This is why I hate kYLIE JENNER and you should TOO’.

Hate is a hefty word, and if we think about it, there’s no one we truly feel about that way, from among the people we are surrounded by. But when it comes to the people that we only see on a screen, hate becomes a common emotion. Now I’m not talking about the kind of hate that is reserved for people who are genuinely horrible human beings like 

, etc. I’m talking about the kind that is specially reserved for “

” women. The kind of women, we believe, who don’t deserve their success. Case in point, the 

 clan. Reputed publications have given their two cents on why it is perfectly okay to hate the sisters. Forbes’ 

’s cancelled billionaire status was a marvel of bad journalism. Forbes itself took no responsibility for its botched research and the author of the article seemed to have a personal vendetta against the 23-year-old. In the past 6 days, Buzzfeed has released an astounding 6 articles about 

’s leaked bikini photo, none of them good. In the era of a global pandemic, did Khloe’s body deserve 6 journalists’ talents? It even has a weekly newsletter, Please Like Me, “

about how influencers are battling for your attention

Megan Fox, Paris Hilton, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston,

 and various TikTok stars. Closer to home, we have 

. They are packaged as sex symbols, and the audience usually discards and disregards them as “

” who are only to be looked at, but not seen. It is not to say that the women themselves don’t profit from this image. In fact, many of these celebrities have shown an incredible awareness of their platforms, reclaimed and sometimes even transformed this image. Neither do I mean that male celebrities don’t suffer at the hands of alarming and inexplicable hatred for their good looks, but there is a special vehemence reserved for the female counterpart. In the article “

Lena Dunham is a hugely original writer. Who cares if she’s a good person?

, another popular celebrity to hate, albeit not for her looks, but her privilege. She writes, “

part of the reason women get more grief on the internet and in media is because the perpetrators assume they will mind it more

.” On why women are often in front of the firing line, 

It’s an offensive trope as old as time, and the reason for it is even older: Men don’t have to be perfect. But women do.

There have been several female celebrities who have been titled a “

” over the years. The mother of them all is 

. Her 2007 public meltdown was the direct consequence of the media’s obsession with female failures, the effect of which can be felt even now, more than a decade later. Rosa writes, there’s “

a feverish obsession with male stars’ taut physiques, and an even more feverish obsession with female failures. Failure, specifically female failure, is big business in Hollywood

 are some other very popular females who have been trashed in the Hollywood media sphere as “train-wrecks”. These “train-wrecks” had priorly been “

”. Going from being a teenager to a functioning adult is a hard transition in everyone’s lives, and these celebrities had to go through this private transition under a public microscope.

Their lives are too accessible and our judgments too easy. It’s time we start considering celebrities as flawed human beings and extend their mistakes the same consideration and understanding as we would do, sans their wealth and fame.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of The Jamia Review or its members.

We Love to Hate

 second novel. It begins with two brothers, 

, Calcutta, though Udayan dies fairly early on in the novel. The novel spans for four generations of the same family and two continents. Subhash is a sensible and pragmatic son with little political sensibility, who decides to move to America for his studies, while Udayan is radical and the more daring son, who joins the Naxalite Movement in Bengal. In fact, a good 100 pages are spent describing these differences in character of the brothers. Despite their differences, the brothers are fairly close with their relationship described as Subhash having 

“no sense of himself without Udayan. From his earliest memories, at every point, his brother was there.”

 After Udayan’s death, Subhash returns back to India and decides to marry his brother’s pregnant widow, Gauri, and take her back to America. Gauri gives birth to Bela in America. She and Subhash raise Bela as their daughter.

 instead of plot-driven, exploring each character’s personalities and relationships, punctuated with omniscient insight into the characters. The author’s prose is 

, but it is what she leaves unsaid that makes an impact on the reader. While her previous works dealt with the rootlessness that comes from migrating to a foreign country, The Lowland explores an alternate theme where the immigrants are more at home in their adopted land, more refugees than immigrants. When Subhash is in Calcutta for his brother’s funeral, he finds himself surrounded by tourists and 

“though he looked like any other Bengali he felt an allegiance with the foreigners now. He shared with them the knowledge of elsewhere. Another life to go back to. The ability to leave.”

, the author is also able to explore the seldom written about things like the practice of levirate and a mother with no maternal instincts.

For all its focus on the characters, however, the characters in the novel feel 

. The plot covers generations and decades, yet none of the characters ever change or evolve and meaningful interpersonal relationships are painfully absent. The crisp prose sometimes turns cold and unsympathetic while describing people’s emotions risen from tragic moments. At the periphery of the novel is the Naxalite Movement, never taking centre stage. The narrative is unable to lean into its political themes. The author reveals a rather narrow understanding of the Naxalite Movement, describing events as they appear in history books or Wikipedia pages.

The novel itself is centred around the various relationships that we encounter and barely any of those relationships seem cohesive, tender or rooted in reality. From the beginning Subhash carries a sort of bitterness in his heart for Udayan and as he leaves India, their relationship essentially falls apart. After Udayan’s death, their parents more or less abandon Subhash in their grief over their dead son. There is barely any relationship between Subhash and Gauri, apart from being silent roommates. While the character of Gauri is a dispassionate mother in novel, it does not have depth. Her rationale for abandoning her daughter and her general aloofness are never quite explained or reasoned. The happy relationships of the novel, like that of Udayan and Gauri, Subhash and Elise, and Bela and Drew, are left mostly unexplored. While Udayan and Gauri’s marriage is used as a plot point, Subhash and Bela’s romantic relationships are solely happy endings.

The father-daughter relationship between Subhash and Bela is perhaps the only relationship that seems intriguing and beautiful. Its complicated and tender. Subhash’s love and devotion for Bela, the rift that appears between them after Gauri leaves, the healing that occurs when they’re both older, are all expertly portrayed and this is where Lahiri’s talents as a writer really shine. The reader is offered an insight not only into how their relationship festered, but also how it healed over time.

Many critics have described Lahiri’s second novel as 

 and while it does promise a lot, it delivers a lot less. Maybe it would have been better enjoyed as a short story rather than a nearly 400-page long novel.

THE HOLLOW RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LOWLAND

“I was a girl once, but not anymore”, begins Edna O’Brien’s Girl. It is a tale of a girl, taken from home, away from all that she knows, and made to live out her life in a terrorist camp. Girl is based on the 

 in 2014. The author’s inspiration came from an article about a girl who had escaped from the camp and was found wandering the jungle on her own, with a baby.

It follows Maryam, though her name is rarely used in the book, as she is kidnapped, raped multiple times, and wed to a soldier. Maryam bears a child, but on the death of her husband, she decides to escape. Of the kidnappings Edna says, “It is a painful story, a story people would prefer to forget”. But she intends to not let anyone forget, and that’s exactly what Girl accomplishes.

Unlike the popular dystopian novels of today, “Girl” transports the reader not to an alternate world, but to the world most of us are disconnected to, but which, nevertheless, exists in our reality. The narrator makes no concessions for the reader, doesn’t try to shield their sensibilities, rather each brutal scene is painted with excruciating detail and clarity. When she describes the stoning of a woman in the camp, she does so in such a way that makes you feel like you’re there, witnessing the very first stoning of your life.

Respite does not come to the reader in forms of hope. “An aide kept reminding me to smile, so I smiled. She had also briefed me on what to say and what to withhold. People did not wish to hear gruesome stories. ‘nothing negative… nothing negative’, she kept whispering in my ear.” is perhaps the most heart-breaking scene in the novel. After 

, she becomes a mere prop, first to be shown off, then neglected. People don’t wish to know of her suffering, only to pat themselves on the back for “rescuing” her and to tsk-tsk at her sorrow.

She escapes from one prison, only to fall into another. Upon returning home, she finds that her father and brother are dead, that she’s 

, an inconvenience to her mother and her new husband, someone to make space for in their new lives. Here, she is not a victim, but an unmarried mother, a source of shame. She’s not welcome, her youth is not mourned, her courage not celebrated. Instead her baby is taken away from her and she 

 once more. Maryam’s language starts falling apart now, making the reader dazed and confused, exactly how she must’ve felt in that moment. It is this betrayal by her own family that breaks her.

 earlier works have featured the Irish countryside, love and a sweet lyricism, but she had to shed all of that for this novel. Though the novel ends on a good note, the author makes it clear that it not a happy ending because girls like Maryam are not afforded the luxury of a happy ending. Her name is only mentioned a few times in the book because she is not a girl, she’s 

, she’s every girl and she could’ve been any girl.

The book succeeds at telling the story of the kidnapped girls in a more powerful and impactful way than the media ever could. Its short but it will take more than a few days for you to read it, and even more days to fully process what you’ve read.

GIRL: AN UNIDEAL GIRLHOOD

 is inspired from American author Shirley Jackson’s 1959 horror novel of the same name. The book has already been adapted thrice, as two feature films and a play, but the TV show brings something very new and brilliant to the table. The setting for the show is modern day and explores the relationships of the people involved rather than the house. The show only borrows a few aspects from the novel, like character names and very basic plot details, otherwise being completely original. The narrative weaves in and out of two timelines as we see the character’s pasts and the effect of their pasts on their presents. Each episode is produced, co-written and directed by 

 and his vision is clearly visible in all episodes. Mike has established himself in the horror genre with hits like 

, but he has outshone himself with this show. He knows what he wants and he delivers it.

The show follows five siblings trying to navigate life after their mother’s suicide and a past with haunted memories. The episodes are narrative driven and told from the perspective of each sibling in a chronological order. Each of the siblings also embody the five stages of grief and this is just the first of many tiny details that come together to give the show its narrative appeal. The flow of the story will keep you on your toes for the full ten episodes and feels more like a movie than a Netflix series. The story never lags and the show is, in true Netflix spirit, entirely bingeable. In fact, the creators of the show have expertly curated it for the Netflix audience who likes to binge shows rather than watch them in a civilized manner.

Apart from the originality of the concept and a very well written script, there are several other factors that make it a brilliant show. The cinematography is up to the standards of a high budget feature film, and sometimes even surpasses those standards. It doesn’t feel like an experiment, rather a detailed and planned execution of a novel idea. Each shot serves a purpose and adds to the overall experience of the show. It is dark and creepy, and while it has its spectral presences, the horrors lie in the stories of their characters, their mental states and their emotions. It is much more of a family drama than a horror show and therein lies its appeal as well as its fatal flaw.

Hardcore horror fans might not get exactly what they wanted in terms of jump-scares and gore, but newbies can enjoy it while being sufficiently scared and developing an interest in the horror genre. Whether you enjoy horror or drama, it’s going to be nothing like anything you’ve ever watched before.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE: A HORROR MASTERPIECE

 to show your support for suicide prevention, to remember a lost one, and for the survivors of suicide.

Suicidal behaviour refers to talking, thinking or taking actions towards ending one’s life.

It is not possible to see what a person is feeling, so it isn’t easy to identify when someone might be having suicidal thoughts. However, there are certain warning signs that can help identify if someone is contemplating suicide:

Giving away personal possessions or “getting all their stuff in order”

Change in diet: eating too much or eating too little

Talking about hopelessness, feeling trapped or alone, or feeling like life is meaningless

Looking for means of doing personal harm, such as buying poison

If you or someone you know is exhibiting either, you should seek immediate help.

Most of the time, there’s not a single reason as to why someone might decide to take their own life. Mental illness is a contributing factor but more than half of the people who die by suicide aren’t diagnosed with a mental illness.

Depression is the top mental health risk factor but having any mental illness might make a person more prone to suicidal thoughts.

There are several risk factors, aside from mental health disorders, that can contribute to suicidal tendencies:

Suicide is highly preventable and we need to be more aware of the warning signs in someone else or ourselves.

In our society, talking about mental health is not a commonly accepted thing. There are a lot of taboos surrounding mental illnesses and mental health in general and we need to normalize talking about mental health. The same importance we place on physical health must be placed on mental health too. We, as individuals, are often not in tune with what we’re feeling, and it does not help when you share your feelings with someone and they tell you that it’s all in your head.

“Getting help” itself is not very accessible to us as Indians right now. First of all, there is a lot of stigma around therapy. Even if you cross that hurdle, therapy is quite expensive. It is, therefore, highly inaccessible to people who need it the most and are at higher risk of committing suicide, such as poor farmers and students.

Apart from eliminating access to lethal methods of suicide, we must also focus on normalizing therapy and making it accessible to everyone.

 WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY 2020

The way the public is dealing with the suicide of 

 says a lot about us as a society. We, it seems, still don’t seem to understand what depression or suicide mean. When the conversation should’ve been about mental health and the stress of the spotlight, it first turned to nepotism and then it turned to the wicked witch of the East. 

He died nearly three months ago, and we’re still talking (this article itself being a case in point). Or rather, speculating. The internet is rife with 

 His death has become an internet drama. The Indian population is practically buzzing with excitement and everyone wants justice with a capital J. 

It’s sad to see how his life and death have become a cheap circus ripe to be consumed by the Indian masses. There has been nothing private about his death, with pictures of his corpse making rounds on social media, to the colour of his 

 being reported upon. Everyone in his life has made public statements about his personal life, from his parents to his drivers. And even people who knew nothing about him or his personal life thought it appropriate to comment and speculate about his death on social media and even on 

This article, however, is not about him, but 

 The Bengali witch, the criminal mastermind behind Sushant’s suicide: 

, who also happens to be adept at psychological warfare. However, she is not completely blame free either, as in trying to defend herself, she has played an equal part in making a mockery of Sushant’s life.

Mainstream media has enthusiastically covered all the ways Sushant Singh Rajput could’ve been 

 despite several police reports and autopsy reports clearly declaring it to be a suicide, from 

, to a joint conspiracy by the entire Bollywood industry to get rid of one man threatening their status quo. 

But when suicide could not be refuted on any grounds, we turned to 

 a favourite among “investigations” of Indian celebrity suicides. Because celebrities can’t possibly be 

 enough to take their own lives. Because what needs to be talked about is not the immense psychological pressure of being a celebrity, but all the gold diggers who are out there to kill the said celebrity. 

 video claims that by saying that SSR was suffering from a mental disorder, people are trying to say that he was “mentally weak” and well, she will not stand for that, she refuses to believe that a person who’s been in so many magnificent films could’ve possibly been depressed. As if depression is an ailment that only affects people who’ve never had the good fortune of being in Bollywood blockbusters. But while she refuses to believe that he had been “

” enough to take his own life, she has no problem into buying into the narrative that he had been just weak enough to be coerced into 

 opinion piece for NDTV, where she carefully dissects Rhea’s “polished, glitch-free prime time performance.” The irony is not lost on anyone that if the situation had been reversed, had Rhea’s statement not been well rehearsed, well thought out, her fumbling would’ve become an admission of guilt; her tears- a ploy for sympathy; and god forbid if she misspoke, it would’ve been a signed confession. 

Even Sushant’s IPS Brother-in-law had some interesting, to say the least, observations to make. In his lengthy blog post he talks about Barkha Dutt’s interview with Sushant Singh Rajput’s therapist. And claims, quite knowledgeably, that 

 cannot be diagnosed in a couple of months, while diagnosing Rhea with 

 in the same breath. But of course, an IPS officer is a higher authority on mental health than an actual certified psychiatrist. 

This narrative, however, is not new. The narrative of the conniving, manipulative 

 who entraps rich men with her charms, blinds them, and steals them away from their friends, families, and fans, is a tale as old as time. This witch hunt is not unique to Rhea Chakrobarty but instances like these have been peppered throughout history. Rhea Chakrobarty killed Sushant Singh Rajput the same way Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles, the same way Courtney Love pushed Kurt Cobain to take drugs and eventually commit suicide. 

False narratives make grieving people feel better about their loss, pointing fingers and blaming is a 

. And while this behaviour is understandable for families that are suffering from a very personal loss, and maybe they even deserve to have all their doubts put to rest, it is grossly unfair for an entire nation to turn on a single person and rob them of their own chance to grieve in peace. It is unfair that she has to stand 

 not only in court, but also face trial by the media. 

THE WOMAN, THE WITCH

These unprecedented times have brought to light the shortcomings of 

 which has proven to be highly ill-equipped to manage such a devastating public health crisis. From unavailability of proper PPE for the protection of healthcare workers to absence of well-managed testing systems, the healthcare arena is practically crumbling under the pandemic’s pressure. Government hotlines fail to respond, testing requires standing in long queues, even for days and the hospitals are full. Social media is rife with horror stories of people being denied hospital admission despite showing life-threatening symptoms, patients dying in hospital care even after having no symptoms and negative tests, doctors themselves being unable to get medical care on time, private hospitals asking for large sums of money as advanced deposit before admitting a patient, health workers fainting from exhaustion and overwork. These stories are mainstream now due to the pandemic, but they were some people’s reality even before the pandemic.

 is single-handedly responsible for the overload on the system, however, fault in India’s healthcare system have long preceded the virus. Public healthcare is technically free and subsidized, but the quality of care provided in government hospitals is subpar. These hospitals are not only over-crowded, but also under-funded and under-staffed. On top of that, hospitals are usually situated far from residential areas and if you’ve ever seen the reception area of 

 you would know what the waiting time to get an appointment is like. Families set up camp on ground to wait in line for a consultation that will probably last two minutes, and chances are, the staff, including the doctors, are going to be rude and unsympathetic.

My family and I have been in and out of hospitals for all our life, on account of my mother being a paraplegic, my grandmother being diabetic and having dementia, my father and I being asthmatics, and the experience has always been highly unpleasant. We have seen them all: government hospitals, private hospitals, army hospitals. Everyone detests a visit to the hospital and nobody is willing to go to there unless the condition is extremely severe.

If this is the position of healthcare in urban settings and more so in the 

, we can only imagine the realities of people in rural India. Majority of public healthcare system exists to cater the rural population of India, however, poor quality of care deters access, which comes from the reluctance of experienced healthcare providers to station in rural areas. Hence, healthcare system in rural and remote areas rely on inexperienced and unmotivated interns who are mandated to spend time in rural clinics as part of their curricular requirement. Hospitals are even farther away from residential areas in rural regions. Doctors are unwilling to practice there due to several lacking factors such as housing, basic amenities like water and electricity, education for children, transportation etc. There are 

 which makes up over 70% of India’s populous. 

The flaws in our healthcare are more than we think or know. Factors such as socio-economic standing and caste determines the quality of healthcare you might get. Healthcare providers are not well compensated, protected and given personal benefits. Some doctors run private clinics while also working in the hospital. Nurses are neither respected, nor paid well. Government spending on healthcare in India is just over 1 percent of its GDP, far lower than the global average. According to the data from 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,

India has only 0.5 hospital beds per 1000 people

. These numbers are scary for a country with a population of 1.37 billion that is already prone to poor-hygiene diseases such as malaria, dengue, dysentery, jaundice, and what not. Even now, there is very little ground coverage and people are getting their information from social media and celebrities like 

There is much work that needs to be done in order to improve the healthcare system of India. There needs to be a dialogue about how the healthcare system treats middle class and lower class people as second class citizens. Hopefully, the pandemic has opened the eyes of the public and office holders, so that we can expect some necessary changes.

Articles by Nidhi

We Love to Hate

THE HOLLOW RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LOWLAND

GIRL: AN UNIDEAL GIRLHOOD

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE: A HORROR MASTERPIECE

WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY 2020

THE WOMAN, THE WITCH

India’s Healthcare System: Broken and Biased

We Love to Hate

THE HOLLOW RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LOWLAND

GIRL: AN UNIDEAL GIRLHOOD

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE: A HORROR MASTERPIECE

WORLD SUICIDE PREVENTION DAY 2020

THE WOMAN, THE WITCH

India’s Healthcare System: Broken and Biased