Zeitgeist

  How do we define a social issue or how does any issue get associated with a social tag? There are many parameters which seek to explicate and contextualize the social frame of reference. For example: When a problem confronts many individuals within a society and which can be handled only collectively When a problem reflects society’s perception of people’s personal lives. Many times, people show an attitude of unconcern or perceive it in terms of misfortunes and past  karma  (e.g. caste system, untouchability, etc). Many times, issues which are supposed to be economic in nature in the eyes of common public, also have a social connotation. One such social problem (rather socio-economic) is “Manual Scavenging”. In this article, we will analyze this issue from all these perspectives. Why do Dalits do manual scavenging? Image: Protest against Manual Scavenging/ Credit: Wikimedia Commons At first, let us look at few incidences which happened in the last few months and which ...

       The phrase ‘Unity in diversity’ relates to the idea of togetherness or integrity, despite the presence of infinite diversity in terms of religions, castes, languages etc. And from that perspective, there is no country in the world like India, which stands united under one flag by imbibing the culture of brotherhood. Apart from this one “socio-cultural identity” of being an Indian, we also have one ‘sacrosanct Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, and gave us one “legal identity”.      This day is celebrated with great pomp and show around the country and it cements our pride that we live in a country that has such a diverse glorious history and rich heritage. But, does every Indian share that pride? This article is all about answering this practical question (through the lens of flag hoisting ceremony).      The Indian Independence movement not only paved the way for the ousting of the British and colonialism, ...

     There are many things whose importance is being realised by us during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of them being the role of comedy or humour in   combating the stress   being caused by the pandemic. Laughter, as a physical reaction to human behaviour, is entwined into the fabric of our social interactions and mostly, it is derived from the monotonous life of the common man and his perception towards life.      The tragic part of this pandemic is that while we are still unable to impede the huge spike in the number of infection cases, we are also being compelled to put up with this reality alone (especially in India, where there is an element of uncertainty regarding whether we are being locked or unlocked). Being powerless, isolated and puzzled about the time scale and stride across the world of the pandemic, perhaps humour can be a sort of shared social signal of acceptance that can take command of our social interactions for a while.  ...