Now fathom this: Not just Shiv-Parvati, even Ram-Sita was a love marriage couple

By Rajiv Shah

Following my recent blog in Counterview, A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe', some Hindu love marriage couples were quite excited. They said they were not aware of the myth (they considered it as historical truth) that they were in love and then got married -- and that, that's why Maha Shivratri is celebrated. One of them, who resisted their parents to get married four decades ago, phoned up from US, where they are settled, to find out whether what I had written was true. They were excited: this should be "our Valentine's Day."
Ironical though it may seem, two days after the Maha Shivratri, during our group trip to a top temple in Ahmedabad district, a discussion arose on love marriage. A young Hindu love marriage couple -- who rebelled to get married -- said, Shiv and Parvati were not the only love marriage couples in our ancient past. Ram and Sita were also love marriage couples -- Sita chose her husband at the swayamvar ceremony; and so were Krishna and Rukmini. "There was no arranged marriage in the past. This arranged marriage is imposed on us now, it is a new phenomenon, we disapprove it", they regretted.

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Civil society at a crossroads: Service delivery vs. rights in the fight for social change

Counterview News In the latest episode of the podcast Unmute , hosts Gagan Sethi and Minar Pimple convened a profound conversation with two veteran development practitioners to dissect a persistent tension within civil society: the perceived divide between service delivery and the struggle for rights. The episode, titled "Beyond Service Delivery: Civil Society, Rights, and the Politics of Social Change," featured Apoorva Oza , a development practitioner with decades of experience in rural development and institution-building, and Professor Dipa Sinha , a development economist known for her work on food, nutrition, gender, and social policy.

Sikkim governor row: ALIFA asks centre to explain hurried appointment in Ankita Bhandari case

By A Representative The All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA) on Saturday expressed “immense pain and outrage” that even after four years and a national uproar, justice has not been fully delivered in the Ankita Bhandari murder case and that a ruling party politician facing allegations has been “gifted a high-ranking constitutional office.” In a statement, ALIFA extended “unflinching solidarity” to Ankita’s parents, who it said are “fighting for justice on the streets of Delhi,” and demanded that pending the CBI inquiry and judicial decision, the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim’s Governor be subject to “immediate presidential review.”

Grain vs. gasoline: How the global biofuel boom threatens India’s food and water security

By Rajiv Shah A new report published by the international research and advocacy organization GRAIN has warned that the global resurgence of biofuels is triggering a dangerous dynamic of “more fuel, less food, more land grabs.” Driven by intersecting energy security concerns, geopolitical tensions, and aggressive decarbonization mandates, the expanding agrofuel industry is increasingly pitting corporate energy interests against global food security and indigenous land rights.

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