Darshana Saikia

It was the year 2018. Two young men had gone for a trip to Kangthilango, Karbi Anglong. On their way back they were stopped by some villagers and were thrashed brutally- apparently there were speculations that they were child-lifters. Nilotpal Das and Abhijeet Nath , were killed mercilessly only because of a rumour and not one soul cared enough to justify it first. A battle for justice followed all over and an example was set. Apparently. Two years later, a vegetable vendor hit a vehicle with his bicycle. It was totally an accident but Sanatan Deka  had to pay for the minor dent with his life. Two of the five accused were arrested. But the question is- till when? It won't be long before another innocent soul loses his/her life. Protests will follow. There'll be candlelit vigil. It will take years to deliver total justice and by then, everyone will forget everything. Everyone apart from the family the victim left behind, crippled for life. Such swarm of people think...

The term feminism  is used to describe a political, cultural or economic movement to establish equal rights for women. It is concerned with gender inequality.  Simone de Beauvoir , you all must have definitely heard about her, wrote- The first time we see a woman take up her pen in defense of her sex was Christine de Pizan who wrote Epistre au dieu d'amours,  in the 15th century. "Feminism" came in waves. The first wave was mainly concerned with women's right to vote. The second one was associated with women's liberation movement in the 1960s. The third wave is the continuation and a reaction to the failures of the second wave. Feminism, as a concept, is understood by all educated men, but as it seems now, they are hanging by a very thin thread. One thing goes wrong, even by accident, and "pseudo-feminists" come to play.  Before starting, I'll be very clear- I am not against feminism. The real problem starts when people begin to misuse th...

The British raj , also known as Crown Rule in India, was the rule of the British in India during the period 1858-1947. Before 1858, India was ruled by the British East India Company, who came for trade. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (also known as Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny and the Great Rebellion), power was transferred from the Company to the British crown. The subsequent developments since then, formation of the Indian National Congress , arrival of great leaders and the befall of the Raj- we all have known it and studied about it in school.  Have you ever pondered, "what if the British never invaded India"? Would India have been more developed or was it a blessing in disguise? The Hypothesis We are now living in the post-independence era. What if India was never colonized by the British in the first place? Will the scenario be same? It is a hypothetical question and each of us may have a different answer. Is it even possible? This is not an impossibl...

Life can be downright difficult at times, as it is now, and it is not going to get easy so soon. I am not going to sugarcoat anything or write about "happily ever afters", I am starting with the blatant truth. I won't offend anyone by saying I know what they are going through, because I don't. Everyone is fighting their own fights, everyone is struggling in one way or the other and nobody in the world can exactly feel what somebody else is going through. We might be dealing in the same hell, but we are dealing with different demons.  The biggest demon for a greater number of people right now is the COVID-19 pandemic. It has impacted all of us in some way and it is going to impact us more. It is a landscape scale crisis: owing to its massive scale and sheer unpredictability. Things are not going to be the same and if we don't plan for it, we are planning to fail. The first step towards dealing with any crisis, big or small, is recognition . We have to r...