Full Stop Quarterly: Fall 2022

The following is an introduction to the latest issue of the Full Stop Quarterly, edited by Full Stop Fellow Kudrat Wadhwa. You can purchase the issue here or subscribe at our Patreon page. Love ends in heartbreak. The rich will always get richer, and the poor, poorer. Climate apocalypse is inevitable. For every new COVID inoculation will come yet another mutation. And every movement in the streets eventually runs up against the resounding apathy of spineless politicians. What does it mean to j
New York Focus •

Montefiore Health System Reshuffles Bronx Operations Ahead of Looming State Policies

In a closed-door meeting in early July, Montefiore Health System administrators told staff at a highly regarded family medicine clinic it had decided to move them from their Fordham building to another location two and a half miles away. Multiple doctors at the clinic told New York Focus the move would be disastrous for their patients, who largely come from low-income, immigrant communities. On August 5, following staff pushback and organizing efforts from community advocates, the administratio
The Verge •

What happens when your conception begins with deception?

She wants to know how, and why. But first she has to meet him. W hen Arianna Huhn experienced complications with her first pregnancy, she signed up for a clinical trial, one that required her to submit family DNA samples for research. Her parents, Gail and George Fogelman, agreed. But shortly after, they asked her to jump on a call with them, alone, without her husband. On the phone, Huhn noticed that her dad was choked up and unable to speak. Her mother took the lead. “There’s something that
Narratively •

The Cartoonist Whose Parents Were Secretly Spies

I honestly couldn’t believe it. Are they all waiting to get in? You’d think it was one of Amsterdam’s most popular clubs, with some moody, hipper-than-thou DJ spinning from his throne. But nope, it was the Anne Frank House, and apparently, it’s like this every day the museum is open, the line of visitors stretching from the door, along the canal, and through the cobblestone square, hoping to experience just a glimmer of Frank’s life, and death. Frank, of course, is no head-bopping DJ — but she i
The Verge •

Dating’s hard when you live the #vanlife

Suriyan Ramasami’s first date with the professor from Sacramento was special. After matching on Bumble and texting and FaceTiming for a week, Ramasami suggested they meet in person. He reserved a table at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, drove two hours from the Bay Area to Sacramento, and even bought her a rose. They hit it off and scheduled a second date of hiking and dinner by a lake. It was then that Ramasami disclosed his living situation: “I don’t stay in an apartment or anything. I’m nomadic, an
Bright Wall/Dark Room •

A Lot of Success Has to Do with Timing: An Interview with Susan Seidelman

Every time I’m in a fit of anxiety, I go out for a walk, plug in my earphones, put on ‘Into the Groove’ by Madonna, and ask myself, “What would Susan do?” The Susan I’m talking about is the eponymous character from 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan, played on screen by Madonna and brought to life by Director Susan Seidelman. With her metallic jackets and spiky heels, Susan’s character is the embodiment of confidence and charisma, symbolic of the tough, self-reliant downtown New York woman of the
High On Films •

How Masaan (2015) Divorces Women's Desire From Shame

There’s a song in ‘Masaan’ (2015) with the lyrics, “Mann Kasturi Re, Jag Dasturi Re”, meaning “The Heart is Emotional, The World is Practical.” It’s a fitting song for the film, which follows the lives of its two protagonists, Devi and Deepak, played by Richa Chaddha and Vicky Kaushal respectively, as they try to pursue their heart’s desires in a cruel casteist and patriarchal world. Masaan (2015), directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, begins with a close-up shot of an intrigued Devi watching a pornograp
Feminism in India •

Priyanka Chopra Called Out For Her Hypocritical "Peace Activism"

If you’re a desi person on twitter, you have definitely come across the Ayesha Malik-Priyanka Chopra feud that’s been trending #1 for the past week. Malik confronted Priyanka Chopra at a BeautyCon event in Los Angeles about her February 26, 2019 tweet “Jai Hind #Indian Armed Forces”, which the actor posted after the Balakot airstrike conducted by the Indian Army in Pakistan as a response to the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. She accused her of “encouraging nuclear war” an
Feminism in India •

The Road To Safety: On Why Pink Autos Gradually Disappeared

With no auto in sight, the pink prepaid booth at the Huda City Centre metro station collects dust. The dingy, dirty booth is currently being used to store an old swivelling chair and other miscellaneous items. First initiated in 2010, and revived in 2013 and then again in 2015, the most recent ‘Pink Auto’ project was launched in Gurugram by DCP (Traffic) Bharti Arora and then Police Commissioner Alok Mittal, in an effort to curb sexual assault cases against women travellers. The ‘Pink Autos’ l
Feminism in India •

Netflix's Beecham House Review: A Woke White Orientalist’s Dream

Despite streaming on Netflix India, ‘Beecham House’, a British TV show that has been criticized heavily in the UK for its subpar writing and acting, has not ruffled any feathers among reviewers and critics based in India, even though it is set in 18th century Delhi and features prominent Indian actors like Lara Dutta, Arunoday Singh and Tisca Chopra. And, when I watched the show, I realized why that was the case. ‘Beecham House’ is a show meant primarily for white British viewers who, instead o
The Wire •

Che, Lenin, Bhagat Singh: How One Man Is Taking Punjab Down Revolutionary Road

On seeing Che Guevara’s mural, Balvir Singh’s neighbours asked whether he had painted a ghost in their village. Mander Kaur, Singh’s next-door neighbour said, “To tell you the truth, my kids wanted Balvir to paint over the mural. They were convinced that Che was a bhoot (ghost) because of his long flowing hair..they were scared to leave the house.” Expecting such a reaction, Singh explained to them how, like Bhagat Singh, Guevara was also a revolutionary socialist. He then pointed to Lenin’s m
Jamhoor •

There are No Win-Win Solutions —

Adani’s example demonstrates how greenwashing manifests itself in practice. Although the Adani group markets itself as an environmentally conscious corporation that cares about natural resources and people, in reality, its business practices are very harmful and exploitative. Adani is not alone by any means: other conglomerates like Tata and Unilever also greenwash their environmentally damaging practices by using words like ‘sustainable’ and serene images of turtles and forests on their website
Live Wire •

Surveilling Delhi's Schools: Is Installing CCTV Cameras in Classrooms a Step Backwards?

Arvind Kejriwal recently announced that the Delhi government will be installing over 1.5 lakh cameras in government schools and classrooms around the capital city. The Delhi chief minister said that this initiative would ensure students’ safety as parents can keep a close watch on their kids by watching live CCTV footage of classrooms on an app called ‘DGS Live’ available on the Google Play Store. Although the desire to ensure their children’s safety is understandable, as a young person with ve
The Wire •

More Than One in Four Children With Disabilities Don't Go to School: Report

New Delhi: More than one in every four Indian children with disabilities (in the 5-19 age group) is not enrolled in an educational institution. This is just one of the key findings of a report by UNESCO and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The report, released on July 3, is titled ‘N for Nose: State of the Education Report for India 2019: Children with Disabilities’. The organisations lay out the various challenges and give suggestions and recommendations to improve the state of education
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