Skip to main content

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...

BURQA BAN-AN APT STEP??

THE BURQA IS NOT A RELEGIOUS SYMBOL, BUT A SIGN OF SUBSERVIENCE AND DEBASEMENT"
-Sarkozy, the French prez.

So we see that according to the French President, Mr. Nicholas Sarkozy, burqa means something which “imprisons the women behind a screen cut off from the social world and deprived of all identity.” and that is how he justifies the ban on burqa in France as this is not the" French idea of freedom". Keeping apart what others have to say about this step of Sarkozy (that it’s a political opportunity for sarko), the outcome of this ban would be feminist and secular. Good for the women who are forced to wear them. After all if “all men are born free, how is it that women are born slaves??"- Mary Astell.
But on the flip side, lots of women willingly wear the veil. They see the veil as a garment liberating them from the male gaze. So it’s a bit unfit to assume that all women who wear the veil are being forced to do so. Many of them even do it as it’s in their religion.
Thus we see that the situation is extremely complex. As already the famous social commentator Faisal al yafai said last year,-
"Muslim women who choose to wear the veil (not all do) often claim that they are reappropriating their own bodies from the public sphere. The veil is complex. At various times it has been seen as both -an instrument of male oppression and of female liberation."
So we, the onlookers who are still deciding which side to vote for must realize that either we should totally eliminate the idea of feminism from our dictionary or we should forget about secularism where every religion is allowed to flourish without interruptions with all due regards. There exists no third option for such a problem, except WAIT, WATCH AND ACCEPT.

Comments

Ayesha Parveen said…
Hi Mahesh!

A thought-provoking post. I just want to bring up one point: why is it that only some women think they need to protect themselsves from the stares of men? Don't men too need to protect themselves from the stares of women?

Women, down the centuries, have been socially-conditioned to believe that they need to hide themselves. The burqha is a symbol of such lack of self-confidence, in my opinion.

A person, male or female, wanting to stay hidden from the world, denounces social life and becomes a hermit.

I know women who wear the burqha because it is a family-tradition and they do not have the courage or the means to go against a tradition they don't believe in .

I also know some women who wear the burqha but would do anything to get male-attention :)

So, why the sham by wearing the burqha?

Best wishes, and have a nice day :)

Ayesha

Also read

Its Time Folks!!

-> Muthalik's cry against Valentine's Day or his horrific beating of defenseless girls in Mangalore. (disgraceful but i'm sure he was jealous coz he is still a bachelor at that ripe old age) -> Bombings planned by Hindu Religious Leaders and the emergence of "Indian Mujahideen". (stupid fools can think of only violence and even a sadhvi was a part of this. I'm sure each everyone is corrupt. I won't be surprised if they were working for some islamic terrorist group) -> The atrocities against Christianity in Mangalore and Orissa. (Shows that our country's intellectual level is growing in reverse!!) -> Curtailing of pub culture in the Pub City of India. (Again socialistic losers who think they are correct and people should live in only way!! U asses democracy means freeedom of individuals and an individual never lives in the same way as others do!!) -> Rajasthan CM announcing that he will do away with mall culture. (I think he is working fo...

"My cousin touched me there"

Note: When Tan suggested me to post this here...I gave it a thought. I felt he was right.  yeha I know in the election times ..people would be more inclined to politics. Well still..just give it a read :) For the first time when she came in I knew she is going to be one of my best pals. she was bubbly chirpy sociable and a caring human being.she was I felt my true copy. But what I felt wasn't true and I'd never known that trait of hers which never matched mine had such a reason behind it. She never liked to talk or be familiar to the opposite sex. I found this irritating but I just used to remember all her other traits which brought her close to me and made her one of the closest beings to me on this Earth. As she and I had got very close in friendship that we began sharing secrets which we never thought would come out of our mind. And I thought I understood her as I thought she was me. Then one day as we were alone in my room I asked her why she was so unfamiliar and irritat...

Politics - A profession

Note: This article was originally published on 18 March 2009, 01:10 on this blog and has been thoughtfully revised on 30 January 2026, 12:00 noon to reflect fresh insights and updated context. This post is loosely inspired by the  TATA Tea a d  where this politician goes to ask for votes and a voter asks him for his qualification and work experience the the important 'job' that he is embarking upon. The politician laughs at the voter, asking him what job is the voter referring to. The voter responds, "The job to run the country". Do politicians in other countries view politics as a profession? Or is politics viewed similarly across international boundaries? The best way of course to find out is go to that ever useful tool for professionals - LinkedIn.  Here are the results: Barrack Obama Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin The apparently technologically challenged Senator   John McCain. I also came across many politicians, prime ministers who have LinkedIn profiles. While ...