Capturing the Politics and Poetics of Everyday Life....

Kerala constantly confuses the political vocabulary of India. Here, a person can vote for the Left, visit the temple, celebrate Eid with neighbours, and enjoy fish curry without seeing any contradiction. As elections approach, Kerala once again reminds us that its society refuses to fit into neat ideological boxes. The Political Puzzle Called Keralam Kerala has a curious habit of confusing the political vocabulary of India. The tidy categories that often dominate national debates — Left versus Right, believer versus rationalist, vegetarian versus non-vegetarian, secular versus religious — tend to collapse the moment they encounter everyday life in this small state on the southwestern coast. In Kerala, it is not unusual for a person to vote for a Left party, stop by a temple on the way home, exchange Eid sweets with neighbours, and later sit down to a plate of fish curry — all without feeling the slightest ideological contradiction. As election season approaches, this peculiar social re...

  “Outraging the modesty of a woman” is one of the most cited legal phrases in India. But what exactly is modesty —and why does the law still depend on a concept shaped by colonial morality and patriarchal expectations? Outraging “Modesty”: Law, Patriarchy, and the Politics of Women’s Bodies “Outraging the modesty of a woman” is one of the most frequently cited allegations in complaints related to sexual misconduct in India. Like the definition of sexual harassment under the POSH Act (2013), the idea embedded in this phrase is not limited to physical violence. It also includes verbal or non-verbal conduct that insults or violates a woman’s dignity. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023) retains this language in its legal framework. Article 74 states: Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty.—Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty, shall be punishe...

“Boys don’t cry.” A sentence we casually repeat in childhood. But when emotional vulnerability is suppressed and aggression is celebrated as courage, the consequences do not stop in classrooms or playgrounds - they travel into politics, power, and even wars. Boys Don’t Cry? Rethinking Gender, Emotions, and the World We Are Making Across India - and even in a socially progressive state like Kerala - childhood remains deeply gendered. Regardless of the class or caste into which they are born, most children grow up learning subtle lessons about what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl.” These lessons do not come from a single source. They are stitched together through family expectations, school environments, playground conversations, television shows, and social media narratives. From the moment children begin to interact with the world, they are gently - but persistently - trained to perform certain versions of gender. These performances become so normalized that they often pass unnotice...

Politics as Prime-time Entertainment When elections arrive, politics begins to look like cinema—full of intrigue, revenge, and scandal. But behind the memes and viral clips lies a troubling reality: the transformation of private lives into political spectacle and the erasure of the real issues that matter. The New Spectacle in Keralam’s Political Theatre Keralam’s political campaigns seem to have acquired a new and troubling ingredient: the public circulation of sleek, scandalous stories about male politicians and their alleged toxic relationships with women. These narratives, surfacing across party lines, are presented with voyeuristic enthusiasm by sections of the media and consumed with equal fascination by audiences. While political scandals and investigative exposés are hardly new, what appears striking today is the normalization of this spectacle—and the political economy of digital platforms that enables its instant, relentless circulation. The Algorithm of Outrage In an age mar...