for human frailties...and what was Mother Teresa doing in a paddy field?

The Diva as Devi

Lata Mangeshkar personifies the Indian obsession with the woman on a pedestal. But, has she in any way made the Indian woman feel that power?

Shalom or Salaam

Ariel Sharon can be my guest. As Indians, we are renowned for our hospitality. The West has not yet certified him a terrorist, so he can do just as he pleases. In fact, he can even announce, “We control America”.

Just Another BLOW-UP?

The moment I saw that shiny steel box, I knew it spelled trouble. I had no idea of what it contained, but my gut feeling was that it would not be a fair report.

The Conversion Chiaroscuro

Didi became a Hindu. Long before the RSS and the Pope got into a tiff about conversions. At that time it meant nothing to me.

Who Says You Cant Buy Love?

Pleasure is his business...and he wants a “final, glorious orgasm” before he breathes his last

The Other Arabia

A woman swathed in a chador, her face sprinkled with gold dust, her eyelids an electric blue, her lips painted a sinful red, stood some distance away from another woman in a bustier that showed off cleavage

They Shoot Kashmiri Pandits, Dont They?

They say they will act as a “buffer against the export of jehad into India”. They who ran away?

Excavating India

I say, thank god for Babar, for the dear departed Mughal badshah has revealed how the purring cats are jumping on a hot tin roof.

Twilight Freedom

Who wants to be a good woman waiting patiently for breasts to sag with age and hair to grey gracefully

Who Wants Peace, BAYBEH?

Buy and sell what you saw yesterday--Even a model of a burning train.

Damn Saddam?

The last time round the Italian MP, Ilona Sthaler, had offered to sleep with him, appealing to the macho man and sadist in Saddam

Oh America!

For a society that watched the Gulf war as though it were a TV serial, why was I often told not to take pictures of people in the street?

Midnight's Knights?

Both Rushdie and Naipaul belong to the streets. They are clinging to roots they have no claims over.

The Unmaking Of Gujrat

The key players in these elections and therefore Indian polity seem like characters in a drama of the absurd.

The Lonely Road

Are dead people lonely as well?

The Perfect Murder

Taking advantage of Lone’s legacy

The Aga Khani

Since the Aga Khani does not fit a stereotype the believer cannot be recognised

The Mahatma’s Progeny

How Responsible is Gandhi for Hindutva?

Riots

Here are people afraid of their own

Memories of December 6th

Islamic terrorism. What has it got to do with India and with Uttar Pradesh?

Is Thackeray a Terrorist?

India wants the 20 terrorists from Pakistan, they should hand over Balasaheb Thackeray ...

1971: A Forgotten Story

We ‘forgot’ to ask for our men to be returned

Borders are Made of These

if I join this ideological war, the blood will only congeal in my heart

The Passion of The Pacifist

An interview with Asgharali Engineer

When the Lights Hurt the Eyes

Our superstitions are world-renowned. We feed the poor in designated months...

Cricket and the Clash of Cymbals

If you think that cricket is all about a bunch of men flourishing a phallic symbol and toying with a ball, then you are mistaken.

In Search of the Moderate Muslim

Indian society’s latest fad

Every Nightmare has a Reason

Wait a moment, please ...

A Feminist Icon: Phoolan

she was being projected as your friendly neighborhood daaku

The Indian James Bond

Why ‘Gadar’ makes a mockery of all Indo-Pak peace talks ...

Empty Journeys

Like sweat dribbling down our bodies

Making Religion Sexy

There was a time when all ecstasy was considered holy ...

The Mandir Mirage

The Babri Masjid may itself not be important to the Muslims in India, but where will this end? A Holocaust?

The Soft Option

How can we say that Pakistan is misrepresenting the term ’jehad’ with regard to Kashmir when we Indians are doing the same?

Khuda Hafiz, Kashmir?

I am a militant. According to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member ...

Farzana Versey

• Articles on Chowk: 124
• First article: Jun 29, 2000
• Latest article: May 29, 2006
• Times read on Chowk: 2501855