SCARLET SCARF

In the Spirit of Boxing Day! (BOXING DAY TEST MATCH BETWEEN AUSTRALIA vs INDIA FROM 26 DECEMBER TO 30 DECEMBER 2014) By Disha Mashelkar After a straight two match loss at Adelaide and Gabba (Australia) it is now a do or die situation for Team India at Melbourne (to save the series). With the Christmas celebrations on in Australia, it will be interesting to see the presence of enthusiastic spectators (Boxing Day) and an array of performance from both the teams. (As Ryan Harris and Joe Burns makes a place in Australian team and the likelihood of play by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Suresh Raina.) This test match is important from the Indian fans perspective as it will decide India’s fate in this ‘Border-Gavaskar’ trophy; whether India will continue holding it or handing it over to Australia. This series has always been special to the hearts of every Indian cricket fan as it has given some resonant records in our favour. To mention a few, Sachin Tendulkar became the lea

Cold shoulder to Sporting spirit By Disha Mashelkar Sports reflect social values that can extend from individual values like discipline, asceticism and self- control to collective values like the belief in effort and productivity, the advantage of competition and of following the logic of capitalism-the survival of the fittest.  They act as unifying forces and strong factors of socialization, improving the social acceptance of athletes and their fans. Sports can also support social and cultural identities and the construction of national identities. There was a time when people used to give examples of carrying sportsmanship spirit in any sector of life, whenever one faces competition. But looks like the trends are taking a gory turn! Indian Television, Print and online media levies great importance to the coverage of Cricket. Although Hockey, is India’s national sport we hardly switch to watch it or buy match tickets to go and watch it live in the stadium; unless

Shoddy Mobile Cab By Disha Mashelkar It is yet another rape case in Delhi which has raised vociferous furore of the local Delhi-ites! The gory visuals of December 2012 are reminiscent round about, as the ‘rapist’ beat up the 27 year old woman and allegedly raped her on Friday night in Delhi. According to newspaper reports, she was working in Gurgaon’s finance company and after finishing her shift at 7PM had gone out with her friends. Her friend dropped her for a few miles and later she decided to book a mobile cab (Uber) from her mobile phone to reach home.  But to her misfortune the driver beat her up and raped her! The victim approached the police station on early Saturday morning. Police couldn’t trace the culprit immediately as there was no contact number or e-mail address for ‘Uber’ on its web pages, portals and blogs. After downloading the mobile application and booking the cab, the police asked the driver to take him to the company headquarters. There he found ou

KISS OF FREEDOM  By: Disha Mashelkar The picture is used only as a representation Moral policing and Indian- patriarchy society’s values are seen embarking their fiefdom in our country once again! Nearly 100 of youngsters hugged and kissed at Kerala’s Marine Drive, to mark their protest against the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activist’s act of vandalism, against a restaurant in Kozhikode (Kerala) on the argument that boys and girls are frequenting it to hug and kiss. As the events at the Marine Drive unfolded, a post on the “Kiss of Love” campaign Facebook page read: “Love is put behind bars while hatred roams freely.” The incident continued to meet with arrests and thousands of activists of Shiv-Sena, Bajrang Dal and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and conservative Muslim political outfits such the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Sunni Yuvajana Sanghom (SYS), besides district-level workers of the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU), the

Beauty hand-cuffed by Beast by: Disha Mashelkar When Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), India’s leading educational hubs; Vice-chancellor was quoted saying that girl students had been denied access to the Maulana Azad library because “boys will flood the library if girls are allowed and there isn’t enough space” it sparked a cacophony of arguments in the media. Voices from leading News channels questioned on the freedom Indian women enjoys in the 21 st century.  The very day, the news found ranting was the failure of sterilisation of women in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh which killed 8 of them. (11 November 2014)  Two different news stories with one victim! ‘Women’ The unwanted shackles placed on women by the Indian society are not ready to douse the flames of injustice caused at them time and again. The morning newspapers are flooded with news items ranging from domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, molestation and many draconian crimes that gnaw at women.  Rape and Sexua

When your pet bids the final goodbye…   It was month of June when I had first entered the premises of Ranade Institue. A black coloured Pomeranian dog caught my attention. He was lying in the college corridor and it was visible that, he was in a sleepy mood. I don’t have pets in my house and nor do my parents encourage to have one. Hence fear of dog bite was always there in my mind. I was scared to pass from that corridor where ‘Whacky’ (Pomeranian dog’s name) was sleeping. I feared, he might bark at me as I was a stranger to him. I don’t remember how and when I fell in love with Whacky. Whether it was his style of escorting me and my friend as and when we entered the college campus or his innocent eyes; that kept me mesmerized. Whacky used to always come running with me during the lunch break. He used to love to feed on Chapati’s (Soft wheat flour baked bread) and Ramesh Bhaia’s( name of the college canteen owner) biscuits. He was an adorable pet of my institute. Some used to

My first visit to New Delhi was a fantastic experience. I had never been to the National capital before in my lifetime. When the official study tour was over, the last day was given for students to decide on their own where they would like to go. Finally, eight students decided to see the places nearby Delhi, i.e. Fatepur Sikri and Agra’s Taj Mahal which are located in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Leaving early morning at 6am, a group of 8 people along with the car driver left Delhi, to cherish the sightseeing of Uttar Pradesh. The first place we visited was Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar named the city, Fatehabad, with Fateh, a word of Arabic origin in Persian, meaning "victorious" it was later called Fatehpur Sikri. Here we saw, Buland Darwaza, Jama Masjid and Tomb of Salim Chisti. This was my first time inside the tomb inside which, there was a ‘Dargah’ (a Muslim place of worship). Cladding my head with a scarf and washing my feet and hand before entering it gave me a sense of

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Time Today, time has become an important factor. We hear people crying out phrases like,’ they just don’t have time’ or rather ‘can’t make time for’ and this goes on. But in reality time is intangible. You cannot control it, hold it and neither can afford to waste it. But the irony is that it still exists and monitors our movement every day. There are many incidences to narrate about time and my failure towards it. But one such incident which occurred with me, in relation with time and which reminded me of the awareness I have towards punctuality, was in the month of December 2014. My internship was going on with The Indian Express, Pune office and I had to attend one general seminar cum meeting organised by a local- socially active group. Generally, most of the reporters reach on the right time allotted or sometimes a little late depending on the importance of the story.   The programme was scheduled at 2pm but I had made it a generous 1 hour early by reaching sharp at 1p

Hi friends, I finally made up my mind to write my blog and express myself. I was thinking of writing my blog for past several months, but finally that day has dawned upon me. Through my blog ‘Scarlet Scarf’ I wish to express my views on issues affecting our day to day life. Being a journalist I am always taught in college to write on current affairs related to Politics, Economics, Sports and Entertainment. Apart from these topics, I feel there are lots of issues to be written about which are related to our life. Such topics may lack a perfect definition, but they do bother us in some or the other way. I shall express myself sometimes through poems too, as I love to compose poems. If there are any suggestions from you, they’re always welcome. I would like to have your feedback on my articles uploaded. Scarlet Scarf is my way of expressing my views and myself!