Girl Up Neev

Sold and destroyed like mere objects,  Their dignity shattered, no respect,  Taken from their homes and their lands,  Forced into slavery, by ruthless hands.  Their bodies used, their souls destroyed,  Deprived of their rights, and left devoid,  Of hope and freedom, they suffer in pain,  Their dreams and futures, all in vain.  We must raise our voices and stand tall,  To fight this evil, once and for all,  Give them strength and a brighter light,  To restore their lives, and end the fight.  For every woman who's trafficked and lost,  We must come together, no matter the cost,  And help them regain what they've been denied,  Their dignity, their freedom, and their pride. - Ria Dembla

Queer is an umbrella term that describes sexual orientation and gender identities apart from straight and cisgenders. As time goes by, we can see how the queer community as a whole is evolving and there are significant changes with respect to the growth patterns amongst the community and the platforms and opportunities they have been exposed to. When we talk about the importance of recognition, we can see the changing trends in that too. Looking back at the situation ten or fifteen years back, homosexuality was seen as a taboo and indeed a crime in India. As societies developed and transformed, the LGBTQ community gradually started getting the recognition they always looked for. The community has always remained closeted because they feared discrimination not just by society, but also amongst their own peer groups, families, schools, etc. Today, even though homosexuality has been accepted, understood and acknowledged amongst the younger generations, there have still been stories of str...

Startup Industry is at its peak right now in India and the world. In recent years, India has emerged as a hub for startups, with a thriving ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors, and support organizations. According to a report by Nasscom and Zinnov, India is home to over 50,000 startups, and the country is poised to become the world's third-largest startup ecosystem by 2025. Women have historically been underrepresented in the startup world, with just a tiny fraction of venture capital funding going to female-led businesses. Despite an increase in unicorns and startup founders, women founders are still a very minute part of the pie and receive very less funding compared to their male counterparts. According to Pam Kostka, CEO of All Raise, in 2019, only a meagre 12% of U.S. venture capital funding was directed towards female-led startups, despite two years of record-breaking investments worth over $130 billion by U.S. venture capitalists. With the current economic recession, women...

To call women the weaker sex is slander. If she did not have more inner strength, self-sacrifice, and resistance then men and mankind would not have survived. India’s struggle for freedom, commonly referred to as the Indian Independence Movement was a series of historical events with an ultimate aim of bringing an end to the British colonial rule in India. Whenever the record of India’s freedom struggle is composed, the sacrifices created by Indian women will surely find the most prominent place in it.  Leaders like the Rani of Ramgarh, Rani Jindan Kaur, Rani Tace Bai, Baiza Bai, Chauhan Rani, and Tapasvini Maharani led their troops into battle against the British in the First War of Independence in 1857. We can’t talk about this battle without mentioning the heroism displayed by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, who valiantly defended the fort of Jhansi against the rebellion by the East India Company. Even after her troops were overwhelmed, Rani Laxmibai did not surrender.  Further...

A popular actress once said that “in the world of Kardashians, be an Audrey.” This is probably because of the beauty standards being defined as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” The Kardashian are known for creating trends which are now affecting the youth: losing a large amount of weight in less time, plastic surgery, fillers etc. The youth today is becoming so influenced that in order to feel capable and qualified, they need to be perfect all the time. While on the other side was Audrey Hepburn, who said that with beauty comes kindness and love for humanity, two polar different thoughts depend on which affects us deeply.   Being Indian, the beauty standards were always bothersome: “Oh look she is not fair like her mom.”  “Kitni Moti Hai re woh!”  (look how fat she is) “How can she even wear such clothes?”  Sometimes, I even wonder with going further in time if people are becomi...

I get ready to go out, wearing a strappy top and a relative tells me to cover up with a jacket.   "Your bra strap is showing." "You don't know how these boys' minds work!"  "Why do you want to show so much?" are some things I hear on the regular.   Walking out of my house, I'm met with the ogling eyes of the public as I tend to hold my bag closer to me, phone in hand in case I need to call someone urgently. I have seen my college berate girls on the basis of what they wear and in school I've been a victim of it. Every time my mother constantly pesters me with my location, the numbers of who I'm out with and keeps calling me if I don't message back, reminds me of the one basic fact that my life seems to revolve around. The fact that I'm a female in a male dominated world stuck in the deep embedded institution of patriarchy. You fight for something, you're triggered. You express emotions, you're hormonal an...

  While having held the privilege of better job opportunities, a say in the country’s systems & politics & the freedom to pursue whatever pleases one’s heart, men have also had to bear the brunt of the societal standards fixated on them. Because of the gender inequality that persists in society, it is not intuitive for anyone to understand the pressure men are under & society’s role in reducing it. For eons, men have had to shoulder the responsibility of being the sole bread earners of the family. Ever since childhood, they are taught to put up a bold face & face the world headstrong to provide for food on the table. It is ingrained in their minds that it is their sole responsibility to ‘provide’ for the family. If not, they are not fulfilling their moral duties. They have had to live up to the labels of being ‘strong’ & ‘successful’. Branching from this pressure is the machismo we see affecting both the men & women equally. Beholding the title of ‘the bread...