Elisa Patnaik

As the right to abortion debate rages in the US and the world over, I’ve had a few conversations with family members, friends and colleagues, both male and female. I was hoping for some…

A few days back, I had to travel out of station for work. As usual, I was trying to finish off last-minute domestic chores and dispensing instructions to my husband and children. By the time…

It’s your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you -- Rumi We all have people in our life we depend on for physical, mental and emotional support…

Mansplaining, Manspreading & Manels - I thought these terminologies are now a part of the common lexicon with at least conversations going around it. But I was rudely mistaken when a…

Imagine an all-female adda or an all-girls khatti closer to home in Odisha. It’s a socio-cultural practice where girls and women gather in the mornings or evenings in street corners, tea…

Age is just a number – Is it true for women? Aging like fine wine - Do women have the freedom to experience this? Never ask a woman her age – Why not? There are axioms depicting…

Twenty-Four-year-old Reshma works as a tailor in a local boutique in Bhubaneswar from 9.30 am to 7.30 pm. Once in the midst of a conversation, she suddenly excused herself handing over the…

When I gifted a purplish pink sweater to my domestic help’s three-year-old son, he responded sulkily, “I don’t like this colour. Pink is for girls!” When I cajoled him by saying boys and…

Our first impressions of others are formed instantaneously and are supposedly accurate, as far as we are concerned. It’s complex too. Sometimes, it’s like a kaleidoscope, quickly forming and…

Sometimes I am a ‘bad’ mother. I shut myself in the bathroom to finish a few pages of the book that I am reading. At times, I lock the door to my room for some respite telling my children…