Women Archives - Rakhee Ghelani

Is it too late to save Majuli Island?

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Majuli Island, in the remote North East Indian state of Assam, is the largest river island in the world. It is rapidly being lost to the savage effects of climate change. Surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra River, scientists predict that Majuli Island will be entirely reclaimed by the river within 20 years, and along with…

Nagaland: The last frontier

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Two boys no older than ten wander the dusty roadside, semi-automatic rifles slung casually across their backs. Hearing the vehicle, they meander off-road into the thick verdant forest that’s lush but eerily silent. I ask my driver where all the animals are and he responds drily, “These Nagas eat everything.” Characterised by headhunters and a…

Things I’ve Learned From Back Pain

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It’s been ages since I blogged and I have my reasons I promise. Most recently I’ve spent the majority of the past couple of months flat on my back…. literally. I thought debilitating back pain was just exaggerated or something old people got. That is until it happened to me and I was flung straight into…

My Shoe Addiction

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One of the rather decadent pleasures of living in India is that you can find anyone to make almost anything you want. For me this has meant that I now have my favourite dress in 6 different colours, (all for cumulatively less than I paid for the original), and I have some rather special shoes…

India Travel Advice Part 2

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Following on from my last post providing India travel advice for women, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide a few more tips that I’ve found handy while travelling across India. These ones are relevant regardless of gender: Eating in India One of the most common questions I am asked about India is about…

India Travel Advice For Women

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As promised in this post, I’m writing a few posts with my advice on travelling to India. The advice is based on my experience, and that of other travellers whom I know and trust. There is a lot of bad and sugar coated advice out there, designed to please tourism boards and PR / Marketing…

Peace, Love & Mung Beans: Should You Believe that Travel Blog About India

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I’m pretty sure this post isn’t going to win me some friends in the travel blogging space, but something happened yesterday that just infuriated me so much I felt the need to write about it. I put a photo on my personal (private) FB page and one of my “friends” (although not now as I’ve…

Why #IndiaNeedsFeminism

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This week I participated in a campaign by BuzzFeed where people explained why they felt feminism was relevant to India. Now anyone who’s read my blog for a while knows that I believe feminism has a long way to go here. So when I saw a call-out for people willing to participate in this campaign…

Expats Behaving Badly

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Something happened this week that made me so mad I felt compelled to write about it. Of all the things that annoy me about living in India, the thing that makes me most upset is when I see someone with means exploit someone without. In this instance it’s an Australian expat in India. The income…

Dating the Indian Woman

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A few regular readers have asked me recently why I haven’t written much about dating or Indian men lately. Truth be told, there really isn’t much to tell. I haven’t dated for a long time, and am actually quite happy that way. I do still have some interesting experiences trying to understand men here, but…

Big Fat Indian Wedding : Pre-Wedding Rituals

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This is the second part of The Big Fat Wedding, you can find the rest here: Introduction The Engagement Shaadi Time Like every wedding there are pre-wedding rituals that must be adhered to before the real business of joining two families starts, and this grand wedding was no different. In a more western tradition, this…

Myanmar Travel : What the Guidebook’s Don’t Tell You

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Before travelling to Burma, I dutifully read through my guidebook to ensure I was prepared and listened to my travel agent (I rarely use an agent to book my travel, but I was working so much before I left I didn’t have time to plan my trip so I used an agent to book hotels…

Would You Marry Your Rapist?

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One of the most disturbing things I have read lately in the Indian papers is about this concept of marrying a survivor of sexual assault to her perpetrator. Yes you read that correctly, a man forces himself on a women and she is then forced to marry him. WTF? The rationale for this seems to…

The Worst Place in the World: Egypt

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So last week I took myself on a fantastic trip down memory lane back to my favourite travel destination on earth, but next on the list just happens to be the only place in the world I have vowed never to return; Egypt. I had always dreamed of travelling to Egypt, it is after all…

Superpower for Some: Infant Mortality and Maternal Health

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India doesn’t seem to be a lucky country if you are a newborn child or woman who has survived into adulthood. I have written before about the treatment of women in India here and here and it is not an issue that will go away. Whilst I see a lot of bad news in the Indian…

India You Disgust Me!

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Yes, I realise that title is harsh, but this week India really is just making me feel sick. Today I read this article about a woman who is 7 months pregnant, and when her in-laws “accidentally” found out she was carrying a girl (because pre-natal sex determination is illegal in India) they started injecting her with…

The Magic of Rural Rajasthan: Homestay Experience

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When I was invited to visit a homestay in rural Rajasthan I just could not say yes quick enough. It had been almost a year since I was last in Rajasthan and since my visit to Kutch, I had found myself fantasising about getting back to rural India. The grime and congestion of Mumbai has…

Mumbai Film Festival

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I love a good film festival. In Melbourne I would always go to the International Film Festival that came to town each year. For someone who is not so creative, I seem to have a lot of friends who are in the arts, and a few of my close ones in Australia are film-makers. It…

Sometimes A Girl Just Need Some Girlfriends

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Last week I made 5 new friends. I can’t remember the last time I made that many new friends in a week. As I have got older, meeting new people that I click with has become harder, and to be honest it has never worried me, I much prefer quality over quantity anyway. But when…

Trekking in the Sham Valley: Ladakh

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I was only able to take a short trip to Ladakh, but I really wanted to fit in a trek of some description. Luckily I managed to find a 5 day trek that would let me explore some villages without having to go to high in altitude. Whilst I have trekked in high altitude before…

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