What are words worth?

--> There’s been a lot of discussion in recent times about the idea of consent, mostly in the aftermath of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and the slew of revelations around unwanted or forced sexual relations, even when physical aggression is not involved. The discussions have been complex and have thrown up difficult and messy questions about the gendered ways in which power is assumed, expressed and exercised. In some ways these conversations have made it more possible—not necessarily easier--to deal with or call out when it is overt and its effects visible. But it’s also brought up the stealthy, invisible manner in which gendered power relations operate, seeding and nurturing expectations that seep through relationships of all kinds, working like a subclinical virus that buries itself deep inside one’s body and occasionally erupts into a rash that can’t be seen, only felt, invisible to all available diagnostic tests. We know it’s there, but struggle for a vocabul...

One of the greatest joys and simultaneously greatest sources of confusion (and sometimes, frustration) is that mysterious pact that gets made between a PhD candidate and their guide. Okay, it’s not a pact, it’s never quite worded as that, but it is an agreement of sorts. It’s a relationship. But like parenting, it’s slippery and shape-shifting twin, it is something we rarely learn through instruction and more often by experience and emulation. That’s what makes it tricky. If we’ve been parented well (or, more correctly, in healthy ways—my, what loaded words!) we may ourselves parent well. But there are an infinite number of variables that might intervene and moderate our translation of being parented into the act of parenting. Supervision is something like that, but on a much smaller scale and much more limited in temporal and spatial terms—even though some might say that it can be as life-transforming a phase for the supervisee. But then is that even the appropriate analogy? Th...

This was written originally for my column in The HIndu's Sunday Magazine, Peace in a Pod, to be carried on July 22, 2018. However, the publication declined to carry this saying that it highlighted the work of a rival newspaper. While I can understand (though still disagree) with this policy, I do want to talk about podcasts that I think the Indian audience might find interesting, so decided to place it here instead...for those who might be interested. --- There’s no longer any doubt, this is the moment for digital audio on demand. Over the past couple of years, the mainstream media industry in India has begun looking seriously at audio content that both complements and extends its offering, whether in news, features or all the genres in between. Several legacy media outlets have had the weekly, fortnightly or occasional podcast available on their web site, but there has been little systematic investment in the audio component, with distinct resources or planning. But that seem...

It’s a little over a week since my sabbatical leave began. “I envy you,” said a colleague I ran into at a city event a few days into the week. “So, what have you planned?” asked another. “You should just take it easy,” said a third, striking a welcome note but clearly in the minority. I veer dangerously from wanting to take the last piece of advice seriously to wanting to make sure I execute every word of the detailed plan I had submitted in order to win this year off. A sabbatical is an opportunity to slow down and do the things that most academics complain they never have time to do during the regular school year: read, reflect, write. Those three words that attracted me to this job in the first place. Yes, I love the teaching too, but once in a while it’s good to get a break from the daily grind of lectures and grading. People outside academia look at the idea of a sabbatical somewhat enviously and some see it as an indulgence— time off with pay that doesn’t get co...