Ritika Ruminates

Recently, due to harassment over alimony, a Bangalore techie named Atul Subhash committed suicide. This has led to backlash over the internet against his wife and sparked debates about alimony laws in India and the need for gender-neutral reforms. What Atul went through is surely horrible. If the statements about the judges and his wife are to be believed, asking him why he isn't dead yet is just plain apathy. No innocent should go through all this.  However, scrapping alimony altogether isn't a practical solution. This will inhibit justice and the ability to walk out of an unhappy/abusive marriage for a lot of people, mostly women. The system of alimony was incorporated into laws as a gender-neutral law that can help both men and women in marriage, whoever doesn't earn or does not earn sufficiently to sustain.  In India, women are paid less than their counterparts. In most cases, women do not earn or earn quite less than their husbands. During marriage prospects, a lot of ...

After the blog post sitting in my drafts for 2 days now (too numb and triggered to complete it), here is what I think of the Kolkata rape case. er the blog post sitting in my drafts for 2 days now (too numb and triggered to complete it), here is what I think of the Kolkata rape case. The latest rape and murder case at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata breaks our hearts yet again. Accused "men" (we really don't believe there is just one person involved, other than probable gang rape) brutally raped and murdered a postgraduate trainee doctor during the night shift. I don't think I need to go more into  information,  as it is everywhere now.  Just like Nirbhaya, Priyanka Reddy, and the Hathras case, this Kolkata doctor murder and rape case sends a shiver down our spine and cuts into our hearts. Our hearts bled for our now-dead sister, who underwent a brutal crime and was murdered while on duty to save others. This not only scares the doctor (and nurses) com...

Image Source- The Business Standard A few days ago, post the boxing game in Paris Olympics 2024, Imane Khelif was on the receiving side of ugly misogyny and transphobia over her masculine looks and testosterone levels in her body. After her opponent, Angela Carini abandoned the bout 46 secs into the fight, claiming she never has been hit so hard before by a female boxer. This led netizens across the globe to be divided in opinions, where the one half mercilessly trolled her and baselessly accused her of being a man. Imane Khelif has been raised as a woman in a country which is not supportive of LGBTQ+ community (unfortunately). Algeria do not allow sex change surgery, so no ways she is a man and would have been sent by Algeria in the Olympics.  Now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) cited she has high testosterone level and that she has XY chromosomes (science went into the dustbin), in non-specified and non-transparent eligibility tests. There has been a rift between IO...

Image Source- Days for Girls International The suicide of a 14-year-old girl from Mumbai due to stress caused by first periods has made headlines in the news. As per reports, the girl was under stress and misinformation regarding the menstrual cycle. The drastic step has once again brought need of period and mental health education into the spotlight. Though her step was drastic, her fear and stress regarding periods have been shared by all the women and girls who experience period for first time. When I got my period for the first time, like many other girls, I thought that it was the last day of my life. Periods, even now, remains a taboo in the Indian society, especially in villages and lower-tier cities. Many girls get to know what periods are when they experience it for the first time. There is no prior knowledge of periods before the first cycle begins. Girls are instructed to not talk about periods with male members of the family and guy friends as well. This can lead to misinfo...

Image Source- Times Now Last week, on Republic Day, a Deepfake video of the idol of Lord Ram went viral, drawing a significant crowd to the recently inaugrated temple. The video showcased the idol animated with a smiling expression and moving eyes and face. Previously, Deepfakes of actress Rashmika Mandanna and dancer Nora Fatehi have also surfaced on the internet. This new technology can be really horrifying, distorting the reality. Deepfakes can be a new way of defaming an individual. It may also turn worse than explicitly morphing a (woman's) photo to violate someone's modesty or blackmail them.  So how does Deepfakes work? Deepfakes employ deep learning, specifically deep neural networks, to manipulate images or videos convincingly. By training on extensive datasets of the target person, these models learn facial features, expressions, and gestures. Utilizing generative models, like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), the deepfake system then synthesizes content that mi...

Image Source - Medium Recently, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director of the 'Animal,' gave a statement that if one can't slap, kiss or use cuss words towards their partner whenever one wants to, it is not love, that is he "doesn't see emotions there." It is uncertain whether it was his personal beliefs or he said it for negative publicity, but going by his past movies, I'd say he really means it. This brings us to the question - is love supposed to be unconditional? Does there not exist boundaries in love, especially for people with a mindset similar to this director? I don't believe that love can be unconditional, surely not between friends or a couple. Some say a mother's love for her child is unconditional, maybe. But don't these mothers (let us include fathers too) expect respectful behaviour from their kids once they are old enough to understand mannerisms? Respect is the foundation of love of any kind. If you don't respect them, you can'...

Image Source - dr. tc north Recently, N. R. Narayana Murthy requested/suggested that youngsters should work for 70hrs a week. Undoubtedly, this las led to debate among the citizens who favours the statement and also contending against it. Hustle culture is already on rise and this adds fuel to the fire, glorifying burn-out. Viewing this statement in respect to working professionally for a company, especially a job, has a lot of side effects. New lifestyle in urban areas and top-tier cities has already disposed younger population to various health concerns, and working for so long would only accelerate the possibilities of it. No doubt why people in their 30s and 40s are suffering cardiac arrest and pass away at such a young age. Diabetes, PCOS, stroke and other cardiac problems are on the rise too. Burn out is a badge of honour and taking rest is looked down upon in workaholic culture. This leads to extreme exhaustion and fatigue. Many won't be left to replenish themselves with hea...

Disclaimer- This post is a product of random thoughts and my opinion and not backed by any research. The books and movies/series are mentioned only for examples and I have no intention of condemning them. Image Source - IMDb With the humongous collection of books and movies & series, it's evident that similar narratives will be observed and followed in many books, especially contemporary works. While some may be looked down upon, many other tropes are even admired and recommended.  Tropes here refers to elements in a story or relationship dyamics which is similar in many works of fiction across different authors and screenwriters. Example of tropes include grumpy × sunshine , fake dating,   enemies to lovers,   friends to lovers , marriage of convenience , ex-lovers runiting after long time etc. As a reader & viwer of mostly comedy and romantic genre, I can only mention similar narratives found in these genres. Here are examples of other tropes from various genr...

 And India celebrates its 77th Independence Day today! Happy Independence Day. 77 years since our nation got independence from the Britishers. But are we really independent?  We are still mentally holding on to the manacles of the ideology invaders (Mughals and colonisers) imposed on us. We are still worried about our safety, are forced into the closet forever due to safety, and many are forced to live a life they didn't want because of society and its rules, etc.  Ancient India was way ahead of its time (maybe medieval too). Learning about ancient/medieval India and its practices via snippets from various authentic sources on different grounds gave us an idea of what independence actually was. Be it for women or people from LGBTQIA+ community. For example, before invaders and colonisers entered India, every region had different saree draping styles and in many of these draping styles, blouses or petticoats weren't a thing. It is only the British idea of appropriate cloth...

A few days ago, an impromptu plan landed me and my friends on the Marine Drive (planned plans never work) and we were in for a major disappointment. What our eyes witnessed was water being turned into a dark shade of brown with a long line of what seemed like plastic and other garbage. Surely not the blue water and aesthetic look we were expecting.  It would always be pleasant when the water from the waves splashes on your face,  but not anymore. We were experiencing worry instead of calmness when we looks at the sea. Having come from far, we sat at the drive anyways, despite the horrifying colour of the water. Our only solace was the pleasant breeze hitting our faces. I didn't intend to write a blog post on this, so I didn't click a photo as proof. But sharing a photo I could get from Google which is as close as to what we witnessed. Image source- iStock Lost in our own thoughts, we were worried about the future of the Marine Drive if this continues. Mumbai would lose one of ...

Image source - India Map With the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) President BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh being accused of sexual harassment and how protesting wrestlers were treated, it raises the question of how politicians being the Presidents and higher authority can lead to sporting disasters in our country. Not only was it heartbreaking, but it was an international humiliation of how our wrestlers were treated. The same goes for many other sports governing bodies. Either players and staff are not treated properly or there is corruption and no growth in the sport at any level. Though Presidents and higher administrative of a few other governing bodies like the All India Football Federation (AIFF), BCCI, and Hockey India are former national level players, WFI's President had no sporting history.  With pure political background, with as many as 38 criminal cases filed against him, it's questioning why he was even put in the head administrative position? Though p...

  Image source- India Weekly This picture is all over the internet, as a cartoon depicting India's population overtaking China's. Receiving a severe backlash from Indian citizens and politicians, it has been termed 'racist'. Compared to China, it may be racist but it depicts the reality too. India is still a developing country, and many of its population fail to get access to basic resources for survival. Many still struggle for shelter, food, clothing and a hygienic environment (washrooms and menstrual products for women). Resources in India fall short to satisfy the basic needs of the country's population.  Of course, a part of the Chinese population also lives in poverty and cannot access basic resources for survival. But being developed, and what is feared, a soon-to-be superpower, the majority of its population gets access to the basic resources. Even though they cannot speak anything against their government. Their earlier one-child policy had reduced the youn...

Image Source - ispr Solutions Ltd “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education”. Martin Luther King Jr. Education is one of the basic rights of an individual. It helps an individual gain information, which they can use to critically think about, form their opinions and apply what they are taught. But the Indian education system has been relentlessly criticized for failing to do so.  In the present professional world where skills sell, the Indian education system had failed to equip its students with the skills required in a professional field. So when students pass out from their college with degrees in their hands, they still find themselves unemployable. This has led to individuals trying to gain as many skills as possible from additional courses and workshops provided by various credible sources, both in real life and online. All this led to the introduction of the Nation...

Image Source- ArtStation We all want our lives to be immortal. The idea of forever interests us. Though human life itself is not immortal, the memories and legacy we live behind have the potential to be  immortal and remembered by upcoming generations. The elixir of life, as per the dictionary, means a preparation  supposedly able to prolong life indefinitely. Though I would like  to describe the elixir of life in the ways we can live a fulfilled  life, or one’s dream life, and leave a bundle of happy memories  behind for the people to remember us by. Basic life needs, like food, water, shelter and clothing are necessary to sustain life. Though human lives are mortal,  we are bound to die. But our work and how we treat people  have the potential to be immortal.  Staying healthy is important so that your daily life activities are  not affected by any health concerns. To do anything great in  life, you first need to be healthy,...

Image source- HR Katha Being apolitical seems to have become a trend. To not care about politics is seen as cool. Youths, though highly opinionated, kind of refrain from politics. This apolitical nature is even more observed among the youth of Mumbai. Though politics and political affairs affect people directly or indirectly, how can Mumbai youth afford to be more apolitical than youths from other parts of India? Disclaimer- This is based upon my observations, and hearing/being part of conversations between youths in Mumbai. The Mumbai youth referred to in this blog post are educated and mostly from middle-class or affluent families, which would not be drastically affected by politics and not are heavily influenced by others (privileged). This blog post does not target any politician or political party in particular and is referred to in general political scenario of India. These are just my observations and shouldn't be taken as gospel truth😅. In India, a lot of politics works on...

Image source- Olympics India recently hosted FIFA U7 Women's World Cup, which Spain won defeating Columbia and Nigeria being placed third. Unfortunately, Team India lost all 3 scheduled matches in the tournament. Though the players represent all of India, we cannot blame them. In India, cricket is treated like God while other sports and players are often neglected. Most of the money, promotions and sponsorships still go to cricket tournaments and players, be it from government or private firms. People got to know about Neeraj Chopra only after he won a medal for India at the Olympics (including me). Due to no promotions or media interviews before his win at the Olympics, hardly a few people knew.  Coming back to football, what we could have done to improve our games and chances of winning some matches? Or as the past cannot be changed, what changes we can bring for improving the games in future tournaments, for all gender, ages and physically challenged teams at the national and cl...