Netflix’s Bulbbul is a fantastical gothic horror movie, written and directed by Anvita Dutt, also marking her directorial debut. Produced by Anushka Sharma’s production house Clean Slate Films, the movie stars Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Paoli Dam, Rahul Bose and Parambrata Chattopadhyay.

“Bulbbul” is set in 1881, erstwhile Bengal Presidency, where a child bride, Bulbbul (Tripti Dimri) is married to an aristocrat Indranil (Rahul Bose) who is much older than her. Being forced to be an obedient wife in her childhood, Bulbbul befriends with her brother in law Satya, who is almost the same age as her. Satya tells her stories of chudail (witch), with inverted feet, while Binodini (Paoli Dam), Indranil’s twin brother Mahendra’s wife, envies her for being the “badi bahu”. After a few years Satya (Avinash Tiwary) leaves for London for studies and upon his return finds everything to be changed. A series of mysterious deaths are happening in the village, which are being attributed to the chudail.

After Pari and Stree, Bulbbul adds to the list of powerful female protagonist movies with a supernatural twist. The movie can be very well described with the single phrase, “who needs a ghost, when you have patriarchy”. The strongest aspects of the movie are its actors, music and cinematography. The 19th century Bengal, its big mansions with deep secrets within them, scenes drawing parallels between Hindu mythology and the story deserve an applause. However, the use of red colour is a little too much. Rahul Bose is a brilliant actor and really stands out as both Indranil and Mahendra. Avinash Tiwary and Parambrata Chattopadhyay are well suited for Satya and Dr. Sudip’s character respectively. However, who really shines through the movie are the on screen sister in laws Tripti and Paoli. Tripti as Bulbbul has literally lived her layered character, from a good wife to a powerful woman who can take authority.

The climax could have been more thrilling, but even with a predictable climax, Bulbbul manages to keep you engaged throughout the movie. The 90 minute, folklore inspired feminist tale is streaming on Netflix and is a treat to watch.

Several months have passed since the world reported its first coronavirus case. As the pandemic spread across the globe countries have adopted measures like lockdown to stop the spread of virus. Apart from containing the disease, there are several other challenges to be dealt with. The most important among them is maintaining balance between mental and physical health.

In a survey by the Benenson Strategy Group, 55% of the respondents admitted that the coronavirus has affected their mental health. People who were already suffering from depression and were reaching out to others, have now to maintain social distancing to deal with a greater problem. Mental health practitioners say that it has gotten worse for people suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). As washing hands is being advised for maintaining hygiene, OCD patients, who were previously washing hands 20 times a day, are now doing it 50 to 100 times.

Although a large number of people are happy to be able to get relief from their tight schedules and follow their passion during the lockdown, others are being adversely affected. Just as you open social media and see people posting about things that they are doing  while staying at home, you are hit by the fear of missing out. Similarly too much information poured in as well as fake news are as dangerous as the virus itself.

Several mental health practitioners have moved online to maintain touch with people suffering from anxiety and other mental health disorders. Common recommendations for people to balance their mental and physical health are limiting the amount of information, continue exercising (of course at home), timely break from social media and staying connected with people. World Health Organisation has provided guidelines to deal with the pandemic. It is a long battle which needs a lot of patience and can be won only when we are healthy, both mentally and physically.

Pic:TOI

Ever since the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 from both the houses of parliament, there have been massive protests all over India, opposing this bill. The bill (now act) proposes to grant Indian citizenship to the religiously persecuted minorities of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh which includes Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhist, and Parsis. The act is being criticised for violating article 14 of the Indian constitution as it grants citizenship on the basis of religion.

Amidst these protests, the government has tried to assure people several times by saying that nobody needs to fear because of the act. But, there are several disparities in the act which are enough to instill fear and raise questions.

1. Why only three nations are considered?

If the act is about sheltering refugees from neighboring nations then why are countries like China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, etc. left out of the act. The Rohingyas of Myanmar are labelled as the most persecuted minorities in the world, but they have been neglected in this act. Religious persecution is a reality of almost every nation. Just like Rohingyas in Myanmar, Uighur Muslims in China and Tamils in Sri Lanka are also facing persecution. But, by picking up only Islamic countries, the BJP government as somewhat hinted that religion of persecutor matters more than the religion of persecuted.

2. Why exclude Muslims, Atheists and Jews?

Are the six religions mentioned under the act, the only communities which face religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Addressing the Lok Sabha on December 9, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “Are you saying that there can be atrocities against Muslims in Pakistan? Can there be atrocities against Muslims in Bangladesh? That can never happen!” Whether it was sheer ignorance or lack of knowledge but the Home Minister completely forgot about the atrocities faced by the Hazaras in Afghanistan, and Shias and Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan.
Abdus Salam was a great theoretical physicist and a Nobel prize winner. People desecrated his grave in Pakistan because he was an Ahmadiyya and thus considered by some people to not be a proper Muslim. There are many such incidents of atrocities on Shias, Balochs and Ahmadiyyas despite being Muslims in a Muslim majority state but, the selective humanism of the act has left them unaddressed.

3. Will it affect the Indian Muslims?

Although, Home Minister Amit Shah has reiterated it several times that the bill has nothing to do with Indian Muslims, BJP’s anti-muslim image and Amit Shah’s claim of a nationwide NRC has stirred a sense a of insecurity and fear among the Muslim community.

If a nationwide NRC happens, taking Assam NRC as an example, there will be a huge lot of people left out of it, despite being Indians, if they fail to produce the required documents or due to mistakes by the concerned officers. Now, among the people excluded from NRC the people belonging to any of the six communities mentioned under the act will try to prove that they are illegal immigrants from any of the three countries. Muslims, on the other hand will be left with no other option than making rounds of tribunals to prove their citizenship. That is why the protests against CAA are against NRC as well.

Even if don’t consider such long term consequences, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is still discriminatory towards one religion. Indian-origin Nobel Laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has slammed CAA stating that, “The point is that it makes those 200 million Muslims feel as if somehow their religion is not as valid or as Indian as the others. That’s not a good recipe for harmony. India should not be competing with Pakistan or Afghanistan.”

4. What about Assam?

The anti-CAA protests have actually erupted from the northeast states, especially Assam. However, one thing worth mentioning here is that, the reasons for protests in Northeast India are quite different from the rest of India. The people of Assam, Meghalaya and other northeastern states are opposing the infiltration of immigrants in their state, irrespective of religion of the immigrant. The Assam Movement of 1980s was aimed at identifying and expelling illegal immigrants (mostly Bangladeshi) and protect and provide constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the indigenous Assamese people. The movement ended with signing of Assam Accord and a promise of updation of NRC. The people of Assam are pro-NRC and anti-CAB. So far, the anti-CAB protests have claimed 3 lives in the northeast.

Despite such massive protests and criticism from international platforms like United Nations and Amnesty International, the bill has now become an act. People have hit the streets to protest against this unconstitutional act, and the Prime Minister has so far not uttered a single word on the issue, apart from an assurance tweet for the people of Assam. That too after shutting the internet in several districts.

Judiciary now remains the last stop for justice. Several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against CAA. Whatever be the fate of the petitions, but one thing is for sure, that by bringing such an act the Modi government has put the secular fabric of the nation in danger.

Pic: Getty Images
2nd October 2019 marked the 150th birth anniversary of the ‘Father of the Nation’, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was a leader, social activist, barrister, journalist and a true nationalist. Founder of newspapers like ‘Harijan’, ‘Young India’, and ‘Indian Opinion’, Gandhi said that “one of the objects of a newspaper is… to fearlessly expose popular defects”. It is an absolute irony that the mass line leader, the advocate of democracy and supporter of free press shared his 150th birth anniversary with the 1st death anniversary of a fierce journalist.

It has been a year since the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His remains are yet to be found. Soon after his death, due to the world outcry, prominent word leaders seemed to pressurise the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is suspected to be involved in the killing, for a fair investigation. But, now, after a year of the brutal killing of the ‘government-critic’ on, the efforts for justice have almost faded. The economic importance that Saudi Arabia holds is not letting anyone speak against the crown prince or his officials. The G20 summit, due next year, will mark huge investments in the country, while human rights organisations are fearing that “return of business as usual would mean Khashoggi died in vain“.

Death of journalists at the hands of ‘powerful’ people is not new, but is definitely at rise these days and India is not untouched by it. The quest to shut voices that are anti-government has led to the death of Gauri Lankesh in 2017 and booking of Mirzapur journalist for exposing ‘namak-roti’ mid-day meal. At such a critical time for journalism, one needs to remember the journalist Gandhi, who even faced charges of contempt for publishing a letter written by the District Judge of Ahmedabad (Mr. B. C. Kennedy) to the Registrar of the Bombay High Court, along with the comments on that letter. In his defence, Gandhi said:

I regret that I have not found it possible to accept the advice given by His Lordship the Chief Justice. Moreover, I have been unable to accept the advice because I do not consider that I have committed either a legal or a moral breach by publishing Mr. Kennedy’s letter or by commenting on the contents thereof. I am sure that this Honourable Court would not want me to tender an apology unless it be sincere and express regret for an action which I have held to be the privilege and duty of a journalist. I shall therefore cheerfully and respectfully accept the punishment that this Honourable Court may be pleased to impose upon me for the vindication of the majesty of law.

Gandhi knew the importance of press for connecting to the masses, especially regional language press. In today’s scenario, the condition of media, that is, on one hand suffering to speak fearlessly and on the other hand is ok with Prime Minister not taking any questions at the press conference, must have hurt Gandhi to the fullest. The communication lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir for two months, while prominent news organizations have become mouthpiece of government does not stand by the ethics of journalism.

Swachh Bharat is definitely a great tribute to Bapu, but ensuring a fearless environment for debate and discussion would have added more feathers to the cap.

Since the 2014 Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has spoken on the situation in Kashmir, the whole twitter is backlashing her for her comments. While some have alleged her of selective outrage, including BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, and asked her to dare to speak for the minorities in Pakistan, others took a step forward claiming that she didn’t deserve the Noble prize at first place.

Malala tweeted that she talked to people living and working in Kashmir- journalists, human rights lawyers and students. She expressed her concern over girls not being able to attend schools and also on reports of people being jailed. One may raise questions on why she haven’t spoken about sindhis in Pakistan but to slam her for showing concern for people of Kashmir is simply not fair. This trend of shuting people by asking ‘where were you then?’, is not not letting issues to be acknowledged. Indian shooter Heena Sidhu, somewhat reminding Malala of situation in Pakistan, tweeted “Ok so you propose handing over Kashmir to Pakistan because over there girls like yourself have had tooooo good of an education that you nearly lost your life and ran away from your country never to return. Why dont you show us by going back to Pakistan first??”. Heena must have misread Malala’s tweet because she didn’t ask Indian government to hand over Kashmir to Pakistan, instead she asked United Nations to work for peace in Kashmir.

There is need to listen to each and every voice, whether it belongs to minorities of India, Pakistan or United States. We must not forget that she had stood up against the extremities in her own country for the rights of girls. It takes far more courage to take a bullet on head than trending #shameonmalala on Twitter.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton