You are who your Friends are!
The old adage, ‘Birds of feather flock together’ comes to mind. Almost everything in our life is given, the family, our kin, neighbours, etc. But, we have the power to...
Talking with a Phantom
Intense loneliness of a mother, pining for her son, in distant land, the USA, has been captured beautifully in this evocative verse by Sunil. Hullo! Yes…Sid? Hullo? How are you?...
Does Marriage Still Define the Life of Indian Women?
Marriage seems to be the be all and end all in a girl/woman’s life, in India. She must learn to cook, sew, wash and clean. In most houses, a daughter-in-...
A Crowded Loneliness
There are several positive things about large and extended families (read the joint family system). Often, parents-in- law snoop into the private lives of their daughters-in- law. It’s stifling and suffocating....
Understanding Women: Myths and Truths Decoded
Relationship and its rationale is the cementing force of social order. Be it an individual or community, the intra and inter personal relationship between the two is the life force...
Hope for Street Children and Other News in Pakistan this Week
It’s often asked jocularly, ‘Good news or bad news, which do you want first?’ The traditional reply is ‘good news’. This week Urooj scans through the major news in Pakistan...
To You, the Government
A protest poem by Sunita for unity against racism and the terrorist attacks going around the world. Whenever you try to curb my wings, At the point of gun or...
The Paradigm
Dating, boozing, premarital sex are the ‘in-thing’ these days. It has confused teenage girls, who have to deal with hormonal rush and peer pressures. A gynecologist, Tripti, recounts the confusion of...
The Story of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr
Fasting during Ramadan allows Muslims to seek nearness from Allah, ask forgiveness, express gratitude to him and atone for sins, among many others. It is essentially a time of...
The Partition
The partition of India is a deep gash in our collective consciousness. Millions of people from West Punjab and East Bengal were rendered homeless. There were hunger, rape, loss of human...