a personal account for those of you who still have the audacity to make statements like "oh casteism is restricted to these small rural communities, not urban cities like ours"
Bangalore, 2015 - dad and I were going around applying at colleges for my 11th and 12th (1/n)
thinking about the time when I was 13 and my parents made me sing waka waka in the apartment as a part of Independence Day celebrations - including having me change and sing "this time for Africa" to "this time for India😍🇮🇳"
this is my villain origin story
Just because you haven't experienced it or seen it with your own eyes, gives you NO right to deny the existence of a system which continues to actively oppress millions of people across the demographic of this country (8/n)
what fatphobia does to a mf:
growing up I'd sit and daydream about how much better I'd have looked if I got a full blown liposuction - a fourteen year old kid dreaming about liposuction tell me how any of this is okay
update: bribe was complete waste - should have adopted sudha murthy approach and gotten simple holige from malleshwaram 17th cross instead of western cupcake
The fact that someone at the highest levels of an educational institution reaffirmed her beliefs in an archaic system, just goes to show how deep rooted these belief systems are in the societies we live and participate in (6/n)
As I was leaving, I overheard her calling in the peon in and instructing him to DISPOSE the cups in which tea was served to us - not wash but straight up throw the damn cups away (a shame since they were pretty nice tea cups) - and this blew my mind (5/n)
This is just one of the thousands of stories I've heard and read about - people being denied jobs, housing, educational opportunities, access to common facilities - all in urban, metropolitan cities and all owing to the caste that they were born into (7/n)
bro imagine running thru a 35 page article only to then find out that that the last 20 pages are just footnotes and citations
oh the small joys of life
Hesitantly, I filled in that I was a member of an OBC in the space provided - she took a look at the form and instantly the mood and the tone of the principal shifted - within minutes the interview was over and dad and I were asked to leave her cabin (4/n)
at this particular college, the principal had invited us to sit down for a chat as she reviewed my application (and possible admission) - the college was considered to be of great repute in terms of producing toppers and "traditional values" among other things (2/n)
Naturally, my parents were keen that I join there (much to my displeasure) and as we sat for the interview, she noted that we hadn't filled the caste/community column - I remarked that it wasn't relevant as my marks met the cutoff set but she insisted that we fill it (3/n)
update: after submissions were advanced in the matter, bench after a marathon hearing has risen for the day and will continue deliberations in chambers (went to sleep)
@RockbottomRo
the bank stays committed to providing the same standard of customer service across continents you have to respect consistency when you see it
I’m sorry but what the fuck is “retweets are not endorsements” supposed to mean like why would you retweet something if you don’t endorse the opinion that it shares like I simply don’t trust people who go through to the effort to state something like that
the proliferation of work-related communication onto WhatsApp (arguably a personal medium) has to be one of the worst takeaways from WFH culture because wtf you mean my cat taking a gentle snooze display picture isn’t “professional” enough and is not very “client facing” of me
Changi Airport (has artificial waterfalls inside) - wow what a spectacle western infrastructure is a sight to behold!
Bangalore (Kempegowda International) Airport (water falls inside) - chee so desi kannad infrastructure bad
imagine missing class to finish assignments and then missing class to watch recordings of missed classes and then watching recordings of classes that you missed while trying to catch up on earlier missed classes
bro she really thought she did something with this tweet 😭😭😭 akka you come to 80 feet road sanjaynagar and i’ll show you six restaurants which are just as good, if not better
bec I was maybe 10kg off the ideal BMI - me being fat is what caused me to almost fucking die as I sat at the end of a stressful school day
and yet not a single day goes by where my family doesn't make me feel like shit over the way I look -under the garb of "health concerns"
even today as I walk past one of those clinics that do these liposuction procedures, I sometimes stop for a minute and contemplate - the shame and the internalized guilt it brings is absolutely horrible to live with
currently juggling 3 assignments and a quiz in the next four days as I simultaneously struggle to find ICU beds and essential medications for family members and friends
ah the joys of being an indian student subjected to continuing internal assessments amidst a man made disaster
universities: yes we are mindful of the pandemic and the toll it’s taking on our students - to ease their burden we shall offer them adequate relaxations!
the relaxations in question:
a big part of being an indian kid is not being allowed to do nice things on consecutive days
me: “hey ma I’m going to raj’s birthday today”
ma: “you went yesterday also for some birthday? nothing doing stay at home”
me: “ya but it was girish’s birthday yesterday?!”
ma: “idc”
I don't think people understand just how lonely it gets being a cabbie - between having to pull 16 hour shifts to make a liveable wage and dealing with horrible and classist passengers (and traffic), their only source of comfort and familiarity is on the other side of the phone
imagine missing class to finish assignments and then missing class to watch recordings of missed classes and then watching recordings of classes that you missed while trying to catch up on earlier missed classes
how bro two grown ass adults stood back and said "yes this decision makes sense surely this will not have any long term ramifications on our son who most definitely will not be bullied and subject to ridicule because he trusted his parents to make the right decisions for him"
did we discover that as a consequence of me being premature at birth, I'd developed certain cardiovascular complications which resulted in my high blood pressure
I was 17 years when the diagnosis was made and yet the doctor took one look at me and concluded that -
the first time I was diagnosed with hypertension (excessively high blood pressure), my diagnosing doctor wrote it off as a consequence of my excess weight and simply told me to "lose it and everything would be normal" - only after I insisted that we take a second opinion -
it's always the ladies club president who comes up with these outrageous performance ideas - and my mother who was keen to impress her fellow club members agreed to throw me under the bus and risked absolute public humiliation in exchange for some ladies club clout
just imagine bro holy shit - flag has been hoisted and there's a general feeling of patriotism in the air after having sung the anthem in unison - then comes along this fat kid who starts yelling "SAMINAMINA EH EH WAKA WAKA EH EH"
imagine pulling up and unironically paying 200 bucks for ONE glass of alcohol and thinking “yes this is a wise financial decision” - in addition to the 1500 bucks you’re already paying to enter the damn place
The Indian Political Society at King's College London is debating the "relevance of the caste system in present times"
how divorced do you have to be from social realities to even begin to contemplate something like this I'm sorry but I didn't know this was a two way discussion?
that entire performance is like a fever dream in my mind - I did not realize the ridiculousness of what I was about to do until I stepped on stage and took the mic
confused clapping soon followed and I quietly went home and didn't show my face for three months straight
is it just me or is it an anxiety moment when an unknown number calls ur dad and their expression gets really tense?
and you’re just there thinking about every illegal and immoral act you’ve ever done bec in ur mind the person on the other side is telling them everything 💀
how the fuck have I worked non stop for six hours and I STILL have shit left to DO bro I swear to fucking god if I catch some old motherfucker talk shit about how "online semester kids have it easy" I WILL TAKE YOU OUT WITH MY 400 PAGE NOTEBOOK IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE APARTMENT
@madamec0conut
wait so lemme get this straight - the claim here is that north india’s biggest flex on us south indians is a chain of cafes that serves (checks notes) european food
if you are a law student and you consciously chose to do MUN’s while you could have done a moot instead tells me all I need to know about you as a person
Basu: I’m writing a commentary on the partition act and I need its cover to convey the seriousness of the material contained herewith
designer: say no more