Inspiring stories from sportswomen, and behind the scenes with Sapan

“I’ve been attending online events for the past two years, and this was the best, most engaging by far”, a young activist in Delhi after the South Asia Peace Action Network event on Sunday, featuring sportswomen from around the region and their stories.

This was the best feedback ever, especially with the tech issues we had behind the scenes.

International award-winning sportswomen from around South Asia participated in the event. We tried to do a ‘group photo’ but it didn’t go the way we were planned, so Aekta Kapoor found a creative solution and put together this collage for the Sapan website. Top row (L-R): Mabia Akhter Shimanto, weightlifter, Bangladesh; Sana Mir, former captain Pakistan cricket team; Ashreen Mridha, basketball player, Bangladesh; Nisha Millet, swimmer, India; Middle row: Ayesha Mansukhani, athlete and sports investor, India; Champa Chakma, cricketer, Bangladesh; Khalida Popal, former captain, Afghanistan football team; Preety Baral, tennis player, Nepal. Bottom row: Noorena Shams, squash player, Pakistan; Roopa Nagraj, cricketer, UAE/India; Gulshan Naaz, partially blind runner, India; Caryll Tozer, athlete, Sri Lanka; Rumana Ahmed, captain Bangladesh national cricket team.

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Modi ji’s NRI government and Badri ji’s ‘Good Non-Resident Indians’ poem (substitute ‘desis’ etc)

Ashis Nandy: incisive, if controversial

Ashis Nandy: incisive, if controversial

As the hoopla and hype about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s triumphalist trip to the USA and United Nations General Assembly dies down, this may be a good time to re-visit Indian politics from another angle. The online publication Scroll.in recently published an interview of the noted political psychologist Ashis Nandy about his views on Modi. Good and bad. Worth reading in full; here’s an extract:

Q. The Swachhta pledge doesn’t even mention open defecation, which is a huge problem. Doesn’t this mean his campaign emphasises on urban priorities and is guided by a certain sense of aesthetics?

A. Absolutely. What will the foreigners think? What will NRIs think? How would they feel when they go to these areas and feel a sense of inferiority about their country? He is brightening the face of the NRIs, as the Bengali saying goes. This is an NRI government. The NRI consciousness dominates this government. Continue reading

The Emperor has no Clothes… or is it the CJ?

Article sent for this blog by Justice Markandey Katju, retired Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

The Emperor has no Clothes

Now the Chief Justice had to be given oath by the President of Wonderland, but before that could be done the Chief Justice grabbed a golden crown from somewhere and crowned himself… then declared himself the Emperor of Wonderland, a post above the President or Prime Minister…

By Justice Markandey Katju

Once upon a time a little girl called Alice was dozing one summer afternoon on a meadow when she saw a strange sight. A white rabbit dressed in a coat and wearing a wristwatch was running while saying, ‘I am late’. Continue reading

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