Let us rewind the past week.
In Noida, a riot-like situation over a domestic worker puts the focus on India’s bitter class chasm
It was “Malda again”, some said on social media, referring to the communal violence in 2016. Others demanded Bangladeshis be thrown out of India. At the centre of this exaggerated panic was a dispute between a family and their maid, the latest manifestation of the hostility between privileged Indians and their domestic workers. Read more here.
Also read: Branded as Bangladeshis: In Noida, anger turns to fear for domestic workers after police raid
As rail station in Modi’s hometown gets a makeover, a resident asks: ‘How many jobs will it create?’
Vadnagar station, where Narendra Modi once sold chai, is in the midst of a Rs 8-crore upgrade. But in a town where jobs are hard to come by and young men travel to nearby Mehsana for work, a resident asked, “But how many jobs will that create?” He added, “I voted for them [BJP] but after three years, there really is not much to show.” Read more here.
Why did 70,000 fans flock to a town in Tamil Nadu to watch Indians motor-racing in the early 1970s?
Over the first two weekends of February every year till the late 1980s, at a disused World War II airstrip, screaming engines, the smell of burning rubber, exotic machines and the mad men who piloted them came together in a heady carnival of speed that to this day remains the biggest celebration of Indian motorsport. Read more here.
With few takers for safflower oil, farmers are moving away from this healthy, hardy crop
Safflower has the highest percentage of good fat, the second lowest bad fat content, and is rich in linoleic acid that helps reduce cholesterol levels. Sadly, the urban middle class is unaware of the heart-friendly safflower oil. And farmers are abandoning its cultivation, thanks to low market demand and unattractive prices. Read more here.
Photo essay: For women burns survivors in India, life can be a trial by fire
Asma, like most burn survivors at Chennai’s International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care’s Recovery & Healing Centre, was under pressure to report her suicide attempt as an accident. She did not have a job or parental support, which meant she had to go back to living with her husband post-treatment. Read more here.
Also read: How a dowry death in Delhi gave birth to feminist street theatre in India