Articles by Mari Marcel Thekaekara

Mari Marcel Thekaekara on her experience of the world’s crazy weather.

After an exposé reveals the true thoughts of Indian police officers about rape victims, Mari Marcel Thekaekara says attitudes must change.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara visits an organization fighting for children’s rights in Delhi and hears some distressing stories.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara reacts to recent developments in the story of the Indian children taken away from their parents by social services in Norway.

A bike ride through the heart of India to raise money for indigenous children captured the imagination of everyone involved, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Ten years after the violence that led to hundreds of deaths in the Indian state of Gujarat, deep divisions still remain, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

A new herbicide linked to a slew of health defects is causing extreme worry for environmentalists in the US, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Two young men returned to India to try. But for many millions, this is reality, not a short-term challenge, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

So why aren’t Indians up in arms about it? Time to name and shame, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

India’s plans to buy up land in Africa are shameful, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Two young Indian children have been taken into care in Norway because their mother fed them with her fingers. Mari Marcel Thekaekara is appalled.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara gives us her kaleidoscopic thoughts on multiculturalism within an ever-changing India.

India is allowing direct foreign investment, and the supermarkets are sharpening their knives, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara on how Bangaloreans, fed up with soaring vegetable prices, are growing their own organic food.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara on the recent conference for ‘Just Change’, a cooperative of poor producers, consumers and ethical investors.

Wild stories fly around about chicken farming but the reality remains less than wholesome, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Police infiltrating activist groups? They should be watching the bankers, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

With the wealth gap widening, Mari Marcel Thekaekara on a plan to link ethical investors with producers and consumers all over the world.

It is time for a change from rampant capitalism and the current protests in the US could be a starting point, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara, on how Narender Modi could be a prime ministerial contender for the 2014 elections in India.

India’s patenting laws mean it produces many drugs cheaply for developing countries. But corporate greed is putting this in jeopardy, argues Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Female foeticide in many parts of Asia reflects the grim position of women, argues Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

A visit to an ayurvedic doctor convinces Mari Marcel Thekaekara that we need to balance the way we live.

Mari Thekaekara wonders whether an undemocratic activist should be blackmailing the Indian government.

In the wake of the riots, Indian writer and activist Mari Marcel Thekaekara on both the stark differences and worrying similarities to the situation on the subcontinent.

Give poor people cash, not free or subsidized food, argue certain economists. The poor insist that food makes more sense, reports Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

‘These terrorists are cowards and the worst enemies of their own people.’ Why do innocent people have to pay with their lives for the sins of evil politicians, asks Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara salutes Indian Supreme Court’s verdict that arming civilians to take on supposed Naxals – leftwing extremists according to the government – is unconstitutional. 

Whatever the ouctome, the rape case against former IMF boss Dominique Strauss Kahn has opened up debates about predatory males the world over, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on the contradictions of what feminism is to her and what it isn’t.

Mourning the loss of her beloved Aunty, Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on artful manners that seem to be disappearing with the older generation. 

Prejudice against inter-state and foreign migrants is on the rise, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara.

Big boys who work hard must play hard, too? Ask the women! 

We’ve ‘moved on’ to a brave new world in which, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara, you have to swim with the tide… or sink. Instead of moving forward, we seem to be regressing.

We tend to treat our government as a joke and our democracy as a farce, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara of India. But often, the electorate stuns the intelligentsia.

After the death of Osama Bin Laden, Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, and wonders what that has to do with justice or morality.

South Asia’s giant, from the Country Profile series in our New Internationalist magazine.

Spring is in the air. Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on work cycles, days off work, and those who don’t own their souls anymore.

‘History is replete with the horrors of war, torture and barbaric brutality. Our only hope lies in our heroes, sung and unsung.’

Mari Marcel Thekaekara reports from two states in India where girls have disappeared.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara says that a few centuries from now, if civilization as we know it still exists, history will judge us harshly. Will we ever learn?

For the women of India, it’s a matter of life and death. Quite literally.What to do? An action plan has been proposed.

A very personal narrative on vulnerability, crime, human rights, and numerous reality.

Marginally speaking: How women of Kalol fight for their rights - and win.

Alcoholism is a very real problem in India. While liquor industries are counting their phenomenal profits, many many people are suffering. 

Our new blogger Mari Marcel Thekaekara, based in India, considers stories that never hit the headlines. Read her first post here.

Victory for the hill tribes of India in a David and Goliath battle.

Children of safai karmacharis (people engaged in sanitation work) in Gujarat are being forced by teachers to clean toilets and mop floors in school. Mari Marcel Thekaekara listens to their stories.

Gathering wild honey is an age-old tradition in South India. Mari Marcel Thekaekara and her husband Stan see how it’s done.

Although Gandhi is a household name all over the world, Babasaheb Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution and the first person to fight effectively for the rights of dalits (aka ‘untouchables’)

Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on the state of the Indian nation in middle age.

Unbelievably, people still exist whose task in life is shovelling shit, as Mari Marcel Thekaekara explains.

The arrest of a doctor who works with poor communities in central India, on trumped-up charges of associating with ‘terrorist’ Naxalites, has sparked worldwide protest. Mari Marcel Thekaekara appeals for support.

How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational

An alien consumer culture is blitzing Indian women. Mari Marcel Thekaekara takes its measure.

It could have been their finest hour. But Mari Marcel Thekaekara encountered bad behaviour by bingos after the tsunami in Tamil Nadu.

An interview with KR Narayanan, India’s only Dalit President.

Mari Marcel Thekaekara on the enduring evils of an ancient system of oppression and the struggles for dignity.

There’s caste and there’s class. And in some places the two intertwine. Mari Marcel Thekaekara writes from India, where the struggle for Dalit rights is gathering strength.

The Little Earth Book by James Bruges

From Gudalur to Gloucester, some unusual alliances are being forged, reports Mari Marcel Thekaekara.