Latest posts by Aparna Ray from July, 2009
India: Chasing a solar eclipse
On July 22, we are about to witness the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. The eclipse will be visible between 5.20am to 7.40am, from within a narrow corridor spanning half the Earth. In India, the path of the eclipse will cover the cities of Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi...
India: The Moment of Truth, now in Hindi
Youth Curry watches ‘Sach ka Saamna’, the Indianised version of the American game show The Moment of Truth and realises that we are constantly hiding things, not only from others but even from ourselves.
Nepal: Incentivising widow re-marriage
In the budget for fiscal year 2009-10, the newly elected government in Nepal has proposed an incentive scheme whereby USD625 would be awarded to any groom who married a widow. This proposal has angered widows and women's groups alike, writes Bhumika Ghimire at NewsFlavor
India: The joy of vandalising public property
Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind takes a caustic view of the violent bandh that crippled Kolkata last Friday (17th July) – a day that saw free-for-all vandalism.
India: Once a teacher, always a teacher
I love life…So I Explore tells us how easy it is to spot a teacher – they are always in the teaching mode, inside the classroom and out.
Bangladesh: Stigma of the ‘D’ tag
Life As It Is holds a mirror to the rising number of divorces and examines the stigma associated with the ‘D’ tag.
India: Don't let the camera get wet!
India Travel Blog instructs photography enthusiasts how to protect their cameras in the rain.
Bangladesh: Practice of child labour
Monjuraul at Muktangan discusses[bn] the condition of child labourers in Bangladesh.
India: Family dynamics and domestic violence
Mandy Van Deven's post in The WIP analyses family dynamics and its impact on domestic violence in the context of Deepa Mehta's film ‘Heaven on Earth’.
India: No shortcuts please, this is business!
The world is not Orkut, says Harini Calamur at POV, so people will do well to mind their language – especially when it comes to business communication.
Pakistan: The power of the Fatwa
The Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) has reportedly obtained a fatwa [religious decree] from 12 senior Islamic scholars against the theft of electricity. Kalsoom at Changing Up Pakistan writes in this post how the idea of a major corporation using religious fatwas to give religious legitimacy to their cause is...
India: How History helped shape ‘Indian English’
In this post, PNH at Desicritics reflects on the impact of Indian history and culture on the English language.
India: Is divorce really the easy way out?
Aparna Singh at Ultra Violet shares her view that despite the rise in the number of divorce cases in India, a divorce is never the easy way out of a marriage – never mind what some cynics may say.
India: Of Surnames and Globalization
In this post, Vinod Joseph discusses the problem that some Indians face while trying to split/fit their names into the conventional Western format of name plus surname and wonders if, in this age of globalisation, it would not be best to do away with this kind of templatising.
Bangladesh: The art of the Nakshi Kantha
Sudipto Salam of Amarblog, draws our attention to the traditional Bengali art of the Nakshi Kantha (embroidered quilt). In this post [bn], he discusses the importance of the Nakshi Kantha, not only as a thing of beauty, but also as a reflection of socio-cultural imagery.
Pakistan: Is the proposed E-crime bill a form of Democratic Dictatorship?
Mystified Justice wonders what purpose the proposed E-crime bill will serve other than obstructing freedom of expression. She feels that it would be much more constructive if instead, the government was to focus its energy on dismantling the illegally operated, infamous,provocative and inflammatory FM radio channel broadcast by Maulana Fazlullah...
India:Vandalism of Tamil-Brahmi sites
Varnam writes about the importance of conserving the ancient Tamil-Brahmi scripts and rues the vandalism of the historical Tamil-Brahmi heritage sites.
Communicating via missed calls
Uber Desi on the recent ICT research conducted by Lirneasia.net across 6 Asian countries. The findings indicate that communicating via ‘missed call’ signals is a common way for people to save on calling costs.
