Reeling Tales

Now feminism or women empowerment was so far limited only to the point of denigrating Hinduism and calling certain Hindu practices wrong or outdated. In the name of being intellectual, if you call certain Hindu beliefs or customs wrong, then you are considered a feminist.  And for this, so-called intellectuals like Dia Mirza were active and so you get statements or advertisements from these celebrities which highlight their perspective of wrongdoings only in Hinduism. For example, in one interview, Dia Mirza explained why her family stopped the practice of Kanyadaan.  Even Alia Bhatt was once a part of an advertisement which tried to demean the practice of Kanyadaan. But recently, Radhika Merchant Ambani has shown them a mirror by highlighting how, in Hindu tradition, even some gods are popularly identified through the names of their mothers, reflecting the respect shown to motherhood and women. And this is quite true.  Even the countless names like Sita-Ram and Radha-Kri...

On International Yoga Day, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  senior Union ministers, and leaders across various states were performing yoga and taking deep breaths in and out, there was perhaps one minister in the Modi cabinet who, despite his best efforts, could not breathe easy at all. On 21 June, as ministers across the country used yoga to relax their bodies and calm their minds, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was likely dealing with an entirely different kind of pressure. The reason is simple. Following the massive controversy surrounding the alleged NEET paper leak in 2024, both the Education Minister and his ministry came under intense scrutiny. As a result, ensuring that this year's examination process remained secure became one of the government's biggest challenges. To prevent any repetition of past controversies, extensive arrangements were reportedly put in place. Paper setters, translators, and examiners were said to have been kept isolated from the...

Amid widespread negative narratives about India, though many narratives are far from reality, stories of real kindness by Indians often get overlooked. But two recent accounts from foreign travelers present a heartfelt and authentic perspective. The first story comes from a young woman traveling through India, a citizen of Australia, who arrived with far more warnings than expectations. Friends had cautioned her repeatedly, online voices had amplified negative portrayals, and the global narrative had painted India as a place that required constant vigilance. But the moment she began exploring the country on her own terms, her experience diverged sharply from what she had been told.  Walking through streets at night, interacting with locals, navigating public spaces, and immersing herself in ordinary Indian life, she found warmth, friendliness, and genuine curiosity everywhere she went. Strangers offered help without hesitation, people treated her with respect and openness, and not ...

The Marathi language row in Maharashtra has reignited political tensions, communal anxieties, and regional identity issues — all against the backdrop of the upcoming BMC elections and a sensitive linguistic landscape. The row started after a shocking incident in Bhayander, Thane, where a food stall owner was beaten by activists allegedly linked to the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for not speaking in Marathi. A video of the attack went viral, showing the accused, wearing MNS scarves, confronted the vendor and slapped him after he responded in Hindi. The FIR, registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, mentioned ''unidentified persons'', and despite the viral video, the accused were released on bail within hours since the charges were non-cognizable. MNS workers have also been putting pressure on businesses and banks to use Marathi in signage and transactions. The controversy escalated further when Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former MP R...

From bustling newsrooms to conflict zones, women in journalism are increasingly becoming targets of harassment, intimidation and violence, and ironically they are victims not for falsifying stories or flouting ethics, but simply because they are honestly doing their jobs. Their gender often makes them more vulnerable as these journos are often exposed to a specific kind of threat that male counterparts rarely face.  The recent incidents ordeal of women journalists from India, Pakistan, and across the world reveal that these attacks are not isolated events but part of a disturbing global pattern where female journalists are silenced, violated, or terrorized and so sometimes they are either forced to retreat or bear the brunt being completely mum. Take for example the cases in India where female journalists continue to face disturbing threats and violence. In a very disturbing case ,a woman journalist in Delhi accused an Uber driver of sexual harassment. According to her complaint, t...

In a rare moment of cross-border corroboration, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and Pakistani minister Maryam Aurangzeb have found themselves telling the same story -- almost at the same time eight years later. Just weeks after, Aamir  Khan shared on 'Aap Ki Adalat' show that he refused to release Dangal in Pakistan due to demands raised by Pakistan to remove certain parts of the movie which showed the Indian flag and singing of the national anthem. Pakistan the then Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb has now publicly admitted that banning the film during her tenure as Pakistan’s Information Minister was a mistake and even when she hadn’t seen the film at the time. Maryam Aurangzeb, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and current minister in Punjab, confessed that banning Dangal as Federal Information Minister in 2017 was one of her biggest regrets. ''Yes, if there is one regret that I have when I was the Federal Information Minister, i...

Despite ongoing tensions between the two nations, Diljit Dosanjh’s upcoming Punjabi film 'Sardaar Ji 3' is set to release in Pakistan on June 27. What shocks the fans across India is the presence of Pakistani actress Hania Aamir and and several other Pakistani actors, including Nasir Chinyoti, Daniel Khawar, and Saleem Albela. This decision, coming in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April that killed 26 civilians, has triggered a wave of online outrage, with Indian fans calling the move “shameful” and “disrespectful.” Film Banned in India, But Running Across the Border Screenshots of theatre listings from Pakistani cities like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, and Sialkot have gone viral on social media, confirming the full-fledged theatrical run of 'Sardaar Ji 3' across the border. But, when Indian viewers tried to access the trailer on YouTube they met with the message that 'This video is not available in your country'. Industry Bodies and...