Aswini Ashok

It may be in the best of interests when the PM asked everyone to stay put in their respective locations when the lockdown was declared. But, things had gone astray ever since. Especially that of the stranded migrant workers. While the rich had the privilege to fly back on the last day, it is always the poor and underprivileged who bears the wrath of any difficult measures being taken in the country. The recent decision by the central govt. advising the state governments to take necessary measures to transit the migrant workers shall be commended only for being better late than never. Labor ministry sources indicate there could be as many as 2 million migrant workers in the country. The government should have been more sensitive in dealing with a crisis of this magnitude. At least 25 people have died walking hundreds of km in the last one month alone. While some were lucky enough to have made it to their villages, the sight of people walking all the way in highways with constantl...

When I watch travel vloggers videos on YouTube, there is a stark contrast in the way men and women describe their scary moments. The guys talk about “other” scary things, while women’s scary moments mostly revolve around men. But, hey, let’s face it. Solo trips are not just about scary moments. Indeed the scary parts are almost nothing in the whole big picture. Every moment is a learning when you travel. But, sometimes you learn it in a fun way that lingers in your memories for eternity. I present two such incidents from my travel that taught me to be more hopeful in approaching life. Hippie Island at Hampi: The best things in life are never planned. It is because we have an open mind to embrace any opportunity instead of sticking to a “plan” our ego never let's go off. One such amazing experience was at the Hippie island of Hampi. The second day at Hampi, my plan was to go “planless”. I just wanted to cross the river and see what that side has. And, it turne...

Feminism is a constantly evolving ideology, keeping it in par with the issues that need to be addressed at every passing time. Over the centuries, there have been innumerable demands that were at the forefront of feminist movements, which were revived upon time based on the growing demands and developments in society. This can be best understood when read in conjunction with the demands fought for in first wave feminism to till now. Some demands, even if claimed to have been achieved, is still not accessible to all the women around the globe. This ‘evolution’ is what makes feminism more inclusive to get associated with and understood through the lens of any other form of discrimination. Thus ‘Intersectionality’ has become a key component of feminism. The struggle for freedom is powered by minds that are deprived of freedom-those that know the value of freedom more than anyone else. Hence feminism has evolved over time as an inclusive platform to fight for the demands of myriad ...

“Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking.” - Rumi                For me “Love is madness” - a state of mind where we are ready to go to any lengths of madness. It doesn’t mean it is wrong but the willingness to accept anything in the pursuit of our own happiness. Deep down it is an egocentric state of mind. We say all kinds of things like we are selfless with the other person to let them mistreat us and still stick to them. But, we tolerate everything because a part of our mind is convinced that our happiness lies with them. It is more like we are addicted to the idea of being with them that other things don’t matter at all.                It is only fair that we usually associate our romantic ideas with what we see in fiction, our escape mechanism from reality. None of the things we see in movies may actually work out the same ...

There is a constant acquisition that Indian men look for a well-educated, good-looking, decent, family girl who can make round rotis. For the uninitiated, this may sound alarming, but, trust me, no Indian girl finds it remotely disturbing. We know this is how it works and have no qualms moving on without wasting a second. In my honest opinion, the above ad is at least straight forward, how much ever problematic it is. It warns women beforehand. But, there are quite a whole lot of ‘educated’ ‘decent’ ‘family’ men who have perfectly mastered the art of masquerading their sexism as wokeness. This is where women get confused because they are always trained to see any remote resemblance of good as benevolence. So, this piece is basically to alert my fellow sisters from such latent sexism and swipe away the first chance they get. And, to my fellow Indian men that we are indeed aware of your silly tactics. 1. It is OK to prefer working woman and be honest about it. But, make sure ...

Never in my life have I considered solo travels to be a yardstick of how ‘alone’ I can be. I just think of it as how well I can ‘manage’ things. Solitude cannot be confused with ‘alone*’. Every time I post my trip’s blog or pictures, I get lots of love for sure. But, at times I get hurtful messages as well-which can be loosely interpreted as I am destined to be alone*. Over time, I got used to it and have never really cared to explain. But, I feel I am obliged to clear certain misconceptions around the A-word for some reason which I will come to later. I might be 27 years old but the only sibling in my family to still throw tantrums that I am the usual ‘ignored’ child. Middle child syndrome is for real, people. Also, the fact that I am not writing a diary to keep it myself but a blog in ‘public’ about things that matter to me means, I want people to engage with me for god sake. I have no shame accepting, I crave attention as much as everyone does. But, if you call me a lone...

Part 1:  Curating My Own Golden Triangle - Delhi (Day 0 - 1) Part 2:   Curating My Own Golden Triangle - Agra (Day 2) Day 3 – Jaipur:           Thoughts about Jaipur: I find it very disturbing that such a big state’s capital is dependent entirely on tourism. I don’t see any other form of development activities going on. People seem very poor and illiterate and sadly I saw police thrashing people in public places very frequently. Though Jaipur is very vibrant, these things again left me with sadness about the poor governance they have been subjected to.           I must say Gypsy Monkey is one place I would recommend to anyone staying in Jaipur. The staff was very friendly. It is only because of them I changed my mind from hiring a bike and decided to explore Jaipur through tuk-tuks and buses only and it was enthralling. My first stop was to the city palace. I don’t feel the entry fees for monument...