#february-writing — Public Fediverse posts

Every Conversation Matters: Paani Mila, the new mock!

To be socially aware,to speak up,to stay charged is something I have been brought up with. Just like my mother was. My grandfather taught his children to stay curious, to question and to NEVER call themselves “apolitical.”

 So naturally,when I was in my formative years(read teenage ) there were a lot of debates,lots of fights with my parents,relatives about how WE should live our lives.

 I still haven’t stopped voicing my opinions and no one,I repeat no one likes a woman who is opinionated. (my opinions are not restricted to the internet,so mind you there aren’t many people who like talking to me)

Especially when in this era of Divide and Rule,which has been going on since forever. Please, let’s make one thing clear. I was 14,when I was told to go back to Pakistan. 

So,yes my voice might have mellowed down because it’s like they say “the hate needed a push,and ten years ago everyone was given a licence to hate.

 But, today I’m not going to talk about that. Let’s talk about what’s happening in 2026.

 Few weeks back there was a w**ar. I call it wa**r because that’s what it absolutely is. Two social media accounts start attacking each other on harassment,being casteist and calling out each other. Obviously,the internet was divided. Then another social media account got added to the debate. Naturally,everyone and I mean people who make content around casteism,social issues started talking about it as well. 

As much as it was fascinating to see the casteist people take off their masks, it broke my heart. It broke my heart to see a YOUTUBER, someone who calls herself a JOURNALIST,mocking at a protest. Do you know what her mocking question for the marginalised castes was?(which includes SC/ST/OBC) It was “Paani mila?”(Did you get water?).

A woman,a savarna woman thrusted a mic in the face of students in a protest asking them did they get water. No, she wasn’t concerned about their hydration. She was mocking the systematic casteism that had her ancestors deny lower castes and Dalit communities from accessing clean drinking water.

All of the headlines came rushing back to me. You think caste-based violence just cropped up suddenly? Every week,Dalit children,Dalit women,Dalit farmers are poisoned,beaten to death or cut up into pieces.

What’s the point of your “education” if that’s what you have reduced to. I remember when I took the newspaper seriously and I wouldn’t be fully awake before reading the newspaper and in that tiny space on the left hand corner of page 8,there would be news about a Dalit man killed. It would always be that tiny space. That was 2008.

In 2026, savarna people,irrespective of gender, are MOCKING. Still killing the Dalit and lower caste people and people are silent. YOU are silent. Even YOU know the clear Divide and Rule in play and yet YOU have not raised your voice. 

Have you spoken about how the downtrodden are getting attacked every day in some district,some village because they are not Brahmin?  

Then I understood. As long as it doesn’t happen to you,you are comfortable. You aren’t haunted because hey! You have a luxurious lifestyle.

Oh but a Dalit shouldn’t get the luxurious lifestyle. No. That you can’t digest. Like a poet  issesomeletters writes “of how far ,caste privilege was willing to go to defend itself.” It’s not because they are in danger. How many Brahmin deaths have you seen? Can you make a guess of how many newspaper articles have I read of Dalit women, children and men killed in the last 28 years?

Your protest ,your discussions in closed brahmanical spaces would have made sense if I didn’t have the statistics of every week when a person from a marginalised community wasn’t attacked.

Jaati hi nahi jatii.(caste is the one and only thing that doesn’t go away) 

 Aleena also says while acts like done in the student protests have been done in the past and will happen again because like you can see, OUR response to caste-based violence is “oh no! It’s still happening. It’s 2026.” and then we don’t give a f*uck. 

The anti-caste movement will be attacked again. I look forward to seeing what your response would be to that,reader. 

Because we love mocking “paani mila??” And that’s the entirety of your argument. 

This post is a part of ‘Echoes of Equality Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters blog hop series.

Every Conversation Matters: Paani Mila, the new mock!

To be socially aware,to speak up,to stay charged is something I have been brought up with. Just like my mother was. My grandfather taught his children to stay curious, to question and to NEVER call themselves “apolitical.”

 So naturally,when I was in my formative years(read teenage ) there were a lot of debates,lots of fights with my parents,relatives about how WE should live our lives.

 I still haven’t stopped voicing my opinions and no one,I repeat no one likes a woman who is opinionated. (my opinions are not restricted to the internet,so mind you there aren’t many people who like talking to me)

Especially when in this era of Divide and Rule,which has been going on since forever. Please, let’s make one thing clear. I was 14,when I was told to go back to Pakistan. 

So,yes my voice might have mellowed down because it’s like they say “the hate needed a push,and ten years ago everyone was given a licence to hate.

 But, today I’m not going to talk about that. Let’s talk about what’s happening in 2026.

 Few weeks back there was a w**ar. I call it wa**r because that’s what it absolutely is. Two social media accounts start attacking each other on harassment,being casteist and calling out each other. Obviously,the internet was divided. Then another social media account got added to the debate. Naturally,everyone and I mean people who make content around casteism,social issues started talking about it as well. 

As much as it was fascinating to see the casteist people take off their masks, it broke my heart. It broke my heart to see a YOUTUBER, someone who calls herself a JOURNALIST,mocking at a protest. Do you know what her mocking question for the marginalised castes was?(which includes SC/ST/OBC) It was “Paani mila?”(Did you get water?).

A woman,a savarna woman thrusted a mic in the face of students in a protest asking them did they get water. No, she wasn’t concerned about their hydration. She was mocking the systematic casteism that had her ancestors deny lower castes and Dalit communities from accessing clean drinking water.

All of the headlines came rushing back to me. You think caste-based violence just cropped up suddenly? Every week,Dalit children,Dalit women,Dalit farmers are poisoned,beaten to death or cut up into pieces.

What’s the point of your “education” if that’s what you have reduced to. I remember when I took the newspaper seriously and I wouldn’t be fully awake before reading the newspaper and in that tiny space on the left hand corner of page 8,there would be news about a Dalit man killed. It would always be that tiny space. That was 2008.

In 2026, savarna people,irrespective of gender, are MOCKING. Still killing the Dalit and lower caste people and people are silent. YOU are silent. Even YOU know the clear Divide and Rule in play and yet YOU have not raised your voice. 

Have you spoken about how the downtrodden are getting attacked every day in some district,some village because they are not Brahmin?  

Then I understood. As long as it doesn’t happen to you,you are comfortable. You aren’t haunted because hey! You have a luxurious lifestyle.

Oh but a Dalit shouldn’t get the luxurious lifestyle. No. That you can’t digest. Like a poet  issesomeletters writes “of how far ,caste privilege was willing to go to defend itself.” It’s not because they are in danger. How many Brahmin deaths have you seen? Can you make a guess of how many newspaper articles have I read of Dalit women, children and men killed in the last 28 years?

Your protest ,your discussions in closed brahmanical spaces would have made sense if I didn’t have the statistics of every week when a person from a marginalised community wasn’t attacked.

Jaati hi nahi jatii.(caste is the one and only thing that doesn’t go away) 

 Aleena also says while acts like done in the student protests have been done in the past and will happen again because like you can see, OUR response to caste-based violence is “oh no! It’s still happening. It’s 2026.” and then we don’t give a f*uck. 

The anti-caste movement will be attacked again. I look forward to seeing what your response would be to that,reader. 

Because we love mocking “paani mila??” And that’s the entirety of your argument. 

This post is a part of ‘Echoes of Equality Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters blog hop series.

Every Conversation Matters:Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

This post is a part of ‘Embrace the Native Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters.

I am writing this towards the deadline. It shows that I initially struggled in writing this piece. Then I sat down. What’s the common thread in our house that binds the four people in my family? The answer was right in front of me. It was music.

 No, not just Hindi. Carnatic, Hindustani classical, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam songs and musicians also cross state borders. They join with folk songs of the north belt. 

You see, I have been living in Delhi for 30 years. My mother was born and raised here. My father spent most of his young and old life in Delhi. We would all speak majorly in the Delhi slang at home. This slang was an accumulation of Urdu, Persian, and Hindi. 

No, my mother tongue is not Urdu. No one speaks Urdu in my extended family. My grandparents on both sides have passed down the Uttar Pradesh dialect, if any. They too had been living in Delhi for so many years that we all spoke through songs. Music. 

I am today going to talk about how the melodies of my life have taught me many lessons. Whether in a Dravidian language or a North Indian dialect, these melodies have enriched my life. This music has connected to many more hearts. I looked outside my family and found another music-loving family in the various languages I listen to songs today.

1. Kuch Toh Log Kahenge

This song is from the ever iconic Rajesh Khanna starred “Amar Prem.” In it, the actress Sharmila Tagore is crying silently. She faces ridicule because of her profession. This song has healed me every time I have let others’ words affect me. My favorite part of the song is its first stanza and as a woman,as a person who has always taken decisions against the wave is this:

कुछ रीत जगत की ऐसी है

हर एक सुबह की शाम हुई

कुछ रीत जगत की ऐसी है

हर एक सुबह की शाम हुई

तू कौन है, तेरा नाम है क्या

सीता भी यहाँ बदनाम हुई

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6q7BVZXOUU

It is this part in particular that stops my tears because this is the essence of the song. It’s the literal translation of “ignore the noise.” The next morning they would have something to say “kyunki logo ka kaam hai kehna.”

1. Chaiyya Chaiyya

This song was one I would listen to before Shahrukh Khan started dancing on it at events or award functions. It helped me understand love. To understand passion, the junoon of an individual and how mad one can get in love. Before there existed the OMG look for the song, this song for me was especially the range Sukhwinder Singh provides to this part:

यार मिसाले ओस 

चले पाँव के तले फिरदौस चले 

कभी दाल दाल कभी पात पात 

में हवा पे ढूंदु उसके निशाँ 

सारे इश्क़ की छाओं चले

 छय्यां छय्यां

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PimKrn3XkuU

To find paradise in the feet of the woman you love. That’s a madness only shahrukh could understand which is why it is such a banger now. Also why I am such a huge romantic at heart. If you go back to the song,you will find yourself getting the same adrenaline rush at this exact moment. 

1. Vaseegara

Some ten years ago I found Vaseegara online and found my sister singing the song to herself and hook,line and snicker. I was addicted to the song. I couldn’t stop listening to the song. I played it again and again. The power of the Tamil version was so strong. I stopped listening to the Hindi version. The Hindi version is Zara Zara in the movie “Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein”. The Tamil Song is sung by Bombay Jayashri and composed by one of my favorites Harris Jayaraj. Attaching the link to the video of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew1fKCWb_M4

1. Aa Chal Ke Tujhe 

When I must have been a 7 year old kid or even younger, my father used to sing this song. The sadness and joy from this song are breathtaking. They have touched us over the many years. The hope for love, a utopian world devoid of hatred. Perhaps that’s why I have never known hate in its literal sense. I grew up listening to lyrics that wanted to make love thrive. My favorite part of the song is the first stanza. Once you listen to it, there is no going back. 

सूरज की पहली किरण से, आशा का सवेरा जागे

सूरज की पहली किरण से, आशा का सवेरा जागे

चंदा की किरण से धुल कर, घनघोर अंधेरा भागे

चंदा की किरण से धुल कर, घनघोर अंधेरा भागे

कभी धूप खिले कभी छाँव मिले

लम्बी सी डगर न खले

The magic of this song is the authenticity. The singer brings you back from the trance of the utopian world. However, this song lifts me up to spread more love. It encourages me to give more hugs and always have my arms open to get love. 

These are just four songs. My native language is a mixture of so many dialects and languages. I connect only to people who know about these songs (just kidding) 😂 or these kinds of songs. My heart connects to so many other hearts because of the songs we listen to. 

If you want to know my playlist, let me know. If you want a song recommendation from the Dravidian languages, let me know. You never know our surs match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_8VmzWOsgs

Every Conversation Matters:Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

This post is a part of ‘Embrace the Native Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters.

I am writing this towards the deadline. It shows that I initially struggled in writing this piece. Then I sat down. What’s the common thread in our house that binds the four people in my family? The answer was right in front of me. It was music.

 No, not just Hindi. Carnatic, Hindustani classical, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam songs and musicians also cross state borders. They join with folk songs of the north belt. 

You see, I have been living in Delhi for 30 years. My mother was born and raised here. My father spent most of his young and old life in Delhi. We would all speak majorly in the Delhi slang at home. This slang was an accumulation of Urdu, Persian, and Hindi. 

No, my mother tongue is not Urdu. No one speaks Urdu in my extended family. My grandparents on both sides have passed down the Uttar Pradesh dialect, if any. They too had been living in Delhi for so many years that we all spoke through songs. Music. 

I am today going to talk about how the melodies of my life have taught me many lessons. Whether in a Dravidian language or a North Indian dialect, these melodies have enriched my life. This music has connected to many more hearts. I looked outside my family and found another music-loving family in the various languages I listen to songs today.

1. Kuch Toh Log Kahenge

This song is from the ever iconic Rajesh Khanna starred “Amar Prem.” In it, the actress Sharmila Tagore is crying silently. She faces ridicule because of her profession. This song has healed me every time I have let others’ words affect me. My favorite part of the song is its first stanza and as a woman,as a person who has always taken decisions against the wave is this:

कुछ रीत जगत की ऐसी है

हर एक सुबह की शाम हुई

कुछ रीत जगत की ऐसी है

हर एक सुबह की शाम हुई

तू कौन है, तेरा नाम है क्या

सीता भी यहाँ बदनाम हुई

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6q7BVZXOUU

It is this part in particular that stops my tears because this is the essence of the song. It’s the literal translation of “ignore the noise.” The next morning they would have something to say “kyunki logo ka kaam hai kehna.”

1. Chaiyya Chaiyya

This song was one I would listen to before Shahrukh Khan started dancing on it at events or award functions. It helped me understand love. To understand passion, the junoon of an individual and how mad one can get in love. Before there existed the OMG look for the song, this song for me was especially the range Sukhwinder Singh provides to this part:

यार मिसाले ओस 

चले पाँव के तले फिरदौस चले 

कभी दाल दाल कभी पात पात 

में हवा पे ढूंदु उसके निशाँ 

सारे इश्क़ की छाओं चले

 छय्यां छय्यां

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PimKrn3XkuU

To find paradise in the feet of the woman you love. That’s a madness only shahrukh could understand which is why it is such a banger now. Also why I am such a huge romantic at heart. If you go back to the song,you will find yourself getting the same adrenaline rush at this exact moment. 

1. Vaseegara

Some ten years ago I found Vaseegara online and found my sister singing the song to herself and hook,line and snicker. I was addicted to the song. I couldn’t stop listening to the song. I played it again and again. The power of the Tamil version was so strong. I stopped listening to the Hindi version. The Hindi version is Zara Zara in the movie “Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein”. The Tamil Song is sung by Bombay Jayashri and composed by one of my favorites Harris Jayaraj. Attaching the link to the video of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew1fKCWb_M4

1. Aa Chal Ke Tujhe 

When I must have been a 7 year old kid or even younger, my father used to sing this song. The sadness and joy from this song are breathtaking. They have touched us over the many years. The hope for love, a utopian world devoid of hatred. Perhaps that’s why I have never known hate in its literal sense. I grew up listening to lyrics that wanted to make love thrive. My favorite part of the song is the first stanza. Once you listen to it, there is no going back. 

सूरज की पहली किरण से, आशा का सवेरा जागे

सूरज की पहली किरण से, आशा का सवेरा जागे

चंदा की किरण से धुल कर, घनघोर अंधेरा भागे

चंदा की किरण से धुल कर, घनघोर अंधेरा भागे

कभी धूप खिले कभी छाँव मिले

लम्बी सी डगर न खले

The magic of this song is the authenticity. The singer brings you back from the trance of the utopian world. However, this song lifts me up to spread more love. It encourages me to give more hugs and always have my arms open to get love. 

These are just four songs. My native language is a mixture of so many dialects and languages. I connect only to people who know about these songs (just kidding) 😂 or these kinds of songs. My heart connects to so many other hearts because of the songs we listen to. 

If you want to know my playlist, let me know. If you want a song recommendation from the Dravidian languages, let me know. You never know our surs match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_8VmzWOsgs