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We came on foot, we came on boats, shouting slogans of Azadi.

We stood on roof tops and sat on walls under the burning midday sun,

Listening to the words that we had longed to hear for so long.

Words that had been scripted through the lonely fears of our hearts.

Words that were spoken now with the clarity of courage.

Words that were spoken now with the suppressed strength of pent up anger.

Words that were spoken now with the certainty of belonging to the soil 

Which had become one with the dust of our ancestors.

We stood there in the waves of heat

Feeling the surge and press  of countless bodies around us.

Bodies meshed through the odour of sweat 

And the shared fear of a common persecution.

And hanging from the roof tops,

And tied to the poles,

And clutched in hands slippery with sweat,

And wrapped round the pillars,

And spreading into our blood,

Were three strips of colour with a wheel of spokes,

Sewn together into the shape of our being.

Woven into the folds of our future and the creases of our past. 

Stitched to the seams of the earth, the water, the air and the sky 

That belonged to us and to which we belonged. 

And we stood there from noon to evening,

We the people of India.

Raising our clenched fists like signposts to the future.

Chanting slogans like a new anthem.

Kin to each other through the ties of community.

Born to live and die 

In a nation that was ours to hold on to

And ours to belong to.

Dr Parinitha is a professor of English in Mangalore University. She penned the poem soon after participating in the historic protest against CAA, NPR and NRC at Shah Garden, Adyar, Mangaluru on 15th January, 2020.

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Newsroom, Apr 23: During the ongoing lockdown in India so as to break the chain of Coronavirus infection, Islamic scholars across India are appealing Muslims to stay indoors and observe fasting with steadfastedness in the blessed month of Ramadan.

They have urged the people to offer taraveeh and other Namaz at homes, do iftar at home and enjoy with one's family only.

During Ramadan, social distancing would be of utmost importance in order to contain the disease, they urged. 

Shahi imams of Jama Masjid and Fatehpuri Masjid in the city have also appealed to Muslims to offer namaz during the holy month of Ramadan at home and follow lockdown guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Bengaluru, May 26: The Karnataka government today resolved to continue with the online method of education as a new normal in the field of higher education. 

Holding the review of the Higher Education department, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa expressed interest in providing online education to students in higher educational institutes.

Yediyurappa directed the officials to look into the possibilities of extending online education from as early as Pre-University level so that the new method can easily be followed as they scale up the academic career. 

Keeping in mind the less expenditure and online teaching being cost-effective, Yediyurappa said, “If you compare online teaching with the regular classroom teaching, it is not only cost-effective but also helps in savings in terms of resources. Officials must look into the new method and start introducing it as early as PU classes.”