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The director-producer duo of Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar are a formidable team. They have produced a body of socially relevant content in both films as well as OTT streaming platforms.  This time they put their heft behind a solid web series that takes a long, hard look at class divide, caste discrimination, female oppression, misogyny, sexual abuse, and serial killing. Kagti co-directs this amazing series with Ruchika Oberoi. The setting is in rustic Rajasthan, in the small, fictitious town of Mandawa, where folks moan the birth of a female child, and wait for someone to take the girl off their hands as soon as she grows up. Girls are worse than cattle here, they are just burdens, plain and simple. Image source: Wikipedia Into this sordid scenario, comes a respectable college professor with a roving eye and a twisted mental make-up. The stage is set for a series of cleverly staged, carefully planned, meticulously carried out series of cold-blooded murders.  Yet, such is the s...

June 5 was World Environment Day. The world and its cousin pontificated at length on the need to save the earth. Everyone planted saplings, made token gestures, and vowed reduce carbon footprints with missionary zeal.  Today, its back to business. Vehicles spewing toxic fumes on the roads. ACs running all day and night, guzzling power. Plastic wrappers strewn on roads, choking drains and waterbodies. Use and throw bottles and containers being used without a second thought. Tons of wrapping paper and packaging used for e-commerce deliveries binned after opening. Waterbodies and green patches getting filled up to accommodate the bulging urban population. Trees and woods being wiped out to quench our requirements and greed. So, what use is celebrating a single day for thinking about our home - mother earth? At the end of the day, we humans think only of our own comfort and utility. Why bother about how things will be 20 years from now? Why think about other organisms sharing the earth...

The story up till now: The stunning model, the confident, gorgeous Maya is hurting from a bad heartbreak. She is a self -made woman, whom life has made tough and resilient. But this disaster in love has made her vulnerable and fragile. She is acutely aware of her loneliness.  Nursing a broken heart, she is moping around in the house. Part 2 Intruder Thunder struck with a vengeance and the glass windows rattled. Suddenly she jumped out of her skin hearing a thud outside. She couldn’t make out anything in the darkness outside. Dismissing it as something that had fallen over in the storm, she sprawled on the sofa with a drink. Another crash outside. Shivering, Maya went across to draw the curtains, and then her eye caught a movement in the lightning. Someone was crouching outside! A wave of fear went over her. An intruder! Who was it? There was nobody in the house as her cook cum housekeeper was on leave today. Maya steeled herself, took a torchlight and opened the door. Y...

⛔⛔❓❔ Rohan walked into the room full of people, and paused. He was suddenly blank - what had he come here for? Meenu couldn't recall the name of the shopping mall they used to visit a year back. She thought and thought, but the name wouldn't come to her. The boss was shouting at poor Jatin again. He had forgotten to make the entries in the system - a work his boss had reminded him the day before as very important. Zakir brought the groceries and put them on the table. Saira was dismayed that half the things she had asked for were missing! Is this something from your life? Are you forgetting things, or struggling to recall simple tasks or information? Do you feel confused or fuzzy when asked to remember something simple that you simply can't put your finger at? As you grow in years, your memory power starts dwindling. However, in today's times, one can become forgetful or unmindful even in their twenties.  You guessed right! Being on the smartphone most of the time, scro...

The hoopla for Mother's Day is on in full swing this weekend. Mothers are this, mothers are that, love your mom, gift her this, take her out for a meal, cook for her, gift her a vacation, and so on. So many ads praising and eulogizing mothers, their role in our lives, their sacrifice, their contributions etc. etc. Then the offers of 20% off to mothers on everything ranging from dining, to apparel, to beauty products and spa sessions, from jewellery to even investment schemes! Anyone pause to think what mothers are actually like? How about just considering mothers ordinary human beings, capable of making mistakes, falling, getting tired, irritated, crabby?  Imperfect mothers/Ordinary mothers How about a screaming, messy, imperfect woman, on whom motherhood was thrust, and who is now responsible for another human being against her wishes? Who wants to give everything up and just run away? Did she ask for the glory of motherhood?` What about a mother struggling with indiscipline, rude...

My first book of fiction 👆 Here is the latest glowing review from book reviewer Diti Shah: The book was like a breeze of fresh air. I could, personally, relate to so many stories and the ease of reading was the major plus. This means, I would be recommending the book to many beginners & those struggling with ‘what to read’. This book would definitely get you back on track. The first story about Amina was captivating & gives a great social message. Although I've never been to Kolkata, I really enjoyed reading about the Pandal hopping. Making a mental note to visit Kolkata especially to tick off Pandal-hopping from my bucket list. The emotions we all experienced during the pandemic and accompanying shutdown were accurately described in some accounts. The situations in the stories are certain to strike a chord with the majority of readers of all ages. The author's skillful pen has woven fragments of ordinary everyday life into the remarkable story in clear and understanda...

 (Contd.) A little longer and both would be free. His mother’s face floated in front of his mind’s eye. How she used to love and cherish him! What pride she had in her lalla! Raju didn’t realize what forced him to suddenly rise and run towards the old man. His body seemed to be doing it out of habit, but he had already started pulling the contraption back with all his strength. The old man had fainted with fright, so he couldn’t see the boy battling rain and slime to pull him out of the sliding chair into his arms. With a jerk, he yanked his crippled grand uncle out of the wheelchair. And in time too! Free of weight, it hurtled down the edge with sickening speed. Crash!! Raju was too busy nursing his uncle and bringing him back to his senses to have noticed the distant sound below him. And along with that went his chance of escaping this life of drudgery too. What had pushed him to come to his tormentor’s aid? Was it the desperation in the old man’s eyes, or had his frantic...