Abhisikta Dasgupta

Abhisikta is a final year student pursuing masters in economics and B.E. Mechanical from BITS- Pilani, Goa Campus (now in Chennai interning). An aspiring artist who thinks of herself as a feminist and loves expressing her ideas and thoughts through paintings and sketches. She was the festival coordinator for the art department for her college cultural fest, Waves 'summer', '09, has a keen interest in film making, a grassroutes fellow and worked with the weavers of Pochampally as a part of it.

Jan 052010
Consent is NOT a Defense

“Consent is not a defense- If you are 18 or elder having sex with someone under 16, it is a crime in Nevada…” Similar laws also exist in our country but how many young adults and school goers protected by these laws actually know about them?

Nov 022009
Alternate Realities

It was a dark night and in the gruesome cold, the baby was left all alone to pass away quietly to a “better place.” Her crime: she was born a girl.

Oct 182009
Supporting Role

A generation ago, she was born in a progressive family, a girl with curly hair, twinkling eyes full of dreams, and the mental strength of a mountain. Her parents loved her more than anything in the world but she never burdened them with her desires and played her role with love and care. Thus, she [...]

Sep 302009
The Murderess

She moved like a shadow in the dark of night, slowly she crawled to the edge of his bed; she took the knife out from the fold of her clothes and drove it straight into his heart again and again and again.
He opened his mouth but no scream was heard. His eyes widened in shock [...]

Sep 152009
Best of Sa: Between a rock and a workplace

The question is- why is the woman held responsible for the perverted behaviour of such men, who do not know even have the basic respect for other human beings, let aside co-workers and code of conduct at workplace. Why does no one object to a man wearing pants that are too tight or having his shirt’s top buttons undone on the grounds that women might feel uncomfortable?

Aug 302009
It Is Not Okay

I was walking down the street with my friend and suddenly someone groped me and before I could turn around and look him in the eye he had vanished in thin air and I stood there in the middle of the street shouting like a mad woman at no one in particular, while the passersby kept staring at me. My friend was slightly embarrassed and she said softly “It’s okay”

Jul 302009
After Dark

Sometimes when I leave the office late and have to turn a dark corner, my heart skips a beat. The fact that i am wearing a “non-provocative and politically correct” salwar kurta with a properly pinned dupatta doesn’t seem to offer any sort of consolation.Yet every time harm comes a woman’s way, it is [...]

Jul 152009
I Am A Woman
Jun 302009
Jeanie in a bottle

Point to ponder: Does it not amount to sexual harassment or eve-teasing when a professor decides to look at a student’s neckline, derriere or waist, when he/she’s really supposed to be lecturing in anthropology or mathematics, and take the student in question to ask over the clothing that is “distracting the boys”?

Jun 152009
Shadows