All that I do, organize, participate and support
This weekend, with Sambhav Dehlavi, I started something new, Human Rights Walk. At the time when we conceived it we were not sure, but now I can tell you that this Human Rights Walk is the first of its kind in India, though the concept existed in West. In India we have had food walks, … Continue reading Human Rights Walk – 1984 Anti Sikh Riots And Hindutva Attacks On Minorities
In the Karwan e Mohabbat bus in which we traveled for a month we would often sing songs. This one time, the Brothers from Vidya Jyoti College were singing the song, "Mandir masjid girja ghar mein baant liya bhagwan ko," a song I learned at school and one of the most beautiful compositions I have … Continue reading Singer and Activist Vinay Mahajan On Song Mandir Masjid, Musical Journey
On the 33rd anniversary of the 1984 Sikh Genocide, join Queer Activist Sambhav Dehlavi, his mother Amita Sharma née Devinder Kaur and Writer and Photographer Sanjukta Basu for this one of a kind Human Rights Walk to commemorate the lives lost in the 1984 Anti Sikh Riots and the victims of a systematic onslaught against minorities under … Continue reading Human Rights Walk: 1984 Sikh Genocide, 28th to 31st October 2017
In 2011, I started the project Single Woman Budget Travel, a travel and photography research to find out how safe or unsafe it is for a solo woman to travel in India on a budget. As part of this, I traveled to many places (it is still ongoing project) gathering first hand information, and documenting … Continue reading Gender And Public Space in India: A Photographic Research in 5 Indian Metro Cities
Hi all, I am happy to announce that my blog, This Is My Truth, have been featured on Femina magazine October 2017 issue among India's top 50 female bloggers, under the women issues section. I am very glad about this after 12 years of relentless blogging, although in principle, bloggers shouldn't be looking for print … Continue reading My Blog This Is My Truth Featured on Femina Magazine
Hi all In the month of Aug 2017, I appeared on BBC World Service Radio Program talking about the issue of fake news and trolling in India. I was in conversation with Gareth Mitchell and Bill Thompson of BBC World Service program BBC Click, earlier known as Digital Planet. I spoke about the right wing troll army on Twitter who … Continue reading Sanjukta Basu on BBC Click On Fake News and Trolling on Social Media
Abdul Gafoor Tufani is a Muslim man. He has come to Delhi with a mission. Abdul comes from district Araria, a very backward region in Bihar. It is a largely rural Muslim dominated district with around 93 percent of its population living in villages and 50 percent of its population Muslim, in sharp contrast to … Continue reading Abdul Gafoor Tufani Is A Muslim Man
Never imagined that I would find Mary Wollstonecraft on a TEDxDelhi stage. Wollstonecraft was the mother of feminism, grandmother of Frankenstein, this muh I knew but that she was also an adventure seeker, a single mum with a baby tucked in, chasing the high seas looking for her boyfriend's lost silver, I wouldn't have known … Continue reading TEDxDelhi #x4Humanity – Report
On my travel blog, I write about the the Goa Chitra Ethnographic Museum founded by artist and restorer Victor Hugo Gomes. Situated in South Goa, near Benaulim beach this is a must visit place in Goa. Read more
The most common touristy places in India are famous for its forts and palaces, and wherever there are forts and palaces there are museums. Most of these museums have a display of how rich and powerful our kings and ruler were and how much arms and ammunition they had, their guns and swords, crockery and furniture, the precious gifts they got from all over the world, the jewels they collected and so on. This might all be very fascinating but it is sad that history is recorded and learnt through the lives of rich and powerful. Nobody thinks of archiving the lives and times of ordinary people.
That’s what artist and restorer Victor Hugo Gomes set out to do and the result was Goa Chitra Museum, one of Goa’s most interesting places to visit. It is an ethnographic museum that restores and preserves the traditional objects and artifacts that narrates the life…
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My Huffington Post article on Candid Wedding Photography in India, and the lack of wedding documentary photography has angered all the eminent wedding photographers of India. On a Facebook group of wedding photographer's group they are saying some downright ugly things. For what its worth, when I said wedding documentary photography work is not much … Continue reading Back To The Roots: A Wedding Photo Documentary Part 1
Article on the Flickr Photowalk coordinated by me in Delhi. I was the only one who actually did the walk and thoroughly enjoyed. The theme was macro texture photography. In this article, I explained what macro texture is and have shared some of the images I have taken. Pls read on my photography website.
In this series of photographs I celebrate the universal sisterhood, the love and bonding between women. Stories of brotherhood is common, we have films, books and poems on them, brothers in arms et all. But women are never seen to be united in solidarity. They are individuals pitted against each other. Eg. mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law … Continue reading Universal Sisterhood – Breaking The ‘Woman is Woman’s Worst Enemy’ Myth
Facebook and social media in general is making me miserable. So I am doing an experiment to answer some existential crisis.
July to September is the best season to travel to Ladakh and as the season approaches this year, I am sure many of you are planning a trip to one of the most exotic destinations in the world. From my experience as a solo budget traveler to Ladakh, I would suggest take the bus instead of flying to Ladakh. Most people take a flight from Delhi to Leh because its convinient and saves time but its a big mistake. You don’t know what you’d miss if you just fly. On my SWBT blog I posted 25 breathtaking images that should inspire you to brave the rough terrain and weather and take the bus to Leh. I say bus and not SUV or other four wheeler because there are a lot of tension around not allowing outside vehicles to ply in Ladakh. Last year when I was there I faced a day long chakka jam (strike) and that was a bummer.
The best season to visit Ladakh (July to September) is here and news just came in that the Delhi to Manali bus service have reopened. So now, in addition to Manali and Srinagar you have Delhi too as the starting point of your journey which wasn’t available to me last year when I went to Ladakh.
Ladakh is one of those exotic, mystical, out of bounds destination which challenges the traveler and explorer in you. It is not your weekend destination. People usually plan a lot, wait for that long vacation and make ample savings to be able to make a trip to Ladakh. Finally, when they do, their journey starts with a direct flight from Delhi to Leh.
I am sorry to say but half of the plot is already lost on them. The moment you decide to fly to Ladakh, you have missed the point. For my solo budget…
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My travel write up and photos from the recent solo budget trip to Varanasi. I have shared my experience of walking alone through the lanes of Varanasi witnessing the fascinating abandoned houses, the ancient ghats, myriad human activity and the Ganga Arti. Varanasi was a very safe place, I felt absolutely comfortable traveling alone even at 10.30 pm at a deserted Assi Ghat.
SWBT = Solo Woman Budget Travel or Solo Female Travel
“Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together” – Mark Twain
In every nook and corner of Varanasi I found an old dilapidated abandoned house. Some of them palatial buildings, some old humble abodes but they are all gathering dust, cobwebs are gulping them, after sunset they appear dark and haunted. In a world where real estate is the only thing whose prices never fall, and everybody is trying to grab a piece of land, how come these houses are just lying vacant? I found it so surprising and fascinating. I ran a Google search expecting to find some media report, or at least a research paper or some history blogs on these houses explaining why they lie unclaimed and abandoned but found none. Search…
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The first part of my Ladakh Travelogue is here. This chronicles my experiences as a single woman traveling on a budget. Please do read and share with your friends. Thanks.
Let credits be given to whom it is owed. I owe my Ladakh trip to just one thing, the Outlook Traveller book on India’s top Trekking destinations which I received as a free gift along with my annual Outlook subscription.
Ladakh never seemed to be the kind of place one could travel alone. It always seemed like one of those unattainable impenetrable exotic mythical destinations. But when I opened that book, the first thing I read about was how to reach Leh. It seemed to me that it wasn’t such a big deal after all. And there began the itch to do my SWBT trip to Ladakh. Well, because I can, I should and why not.
I spent two days in Manali before catching the morning bus to Leh from Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus stop (locally known as Government bus stop). Manali seemed to be a very safe destination…
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TEDxITMU I was recently invited as a speaker at TEDxITMU, the TEDx event at the Institute of Technology and Management University, Gurgaon. I shared the stage with a range of very interesting speakers like, Actor Vipin Sharma (of Taare Zameen Par fame), Delhi FM station Hit 95's popular RJ Suroshree Dasgupta, Jazz musician duo Adil … Continue reading My TEDxITMU talk – Have we survived the rape and violence?
A very rigorous week of study just concluded at the BIMTECH campus, Greater Noida where 35 of us women entrepreneur were attending the 1st module of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 women scholarship. 10,000 Women is a 5 year initiative by Goldman Sachs, the leading global bank, to provide "business and management education to underserved female entrepreneurs in developing and emerging … Continue reading Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneur – Cohort 17 the BIMTECH, Greater Noida batch
It was an end of en era, a historical moment when Mahendra Singh Dhoni lifted that cricket world cup on 2nd April 2011, 28 years after Kapil Dev first lifted it in 1983. I am lucky to have lived this day, lucky to be a part of this euphoria, and also lucky to have lived … Continue reading Lucky to live the day India lifted Cricket Worldcup 2011 and when India Gate remained elusive
If you didn’t get the whole picture from the title of the post, then you should read the event announcement on Samyukta Media website. I prefer not to repeat all about it here. I wanted to go to Puri, to attend the BYOFF for the last 5 years, ever since Swagat told me about it. … Continue reading Delhi to Puri – My backpacking trip to take Social Media Baithak to the participants of Bring Your Own Film Festival
Gift economy - Why it cannot work with Indian mentality (In response to an Open Magazine article). Please share your thoughts and opinions as they will help me in figuring out how to price the services Samyukta Media offers.
Last couple of weeks have been eventful. I traveled, attended two very different types of events and then there was the loss of my paternal grandmother. This is to capture some of the moments from the last few days. --- 7th to 13th December, Bangalore: As already mentioned I went to Bangalore to speak at … Continue reading Two events in two cities – Jstor workshop & India Social Summit 2010 – and one loss: Eventful life as always
2.30 pm I have finally reached the #TieSummit and we are at the post lunch sessions now. Dream Big is the theme for the present session. Pradeep Gupta (Cyber Media Group) chairing the session. Pradeep is talking about dreaming big. Not just big but dreams should be inspiring. Your entrepreneurial dream should be something that … Continue reading TiE Entrepreneurial Summit Live Blog: Day 1
9 am [My notes are a bit shabby, because mostly if am not able to understand the crux of the issue which forms the background of these presentations, most of which are related to archiving, I am not able to do justice to the notes. This blog is largely quick notes for personal use, I … Continue reading Live blog: Creating High Impact and Digital Initiatives in India (Day 2)
Live Blogging of Day 2 is here --- I am at the workshop right now and I am intending to live tweet and live blog the workshop. The quick details of the workshop are on Twitter and the brief of each talk will be on this blog. On Twitter the tag to follow is #digitalindia … Continue reading Live Blog: Creating High Impact and Digital Initiatives in India
I am leaving for Bangalore tomorrow to participate in an workshop where I will be speaking on Social Media and Web Strategy. The workshop ‘Creating High Impact and Digital Initiative in India’ organised by ITHAKA with support from the Ford Foundation and assistance from the American Institute of Indian Studies is being held from 8th … Continue reading Speaking at the Ithaka workshop on Creating High Impact and Digital Initiatives in India
This is old news, but better late than never. Noted Social Media practitioner Kiruba Shankar designed a TED India Fellows Project under which a team of 5 to 6 bloggers conducted interview with the 100 chosen TED India fellows. The idea was to know the fellows better and get insights on what makes the TED … Continue reading My Interview for the TED India Fellows Project by Kiruba
Season's Greetings to all my readers. Hope the festive season has greeted you well so far and shall keep you warm and cozy through Eid, Diwali, Christmas and all other special days to come. I just came back from a month long vacation to West Bengal, revisiting my native land almost after 15 years. The … Continue reading Mention in Sunday Guardian and TED Fellows Friday
The nice fellows from the TATA Tea Jaago Re initiative took my interview on the Importance of Social Media for Non-profits. I must have said something really nice, considering 67 97 people liked it by clicking on facebook thumbs up button. Though the opening line has a mention to the Bell Bajao campaign, the interview … Continue reading I was interviewed by TATA Tea’s Jaago Re initiative
This event took place exactly 4 years ago, in May'2006 when I had completed one year of blog. By sheer work of fate BBC World had reached out to me to talk about the use of internet amongst Indian youth. Back then there was no social media, blogging was the only cool thing. I organized … Continue reading Delhi Bloggers Meet with BBC World Radio May’2006
About 200 odd Delhi elites attended the first TEDxDelhi on Sunday, 1st Aug 2010 at the India Habitat Center. I did too, in the capacity of being a TED Fellow, thankfully to some of us they gave complimentary passes otherwise the ticket cost ranges from INR 1500 to 2500. TED conferences are costly, we all … Continue reading D was for Diversity at the first TEDxDelhi: A report
The start I started at 4 am in the morning from home to airport, reached Infosys campus in Mysore at 4 pm. There was a special TED desk set up at Bangalore Airport. I mean that's just how big TED is, dedicated desk at an international airport. From Bangalore they had arranged for frequent shuttle … Continue reading TED India: Personal coverage – Fellows Dinner
You wait for a whole month to tell the world about something you achieved, then on the D-day you login to your twitter account and see that there are about 50 odd congratulations sent your way for achieving that, even before you could announce it. You achieved something the world was looking out for. That … Continue reading TED India fellowship and a Breakthrough
I am watching the final episode of Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. Blogging it live and also tweeting. At the end of it I would mention why I loved this only reality show so much. As of now just the live reporting via tv of Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. (Read in reverse order from 11 to 1 and … Continue reading Rakhi Ka Swayamvar: Final episode Live blogged: Congratulations Rakhi and Elesh
Meet Ahana aka Mishkah, the baby girl who came to this world this morning at 8.20 am who would call twitter rock stars @snigdha and @lighttripper as mom and dad, and @sanjukta as Sexy Maasi :P She is a very special child for many reason, one of them being her birth was perhaps the first … Continue reading Welcome Mishkah: Perhaps India’s first twitter baby :D
They believe in every few ages every time the affairs of the world goes haywire God pays a visit to earth, its the same God who just comes in various different avatars. He came and wrote holy books, The Geeta, The Bible The Quran. But not every time will he write holy books will … Continue reading R.I.P Michael Jackson, you were God sent: The Memorial
Did anybody see a rainbow today on Bangalore sky? I did as we drove back from Town Hall, the place where the Bangalore Queer Pride Parade concluded and I thought how very symbolic. Queer people in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Bhubaneswar today celebrated their ‘being’ under a rainbow colored flag. Gays, lesbians, kothis, hijras, intersexs, … Continue reading Bangalore Queer Pride March’09: A Report
This weekend and another weekend this month or last month, the Saturday evenings were spent at Snigdha-Vinayak's place. What I usually do is land up at their place for lunch and then hang around till dinner. Towards the evening we always go to the terrace and enjoy the breeze and do a lot of talking. … Continue reading This weekend – night drive, motherhood, lost love and more
‘Greetings from the land of the Sinful Kamasutra’ said Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil while opening the Euro pride 2008 at Stockholm. (Video) But who is he? He was one of the few Indians to be invited to the Oprah Winfrey show, was one of the candidates for Time Magazine’s World Top 100 Most influential People … Continue reading Queer Pride India 2009: Celebrations in all major cities
Human beings going on a jungle safari in a National park is a ridiculous activity. I have been to quite a few of them myself and trust me I am not particularly proud. We go to Jim Corbett National Park in hopes to see Tigers, Gir forest to see Lions, Kaziranga to see Rhinos and … Continue reading Human beings: the funny creatures that we are
8th March 7.45 pm Happy woman's day to all my readers. A male friend said this day is to be wished only to woman. I said no, you can wish it to men too, its like independence day. Wanted to write a post on W-Day but was outside most of the time so couldn't. I … Continue reading Live Blog: My reaction to Filmfare awards ceremony 2009
Blogging this as I watch this story closely on CNN IBN: *Satire alert* -- 12 am - This whole Gandhi Auction issue is such a ridiculous waste of national time and resources. We are such losers. Much like the screen Gandhi of Lage Raho Munnabhai, Gandhiji's soul must have woken up with a startle with … Continue reading Live Blog:The Gandhi Auction, Vijay Mallya saved nation’s father from going to foreign hands
Phew! So much is going on in life, just don't have the time to blog. This person asked, "whats up?" Now for some it might just be a conversation starter but for me it is a dilemma, should I or shouldn't I start telling what all is really up. Let me see, umm, from the … Continue reading Going to attend ‘India Lies in You,’ Quitting from Mutiny’s Managing Editor position
A few of us on Twitter and Blogaloreans list were discussing about what we can do about this Ram Sene issue and an idea struck us, in order to challenge the various threats from Mr. Muthalik and Ram Sene what we should do is dare him. He threatened us against celebrating valentines day, we want … Continue reading An appeal to all you wonderful women in Bangalore: Join the Free Hug Campaign this Valentine’s day
[This is the new thing I am doing] An important update on this. The meeting is cancelled because there were only 8 confirmed bloggers for the meet, and the ABIDE team wasn't interested in meeting such a small group. I don't blame them, after all Mr. Mishra and Mahesh are really busy people. That also … Continue reading Bangalore Bloggers Meet with RK Mishra and Ashwin Mahesh (cancelled)
Starting from today I am introducing an Interview section on my blog. One interview every month. Starting with Jasmine Shah, the Campaign Coordinator of the Janaagraha and Tata Tea initiative, Jaago Re! One Billion Vote campaign. I took this interview for Mutiny and is first published in Mutiny's January Edition. In these trouble times a … Continue reading An Interview with Jasmine Shah of Jaago Re!
It is official. Mutiny, the thought terminus of India which was till now restricted to the world wide web is officially a national publication. Refined, refurbished and printed it is now up for grabs. You can now hold the 'Mutiny' in your hand, read it while sipping your morning coffee or on the commute, or … Continue reading Mutiny Print edition, Managing Editor, Sanjukta Basu
Last week I wrote a piece on how its time for the queer people to stand up, stand tall and assert their rights. In this context the queer activism in India just witnessed a landmark event, the first ever nation wide Queer Pride March was concluded on Sunday, 29th June 2008. Thousands of gay, lesbians, … Continue reading Nationwide Queer Pride March: An Historical event
2.20 I am at BCB6 in IIM Bangalore attending the Photography Session. Am starting the live blog a bit late, low connectivity and low battery too so not sure how far it wud go. We just had a round of introduction. There are 30 of us barcampers interested in this session. Talks about taking portraits … Continue reading Live Blogging: Photography session at BCB6
