On Monday, we celebrated “Raksha Bandhan” in India. It is a festival to commemorate the love and duty between sister and brother. The sister expresses her love by tying a “rakhi” or sacred thread on her brother’s wrist in return for his protection. Simultaneously, both mainstream and social media were flooded with reports about a […]
It gave me goosebumps to watch the interview where British professional tennis player, Andy Murray, quite matter of factly called out the casual sexism of the journalist who asked him his views about Sam Querrey, being “the first US player to reach a major semifinal since 2009”. Murray corrected the journalist by saying “male player” […]
Silicon Valley is in a flutter since the resignation of the Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for encouraging a toxic sexist culture in his company. Suddenly it seems as though the floodgates on sexual harassment at the workplace have been opened wide. The stories are pouring out in torrents and we cannot keep up with them, […]
Earlier this month, Manjula Devak, a 28-year-old civil engineer PhD research scholar at the prestigious India Institute of Technology (IIT) was found dead; it is believed she committed suicide. Last year in September she attempted to take her life but failed. No case was registered at the time by the police who claimed she was […]
Uber, one of the most valuable private companies in the world, has made headline news recently. Following a sexual harassment complaint by a former female employee, former US Attorney General Eric Holder conducted an internal investigation of the company. The newly released findings showed that the work culture at Uber is highly toxic and prone […]
If you are a parent, especially a parent of tweens and teens, I sincerely recommend you watch the series “13 Reasons Why” on Netflix. I recently watched it on the recommendation of a friend and was gripped for all 13 episodes. As a person who works on sexual violence prevention, it was fascinating to watch […]
Today is a landmark day because the Supreme Court of India upheld the death penalty for the four accused in the Jyoti Singh gang rape and murder case of December 2012. The accused were appealing the High Court judgement of 2013. The accused may believe they deserve a lesser punishment but not the parents of […]
It is no secret that Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records in their treatment of women and girls. So it was a bit of a shock to wake up to the news that Saudi Arabia will now be part of the United Nations Commission for the Status of Women, joining 44 […]
Over the last 10 days I was one of the facilitators of a virtual Rotary peace conference #BridgesForPeace on Zoom, moderated a session on the use of social media for social good on behalf of the US Consulate Mumbai, was named one of Top 30 women who champion feminism on social media in India and […]
Over the years I have often been asked, “Who are your role models?”. Unhesitatingly I have always responded with: my mother and Secretary Hillary R. Clinton. I choose my mother for her calm, perseverance and ability to find a solution even in the worst moments. Secretary Clinton resonates with me for her inspirational leadership and […]
.jpg)
