Confessions of a Social Worker

I want to be free - a woman from Venkatapuram I yearned to be free  to explore the world outside  the compromised comfort of my parents’ home without the sting of comments or ‘friendly’ prying advice  on brightening my skin color, or controlling my weight or walking properly, speaking/ replying properly, eating properly, wearing properly Properly being anything suitable to everyone around except me I yearned to be free from these inherited and ingrained ways of doing things properly But I’ve realised I too have become one of ‘everyone’  That despite leaving the boundaries of my parents’ home I’ve learnt to build the same ones in my own Nevertheless, I want to be free I want to be free To walk without dodging stares, without dreading to caution my friends abroad that staring is ‘normal’ in Hyderabad that we either keep our heads down or pretend not to see the eyes that follow us – in bus stops, on streets, in malls, in parks, in shops, in temples, in offices, in funct...

  Conferencing in a (poly)crisis: A hydrofeminist’s reflections from Development Studies Association (DSA) 2025, Bath Conference Theme: Navigating (poly)crisis: dangers and opportunities in development Blog Theme: Where menstrual cycles, celebrity scholars, new friendships, broken bus systems, and feminist economics all came together! Post-conference note : I’m more convinced than ever that the development studies and social scientists/ feminist economists need to engage more deeply with Civil and Public Health Engineering. As someone based in Civil Engineering, I’ve heard and seen the reverse happening for a very long time already! It’s always great to see the development sector deep dive into social justice, gender equality, and universal access, with newer theories/ explanations/ associations. However, in my brief interactions, I noticed that many still had no idea how WASH/public health engineering works, for example, water contamination can be geogenic, not just anth...

  A feminist, rights-based, clarity-oriented guide for honest conversations to navigate arranged marriage chats! Inspired by lived experience. For women seeking clarity, not conformity. Hi! I’m Spurthi. I’m 35, happily married to Prashanth - whom I met through an arranged marriage set-up. Though, I prefer calling it an assisted marriage (you’ll soon see why). I'm from the town of Venkatapuram, Hyderabad. I studied engineering, transitioned into social work through my education in Mumbai, and worked for several years in Delhi. At the time, my radical feminist views made me hyper-aware/ woke, but also left me heartbroken and lonely - especially while trying to date in a city-bro/ macho world. 😅 Thanks to my mother’s relentless and loving efforts to find someone who could match my gullible-feisty-sweet-enthu personality, I found Prashanth - a genuinely kind human, who is now my best friend and forever partner. This post isn’t about selling arranged marriage. If it’s not for you,...

 “I was admitted to the hospital because of my toe’s inspection” Sudha Bai said, just the day before yesterday, while sitting at my parents’ house. Sudha Bai—my father’s younger sister, my chinnattha—has always been a powerful presence in my life. Her son, Ramu (technically, Ram Bava), chuckled and corrected her, “ Oh mother! It’s infection, not inspection. ” “ Right. That. Inspection. They would have amputated my leg if it was from inside. But since it was outside, I escaped ,” she replied, brushing it off like she always did—with that casual, matter-of-fact tone she reserved for everything intense in her life. That was her way. That was her. No drama, no fuss, just clarity. Even when it came to pain. Especially when it came to pain. That was true of most people on my dad’s side, but Sudha Bai embodied it. (Tx Chat GPT for helping recreate some memories. Unfortunate that I dont have any pictures of us) Her signature expression was "maaari".  It rolled off her tongue in coun...

Like many, I love watching K-dramas. I first discovered them in 2012, accidentally, after watching a J-drama, back in the pre-Netflix days! K-dramas felt so different from Telugu/Hindi dramas and films: deeper characters, daily life themes, exploration of diverse professions, and a poetic way of expressing love and pain. Yet, they shared the familiar hero complex and extreme slow pace (grateful to 1.5x speed on Netflix now, IYKYK!). What truly pulled me in, though, was the stronger female characters, a refreshing change. Even though I’ve been a K-drama fan for years, it never translated into reading webtoons or Korean books, until now. Welcome to Hyunam-dong Bookshop was my first Korean translated read, and it was a happy accident. I found it at my favorite bookshop in Leeds, a small, independent store run from a cozy boat at the Leeds Docks. The owners are warm, often leaving little handwritten notes near books. This was one of their recommendations. I happily spent my poster prize m...