Today marks the end of June and what in many parts of the world is celebrated as the Pride Month. Ideally, this past month was a time to learn and recognize the historic and current struggles of the LGBT+ community and allies. A time to find ways to end their current struggles and build on the work that is being done to create a safer, more just world. Sounds like a noble and reasonable idea. One that can be put into practice as more people get behind it. That is how it should be, but it is easier said than done. This is because on one hand we can see that in the last four weeks countless organizations and brands, in India and overseas, have been hoisting the ideas of equality and hope for the LGBT+ community. But on the other hand, one can also see that countless members of the community are still denied access to one of their fundamental rights - to live with dignity, equality and without discrimination - enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Article
Heatwave is not a fun sounding word. Living through one is not fun either. At this time of the year, this is a sentiment almost every person living in Delhi and several other parts of India would agree with. For the last few weeks, temperatures across the country have been hovering way above the 40 degrees Celsius mark - safely passing the threshold of a heatwave set by the Meteorological Department. Inevitably, such extreme weather tends to make one question the status quo: Is it getting hotter every year? Is this year’s summer longer and more intense than last year’s? Research suggests, it actually is. If we look at the graph below, over the last 7 decades temperature in Delhi has risen fairly consistently. And that is not all. When we zoom out and take a macro perspective, we realise this is not just happening in Delhi or India. It is very much a global occurrence. According to official estimates , just last year almost every part of the world we live in today was eithe