Articles by Zoya Zaidi
The Temples of Khajuraho: Lyricism Carved in Stone
As the sun rises in the east, its first rays are caught by the lofty spires of the temples of Khajuraho, first the Laxmana, then the Kandariya Mahadeva, and then the sun temple of Chitragupta are silhouetted against the blue sky, turning golden in the warm slanting rays of the morning sun.
Migrant child labourers of Bihar in Aligarh
India is among the fastest growing economies in the world. But this economic growth has led to the increasing divide between the rich and the poor. If, on the one hand, four Indians figure among the list of the world’s 10 most rich, 28.6 percent of the Indian population lives below the poverty line.
Photo essay: The Morning Raga
The morning raga of Bhairavi starts softly, almost inaudibly, in madham sur (soft notes) and slowly, very slowly, and gradually builds up into the confluence of crescendos of Alaps (high notes), filling the morning air with its heavenly, supreme melody. Just like the morning itself, that gradually, imperceptibly, unfolds itself to the world.
Devadasi System in Indian Temples
Devadasi literally means God’s (Dev) female servant (Dasi), where according to the ancient Indian practice, young pre-pubertal girls are ‘married off’, ‘given away’ in matrimony to God or local religious deity of the temple. These girls are not allowed to marry, as they were supposedly married to the temple.
Malnutrition in Children: Indian Perspective
The epidemiological and scientific consideration of nutrition is of interest not only to physiologists and physicians but also to sociologists, economists and political leaders of the state.
Urdu – The Language and Poetry
History of a language is the history of the place it is spoken in; the history of the culture it is embedded in; in fact a language is a whole culture in itself. The evolution of a language is affected by the various influences of cultures of invaders and infiltrator from neighbouring countries and far off lands on the existing local culture of a place.
Atrocities on Women Through the Ages
Ages have come and gone and eras will come and go, but the plight of women is not likely to change. For eons, time has helplessly watched excesses done on women in the form of discrimination, oppression, exploitation, degradation, aggression, humiliation, you name it and women have suffered it.
Bonded Labourers: Children of a Lesser God
As the world marked the 12th of June as the “World Against Child Labour Day”, I helplessly watched children working at car-mechanic’s, tailor’s, tea-vendor’s, and at retailer’s shops; working day-in and day-out, being kicked, scolded and beaten-up into submission and labour, sometimes, beyond their capacity.
Widows of Vrindavan
In medieval India, widows were made to shave their heads off, wear coarse white clothes, eat fugal meals (minus spices, believed to excite sexual desires), which they prepared themselves, and sleep on bare floors or at best on rough mats. For them singing, dancing, and even humming was prohibited. Sadly such practices exist even today.
Conversing With Reverend Tony Zekveld: Biblical God
God created us so that we may find our joy and delight in Him. He created us so that we would serve and worship Him. The Bible says that if we don’t begin with the Biblical God, neither will we end up with Him. There may be a way that seems right to you, but its end is the way of death. The Biblical God — He is the true and living God.
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