Tale Share: Purely Fictional by Arundhati

Have you ever tried to bring a world from your imagination into the real world? Or tried to capture the world around you in a canvas of words, in a manner so perfect that even blind could see? It has been my lifelong dream to be able to do that. Arundhati Bhardwaj, a friend of mine by happen-stance and a film-maker-in-making by trade (yes, I wrote it that way deliberately, shush), managed to do just the same with her small anecdotal fiction pieces. I am impressed, and it's time for you to be the same. Read on.

Tale Share: I Was 4 When My Bhai Found “Cancer” In Me And Removed It From Between My Legs Every Night

For every one of these gutting tales that we hear about, there are several that never see the light of day. Statistics tell us that less that 30% of these cases ever get reported, but who knows how many children never even tell their parents? Statistics also shows that most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are those known to the victim, close relatives - an uncle, a brother...

This article was first published at Akkar Bakkar. Read on.

Tale Share: The ICHR's Ayodhya Visit

Recently the new ICHR (Indian Council for Historic Research) chief visited Ayodhya, and then went on to make some controversial statements. This of course let to a lot of media coverage and opinion clashes and basically a lot of negative air. However, some expressed their opinion through humous, and one such blog post, by a certain Rajat Datta made my day. I have shared some of the snippets here below.

Tale Share: You've Come Out, and You've Come Out again

We like labeling things. We like binaries. We like our equations simple. So we find it hard to digest that nothing is ever really binary. The colours in this world are in a spectrum, as is gender.

Now, that is a hard concept for people to get in the west itself, which, let's admit, is a tad bit ahead of us in the acceptance of the non "normal" than us. US legalised same sex marriage, did you hear? We Indians on the other hand, are still grappling with the fact that transgender are people. What I wish for a day when I don't hear, "Which bathroom will they use!?"

Anyway, I digress. The point is, when a natural selection of sex itself is hard for us to see as a spectrum, I really don't see much hope for gender identification, which is more of a conscious choice than nature selecting sex organs for us.

I came across this one short story, written by Shikhar Vyas on The Cake, set in this nice world with nice people, who are supportive, and willing to learn, and don't ask if you have sex with yourself if you are an asexual. This, I would like to share with you. You can read the complete article on the Cake's Facebook page, linked above. Here I give you some snippets that stuck with me. Read on.

Tale Share: Why Historians should Write Fiction

When a novel is set in the past, we often have to build a world to support the story that we tell. If we set it in our actual past, then we have to take elements of history and fit to the plot itself. This brings forth the field of historical fiction. But how do we define historical fiction anyway? The following is an essay by Ian Mortimer, a famous historian, who writes historical fiction under the pseudonym of James Forrester, and it tries to address the question from the point of view of the authors who write these stories. This article written at the IHR conference is an insightful look at how historians view the genre, and how we could possibly define it. The following are some snippets that I found really relevant to the conversation.

Tale Share: Nathuram Godse's Final Speech

We all have grown up learning how Nathuram Godse assassinated the Father of our nation. But we hardly ever ask why. And when we do, we hear that it was because he held Gandhi responsible for the partition. But what thinking went behind such a drastic action? Read on to hear from the horse's mouth. I give you Nathuram's unedited final statement at his trial following Gandhi's assassination. Read on.

Tale Share: Drinking and driving

Someone took the effort to write this poem. So please, forward this to as many people as you can. And see if we can get a chain going around the world that will make people understand that don't mix drinking and driving.

Tale Share: The Etymology of Chivalry

This is an essay that won a national prize, so I am wondering exactly what the system of government in their country would be. My view do not match with those of the author of the following essay. In fact I disagree vehemently. Character should, and must not be attributed where it is not deserved. The only reason I am sharing this is because I have not seen so many sexist ideologies existing simultaneously in one article.

Tale Share: Spirituality, Halo or Hoax

The following is a speech by famous lyricist and script writer Javed Akhtar, about whom you can read here. He gave this speech at the India Today Conclave in 2005. To read the counter argument made by Sri Sri Ravishankar, click here. What strikes me most about these twin arguments, that in trying to be expansive in their critique (and subsequent defense) of spirituality, they restrict the definition of the concept in itself. Of course, one cannot possibly debate about spirituality if not put in any context.

I, an avowed atheist, needless to say, agree with Javed Akhtar's point of view. To read his speech, and form your own opinions on the matter, read on. Ps. Do leave your views in the comments.