The Times of India • 3rd January 2025

When giving is a way of life

You don’t need a billionaire’s bank balance to make a world of impact. And that’s what a community called Living My Promise (LMP) is proving, by making philanthropy accessible by encouraging Indians with a net worth of Rs 1 crore or more to pledge at least 50% of their wealth to causes close to their hearts.

The Times of India • 28th December 2024

Wonder drug or worrying fad? Inside the year of Ozempic

​Several celebrities, including Elon Musk, Amy Schumer, and Sharon Osbourne, have publicly discussed their use of the drug. Though it’s not legally available in India, 2024 saw Indians stashing boxes of the drug in their carry-on luggage during trips to the US or even jetting off to wellness clinics in the Middle East to shed the pounds.

The Times of India • 19th October 2024

Death by black magic: Why an 11-year-old was sacrificed inside his own school

Last month, an 11-year-old boy died in a ritual murder. Blind faith, lack of awareness and inadequate legal mechanisms allow these practices to continue

The Times of India • 5th October 2024

TIFR study uses psychedelic drug to trace neuron that can reduce anxiety

The word psychedelic may evoke wild, mind-bending trips out of the ‘60s. But what if the same trippy substances used in LSD & magic mushrooms could be harnessed to treat mental health issues? A TIFRScience
team may have unlocked that

The Times of India • 28th September 2024

‘I envy your country, you still have many movie theatres,’ says Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore

Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore. The man is a curious mix of bittersweet nostalgia for the past and excitement for how AI might level the playing field for future filmmakers

The Times of India • 26th September 2024

Biometric Identity Crisis: Hand Transplant Recipients Face Challenges

In a world where biometrics are key to identity, what happens when it doesn’t quite match up? A number of transplant patients find themselves in a twilight zone as surgeries rob them of their digital uniqueness

The Times of India • 15th September 2024

Pink chaddis to spine models, how small props play big role in protests

In India, civil unrest usually involves chants, posters, street plays, night marches, songs… & sometimes, something more tangible to get a point across - protest props - everyday objects that are hard to miss, harder to ignore & the desperation that drove people to it

The Times of India • 11th August 2024

NHRC issues new guidelines to end discrimination against widows

In May 2022, two villages in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district banned regressive customs against widows, inspiring others. MP Supriya Sule introduced a bill to eliminate these practices. Recently, NHRC issued guidelines for protecting widows' rights, including setting up support cells and maintaining welfare homes

The Times of India • 23rd June 2024

Meet the city samaritans bringing dignity in death to unclaimed bodies

In a city that never sleeps, some folks are often alone and forgotten, even in death but her last moments are also a reminder of the few good folks in the city, who have devoted themselves to ensuring that those who die alone or unclaimed receive a dignified funeral, at their own cost, despite knowing nothing about them until that moment.

The Times of India • 15th June 2024

Long live longevity! Why everyone is trying to turn the clock back

A greying world has meant a new focus on living longer and healthier. A look at how science and money are coming together in the quest for immortality

The Times of India • 20th May 2024

The bitter truth of quickie gate-cane weddings in Marathwada's sugar belt

Despite efforts by village authorities to crack down on child marriages by roping in priests, tent owners, music bands, decorators, caterers and card printers, these impromptu gate-cane weddings — stripped of all wedding festivities — remain difficult to detect or prevent.

The Times of India • 6th April 2024

Talk like a woman: Surgery helps trans women find their voices

Those who struggle with their old, ‘male’ voices now have the option of completing their transition as voice feminisation procedures become more accessible in metros

The Times of India • 2nd March 2024

Bonded Labour in Maharashtra’s Sugarcane Belt: A Bitter Reality

Greedy contractors shackle vulnerable tribals with promises of a proper house or salary advances. It could lead to generations of bonded labour.

Times Of India • 27th November 2023

Why India is still waiting for its first face transplant

Three hospitals get licences, but the surgery that could offer hope to acid attack survivors and burn victims is facing several roadblocks

Times Of India • 29th October 2023

Community-led study sheds light on urgent toilet needs of nomadic homes

In the sprawling Circus Ground in Ambernath, Pooja Ingole and her family navigate life in a tent community, home to 530 families for close to three decades, their homes held up by bamboo poles or asbestos sheets that barely shield them from the realities they endure.

Times Of India • 20th August 2023

How Manipur's trans footballers are coaching kids stuck in relief camps

In 2020, Manipur witnessed the emergence of India's first all-trans football team 'Ya.All' - meaning 'you all' in English, 'revolution' in Manipuri and 'inclusive revolution' when combined. Currently, this team is on a new mission - coaching children stranded in Manipur's relief camps in the midst of an ethnic conflict that has plunged the state into civil unrest since May.

Times Of India • 20th August 2023

The hairy story behind India’s ‘black gold’ exports

It’s an overcast Monday morning in a low-income housing colony in Bengaluru’s Kamala Nagar. Malleesh, 21, Parasuram, 21, and Ravi , 24, are on a peculiar quest. Swinging a large sack slung over one shoulder while balancing a hefty net, crammed with aluminium vessels, they make their way through the neighbourhood, hollering ‘Kudalu patre kasu’ (vessels for hair), a boisterous call in hot pursuit of something valuable to them: balls of fallen human hair.

Times Of India • 30th July 2023

'No spl disability tag for spinal injury has left 1.5m survivors in lurch'

In September 2012, tragedy struck the Galgatte family from Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district during a promised temple visit with their six-month-old child, Tanmay. Their van collided with another car, leaving Tanmay's mother, Ashvini, with a life-altering spinal cord injury. Just a week later, Tanmay's father succumbed to his injuries.

The Times of India • 26th June 2023

Sign language is going mainstream silently as ‘hearing’ folks enrol for course

Within the noise of spoken words, there exists a silent superpower that goes largely untapped — sign language or the use of hand shapes, body movements and facial expressions as a form of non-verbal communication — which isn’t just for breaking down barriers with the deaf but can be a cheat code for the hearing population.

The Times of India • 18th June 2023

The Mindhunters: How brain mapping detects memories of crime

In the shadowy realm of crime, the human brain isn’t merely a cunning accomplice. It can also be the ultimate snitch. Over the last two decades, ‘ Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature (BEOS) profiling’ — also referred to as ‘brain-mapping’ or ‘brain fingerprinting’— has emerged as a forensic tool meant to unlock criminal secrets within the grey matter and crack open a case when traditional investigative methods hit a wall.

The Times of India • 29th May 2023

How Chhattisgarh's 'live-in' tradition is taking a toll on Adivasi kids

In the lush forests of Surguja district in northern Chhattisgarh where the Mahabharata still resonates, live two primitive tribes — the Pando claiming lineage to the Pandavas and the Korwa to the Kauravas. However, despite their unique cultural heritage, children from these tribes have been bearing the weight of a time-honoured tradition. More and more couples are embracing the tradition of dhuku to save expense of a lavish wedding but for the children they neglect or abandon, there is a heavy price to pay

The Times of India • 17th April 2023

Look Ma, new hands

Imagine looking down at your hands and seeing a stranger’s fingers. We spoke to recipients of hand transplants about their struggles as well as the joy of doing small tasks again.

The Times of India • 2nd April 2023

To stop child marriage, Maharashtra & Gujarat eye village budgets, rope in priests & caterers

Every silver lining has a cloud. The fifth National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2019-21, confirmed that the incidence of child marriages in India had steadily declined from 47% in 2005-06 to 23% during the latest survey. However, a closer examination revealed that the coronavirus outbreak had left young girls more vulnerable than ever.

The Times of India • 26th March 2023

Decoding the fictional country of Kailasa that catfished 30 US cities

It was a usual scene at the annual meetings hosted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in the UN Office headquarters at Geneva, last month. Conference-goers — NGOs, permanent missions, academic institutions from different countries — filed into a room inside the historic Palais Wilson building to discuss their rights.What was unusual was a delegation of about a dozen women — decked in gold jewel