Kolkata Bloggers Meet and Tea with the US Consul General

With the US Consul General Ms. Helen LaFave. Picture - Ipshita Nandi Banerjee

The last couple of days have been a very pleasant experience for the blogger in me. The Kolkata Bloggers Meet, hosted on Sunday, saw a riveting discussion by 37 bloggers, ranging from absolutely young and new bloggers, to veterans in the field. The very next day saw three members of Kolkata Bloggers (Anirban Saha, Sourav Ghosh and yours truly) being invited by the US Consul General for a discussion over tea at her residence. Also present were people from the fields of print media, radio and digital marketing.

Kiss And Tell

Protesters in Delhi celebrate love. Picture - Youth Ki Awaaz

Welcome to India, the hotbed of ridiculous controversies. The latest to hit the streets is a protest against moral policing, that originated in Kochi and rapidly spread to other parts of the country - including Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata. The protest, being called the "Kiss of Love Campaign", was sparked off when members of the youth wing of the BJP reportedly vandalised a cafe in Kochi, following reports of a young couple engaging in kissing and hugging at that place.

Why #KissofLove?

#Vote4Children - This Time For Education

She looks up at the skies in hope – a hope of liberation from the shackles of labour. But soon, her master’s screams send her crashing back to reality. She is only ten years old, yet forced to work as a servant. Her family needs the money to survive. In her heart, she wonders what she did wrong to fall into this punishment. She looks up at the skies again, but all she can see are dark clouds, echoing the gloom in her life.

Such is the story of over 126 lakh children in India today. In addition, roughly 140 lakh children in the country have never seen the inside of a school. We are a land of contradictions – India dreams of becoming a superpower, yet a third of the world’s poor still reside here. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, yet home to the most number of malnourished children. Indians are part of the most educated circles in the world, yet the country is plagued with illiteracy.