Dating for romance is outdated!  Fewer students are choosing vocational training these days since most of them want to go to university. Companies are now using “speed dating” techniques to find the perfect candidate for the job and applicants are not complaining!

Tahrir Square was transformed into a huge party venue on Wednesday for those celebrating the ousting of President Morsi. Fireworks lit up the night sky and the crowds were ecstatic. This time, the battle was not against a dictator but against a democratically elected government. President Morsi was overthrown by the military with the support of the people who had resolved not to let Islamists take over their country.  He pushed to impose Islamist views of the Muslim Brotherhood and this was against what the Egyptian liberals stood for. So they took to the streets and called for a revolution. However, this revolution has a dark side.

In newspapers there is a section called “personal ads.” When I was younger, I remember reading these personal ads, hiding from my mother since the content was explicit. Now, 25 years later, the language is the same: “Groom needed for a fair, pretty Muslim/Hindu girl,” or “A pretty fair bride needed for a businessman.” I wonder, even after so many years, why do women still have to be fair and pretty to be eligible for marriage?

A video of the two girls dancing was posted on youtube.

“Don’t kill me please… I have done nothing wrong… I was just enjoying the rain, I don’t want to die… please … for God’s sake, brother, don’t kill me!”

I was begging and trying to hide myself behind my mother who was also begging for my life. She was asking my cousins to pardon me for bringing shame to the family. We kept pleading, but they shot me. I was dying, as the words “family honour” kept flashing across my mind.

From the young Bollywood star Jiah Khan to Hollywood’s heartthrob Marilyn Monroe, depression has destroyed several women. It is like a cancer that slowly and steadily kills one’s love for life and may even lead to suicide. The World Health Organization estimates that the depressive trend is two to three times more in women than in men. Every year, more than 350 million people around the world die of depression. Surprisingly, India tops the list for having the maximum number of depressed people in the world. Debarati Mukherjee speaks to psychologist Mandira Khandve who offers solutions to help Womentalkonline readers to lead a depression-free life.

Copyright: Press Information Bureau, India

Uttarakhand, India’s northern state has suffered severe damages following a flood of cataclysmic proportions. According to unofficial sources, nearly 1,000 people have died while several remain buried under debris and landslides.  The Uttarakhand Himalayas are home to Hindu and Sikh pilgrimage sites and several of those who died were on their way to seek blessings from the gods. But amid the news of massive loss and destruction of property and human lives, there are some heart-rending tales of heroism.

A Dalit group in Karnataka offers prayers to the local goddess Yellamma

Imagine a society where some members are not allowed to speak to others, except from a distance of 100 meters, where generations of these ‘untouchables’ are banished to the village’s outskirts because they clean out the garbage and who are physically beaten up if they do not follow their community’s norms. If you took a trip to Tumkur in southern India about 30 years ago, you would have seen this happening with your very eyes.