Author: Ananya Ghosh

Patriarchy v/s Science: The Flawed Concept of Virginity 5 (1)

Having grown up in a small town, raised by a family with very collectivistic and orthodox mindsets, I was always groomed to not do anything that would “spoil” the name of the highest patriarch in my extended family line, however, my male cousins were not. It began at an early age with getting lesser allowances than my male cousins, not being allowed to play outside late, and then eventually moved onto more eyebrow-raising commands like “don’t wear shorts or tight-fitting clothes”, to “you can’t have your male friends over, what will everyone say”.

In a Complicated Relationship with Inspiration 4.5 (4)

As a mere eight-year-old, I remember wanting to send in my artwork for a kids’ art show airing on Nickelodeon to which there was but one hold-up — what should the artwork be? I’d remember seeing an artwork done by another kid on the show, a simple landscape with a pine tree or two, and wanted to create something along similar lines. But having come up with my rendition of a winter landscape, guilt seemed to have overcome me because I felt like I had mindlessly copied that kid’s art. At twenty-one, I still often find myself asking “Am I really inspired or anything I do with this particular idea would be blatant plagiarism?”