Voices

In a few days, it is the 24th anniversary of my mum’s death. It is unimaginable that it’s pretty much a quarter of a century since we last saw each other. Decades have passed since we spoke about anything, since I would awkwardly avoid questions about my private life, and since we shared our distaste for certain celebrities, celebrated our same choices in easy-listening music, and squabbled over what to watch on TV. Losing any loved one early is tough , but losing the person who brought you into the world is especially profound and cruel. Memories help soften the sadness, though. Such as a very young me crying when she had a driving lesson as I thought she was leaving home forever, comically bad holidays on the Isle of Wight, her anger at someone mistaking her “fashionable” highlights for grey hair, her love of Abba , the time she accidentally ended up watching a match at Stamford Bridge when she had only gone to Chelsea to look at its shops, or when she would … [Read more...] about Yes, it’s weird and tasteless – but I’d love to hear Alexa mimic my late mother’s voice

There is no British summer staple quite like going to a music festival. There are the star-studded line-ups, the novelty of wearing wellies in summer, the kudos of attending iconic festivals like Glastonbury , and the opportunity to make lifelong memories with friends. I’ve always been enticed and excited by British festivals , but I have never attended one. Despite the potential highs, the many lows of festivals – such as the lack of safety precautions, the heavy drug use, and the risk of harassment, violence or even death – leave many people, including me, apprehensive, or even scared to go. As festival season fast approaches, I’m reminded of my friends who have attended in the past and told me of their excitement at seeing their favourite musicians perform , the electricity of the crowds, and the joys of camping (which I find hard to believe, but each to their own). But they also described the rowdiness, the sexual harassment and assault, the drug use, and … [Read more...] about Why I’m too scared to go to festivals like Glastonbury

Boris Johnson is teetering on the brink. The people of Tiverton and Honiton have sent him a resounding message: your time is up. Liberal Democrats have put the government on notice once again – just as we did in North Shropshire and in Chesham and Amersham before that. This was an astounding victory in a true-blue part of Devon. The last time the Conservatives lost a parliamentary election in the area was 99 years ago. We didn’t just win – we overturned the largest by-election majority in British electoral history. Lifelong Conservative voters said “enough is enough”. The reality is that in this beautiful part of Devon, and across the country, people are sick and tired of this Conservative government. People are doing their bit – working hard, playing by the rules and raising their families. They deserve a fair deal. But they feel let down by a government that has neglected them and their communities for far too long. That feeling – of being taken for … [Read more...] about The people of Tiverton and Honiton have spoken for Britain

Six years since the vote, and two years since the UK actually left the EU , Professor Sir John Curtice’s poll of polls suggests that 52 per cent would vote in a new referendum to rejoin the EU and 48 per cent to stay out. It feels as if we are fated to be divided by the cursed ratio for ever. That is why Boris Johnson ’s slogan about uniting the country and levelling up sounds so hollow. His premiership is built on division. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. Democratic votes are binary. But there are different political styles. Tony Blair sought to put up a big tent that was so unifying it felt at times as if everyone was in it. Johnson himself tried to be an inclusive politician when he was mayor of London, twice persuading a Labour city to vote for a liberal, pro-immigration Conservative . That changed in 2016, when he and Michael Gove inevitably became leaders of approximately half of the population, divided from the other half by a fissure that was … [Read more...] about The legacy of the Brexit referendum is a divided, confused Britain

It's late March 1995, and the 900 block of Geary Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin District buzzes with its evening routine: A few junkies linger near the Salem Market, some hookers on a break stroll the avenue and a couple of tourists, who've perhaps strayed too far from Fisherman's Wharf, try to hail a cab. The orange awning of the Edinburgh Castle Pub, a Scottish tavern, flaps in the oncoming fog. Beyond the beaten up wooden doors, the long bar is packed with a crowd of mostly ill-fit patrons, waiting for the night's entertainment. They grab pints of beer, shots of whiskey, and head upstairs to a cavernous theater space decked out with a backdrop of corrugated metal, a red carpet and a bird cage. As the patrons settle into the mismatched chairs, the lights go down. A round-faced giant in a leather jacket takes the stage. Irvine Welsh , a big, bad, bald guy relatively unknown in the United States at the time, reads a story titled "Disney Matter" from his collection, "The … [Read more...] about ESSAY / Edinburgh Castle a literary fortress in the Tenderloin

Welcome to 2018 – a world where exploitation of women and the “feminist sex wars” are increasing in parallel. Porn is more popular than ever, nude photos have become a digital currency for blackmailers and the legalisation of prostitution is a government talking point . But how to tackle these issues? The so-called feminist sex wars – the differing approaches of feminists towards issues like porn and prostitution – have raged for decades, but in the age of the internet, sexbots and fourth-wave feminism, the debate has been pushed back into the spotlight. Radical feminists argue that there needs to be a re-evaluation of male sexual entitlement. This means tackling the issue at root, rather than tweaking or engaging with the existing system. Recommended How feminism can help in the fight against transphobia An alternative to this approach is fourth-wave liberal feminism and its “woke” male allies, who believe that if certain damaging words and … [Read more...] about Liberal feminism won’t change anything – it only validates the way men behave now

Being a young girl is pretty good, but mostly because the world hasn’t had a chance to get its claws into you yet and make you miserable. Being teenage while female: awful, a hormonal horror-show spent in the secondary-school hothouse, with boys gawking at your boobs. Your twenties? Why yes, I do have anxiety. Could it be because I’m steering a course between precarious employment and sexual harassment, while people keep telling me my fertility is shrivelling away and I’d better get shacked up ASAP – only all the available men are idiots? World news in pictures Show all 50 Your thirties, though. Much better. In your thirties, you start to know things. Things like what haircut actually suits you and the value of a proper raincoat. More importantly, you know how to say no. Even more importantly, how to say no to men – their expectations, their evaluations, the idea that their opinions should in any way dictate your life. And, … [Read more...] about Jane Fonda only started living for herself in her sixties and that’s a bleak reminder of the power of the patriarchy

I’m a few chapters from finishing one of the most compelling books I’ve read in years and I’ve never been more convinced of our desperate need to challenge the thriving patriarchy in everything we do. Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, in the most methodically candid manner, does exactly what its title claims. Using a smorgasbord of examples, the author spells out the brutal extent to which the communities we procreate, live, work and die in are designed to favour men and disadvantage women almost without exception. And in the vast majority of cases, no one's even aware that it's happening. Criado Perez’s theses, though often built around powerful anecdotes, are all anchored meticulously in hard data. Figures on the dimensions of a smart phone, the schedule of a snowplough, the weight of an army pack, the floor space of a public toilet and the toxicity of nail polish remover all help to tell the bleak, enraging story of a … [Read more...] about More women would follow MacKenzie Bezos by donating their fortunes. Too bad they can’t make it rich

What happens when a son on the verge of divorce, discovers that his father is also keen to sever his relationship with his mother? If the son can’t handle the success of his wife... the father wants freedom from his nagging spouse. Director Raj Mehta tells us that love can dry up in both arranged and love marriages, if they are not nurtured with respect and faith. Ironically, these two ingredients appear to be missing in his treatment of the subject for a large part. There are sequences that raise hopes that the film will say something new, but it ends up only scratching the proverbial surface of male entitlement and chauvinism, to the point of almost normalising them. In a bid to make the bitter pill palatable, the writers have rolled it in so much saccharine of situational humour that the complex subject loses its potency. That the film is largely set in Patiala is not enough. Every time Maneish Paul comes on screen, somebody has to shout ‘Munda’ (boy) from the background. As the … [Read more...] about ‘Jugjugg Jeeyo’ movie review: Anil Kapoor is the throbbing heart of this dysfunctional comedy that works in parts

Boman Irani recently made his OTT debut with Masoom , currently streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar. The word debut, usually reserved for newbies, somehow does not suit this veteran of over 200 films. But Boman, 62, is excited about it. For, every time he signs up to play a new role, he feels like entering a whole new world. Each character is unique, he says. In Masoom , created by Gurmeet Singh, he plays Balraj Kapoor, a well-connected doctor who seems to be holding on to some dark family secrets. Unsurprisingly, this was not the first web series script he was offered. “I got many offers which were pretty good. Somehow, the dates didn’t quite work out. But in Masoom ’s case, I had a nice break after a project,” he says. Despite his preference for being lazy, Boman’s a busy man even at this age. Just a few weeks ago, the Ranveer Singh-starrer Jayeshbhai Jordaar , in which he played a major role, was released. He has finished shooting his portions for Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki , … [Read more...] about Boman Irani on his debut web series ‘Masoom’, script selection, and his approach towards a character