Swiped (2025) and the Evilness of Workplace Harassment

 

Watched ‘Swiped’ (2025), a film based on the life of businesswoman Whitney Wolfe. I was not aware what the movie was about before I started watching it and later discovered that an integral part of the movie’s plot was about workplace sexual harassment. The movie genuinely depicts the scenarios of workplace harassment which women face, as well as the working environment in the tech startups. Although, no movie can do 100% proper judgement to all the characters and all the events, so the movie can also be accused of showing a one-sided story from the point of view of the lead character Whitney. But being a biographical film, this comes hardly as a surprise.

When Whitney joins the startup, and she was not a coder or a software engineer or big marketing name; she joins from the scratch. The credit to spot talent in her goes to one of the founders, Sean. And for a while, everything goes in a dream-like fashion. She is happy at work, is appreciated by all, and the company gets its mojo and everything is going great. But then, she starts dating another co-founder named Justin. The movie does not even show a hint that there was anything objectionable in a “workplace romance”. And thereby, it tries to hide a very pertinent truth about the whole scenario about to unfold.

Workplace romance is riddled with dangers, that is why most good companies have a policy against it. It is a recipe of disaster. Whiteney and Justin are dating and in love, and it is not kept a secret. After a while, the real face of Justin starts showing off, as he starts taking credit for her work, starts sidelining her and pushing her away from the media limelight. Perhaps, he was cunningly aware of what was going to happen after the two broke up. The decision to break up was taken by Whiteney after she had had enough of sidelining by Justin. Things go totally downside after they broke up, with Justin showing totally abusive behaviour by harassing and defaming Whitney. I wondered what Whitney was thinking when she went on that road of workplace romance. Men are typically known to be sore losers when it comes to handling rejections from women they like.

Later, the whole story shows how Whiteney fought against the system which is against women as well as anyone who takes a stand against the workplace harassment. It is an inspiring story of how Whiteney goes on standing for what is right. But it is more of an inspiring story because of the fact that Whiteney did not go down fighting and goes on to achieve greater success in her career. And when a tricky situation comes again in the next company she joined, she still stands tall. Hats off to Whitney Wolfe and her inspiring courage.

At the same time, I can’t stop but reflect on the root cause of all the harassment she was subjected to, which was workplace romance to begin with. In one of my previous companies where I witnessed absolutely toxic work culture, workplace romance was not only tolerated but even ‘encouraged’. There was a policy banning it, but the management just went around the policy by changing the official reporting manager of one of the couples, to avoid detection. I knew of many colleagues, who went on to marry other colleagues, only by seeing the encouragement of this practice. I believe it was purely incompetence and a decision not to take a stand, which made the senior management not respect the company policy of not allowing workplace romance.

The truth is that workplace romance and workplace harassment go hand in hand. Male employees, often in superior positions in the company, if faced with rejection by attractive female employees in junior positions, are inclined to harass them until they are forced to resign or go emotionally broken. Whiteney Wolfe was able to come out unscathed, and the movie shows the harassment situations very well. She went through hell and came out safe, but unfortunately not all are strong enough like her. And even if one woman is subjected to harassment at workplace, it is a failure of the whole company’s policies and the senior management who are supposed to uphold the values.

I feel like wishing that may there be more Whitney Wolfes in the world, but I know this would be a wishful thinking. Laws and polices are designed to protect the weakest in the community; and the fact that the strongest ones come out unscathed of the hostile situations does not mean slacking the rules. Multinational companies are seen to be often lacking stricter enforcement of policies and rules because of lack of accountability of the senior management who know their ‘time is ticking’ and would be out of the door in a few years. So, why take stands and try to improve the workplace environment for the employees, and why not spend most of the time just to improve the company’s performance in the stock market, which is most rewarding for them.

Workplace harassment should be taken more seriously by all companies as well as by the lawmakers of every country. And when it comes to harassment as an aftermath of workplace romance, the only way to prevent it is not to go down the lane in the first place. I am of the opinion that everyone should maintain a purely professional relationship at the workplace, for one’s own safety and for the safety of others.

- Rahul

Nature: Flowers of September

 

Travelogue: Patna Airport

 

Travelogue: Ramachandra Shahi Museum, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

This museum was established by the antique collections and efforts of late Ramchandra Shahi from Shahi-Minapur in Muzaffarpur, by his son Dr. Vijay Kumar Shahi in the memory of his father. Ramchandra Shahi was born in year 1912 in the Shahi-Minapur village of Muzaffarpur and he had special interest in collecting antiques and historical objects and he had established a museum there in the memory of his father late Brajbhushan Shahi. The current museum building was constructed by the govt and municipal corporation in 1987 and inaugurated by Bihar Chief Minister Bindeshwari Dubey on 23^rd of May, 1987. 

Entry to this museum is free of cost and you just have to make an entry in the visitors register. The museum is in a big hall on the ground floor which is air conditioned. There are 3-4 people available all the time to watch over the historical artefacts and will go with you if you are visiting there. And they will instruct you not to take photographs of any of the items. The pictures of artefacts shown above are taken from public sources on the internet.

- Rahul 

A Beautiful Bicycle Ride

 

Bicycles are special for children, and I am sure we all have some very nice memories associated with bicycles from our childhood. I used to have a small, beautiful, green tricycle when I was very small, a cherry red Avon bicycle with two side supporting wheels later, and I got a proper Hero Hansa bike when I went to the high school. But I shall share my memories later. Recently I saw something which was more than curious.

In the morning, a man was riding his bicycle with only one hand on the handle. With his other hand, he was holding a small kid of one or two, perhaps his son or daughter. The kid was standing on his lap and was enjoying the ride from there very confidently. I could notice that the kid was dark skinned, had been given a bath, wore a new bright red cloth, and his hair was oiled and fixed with a small “Rasna Choti”.

I wondered where the man was taking his kid in this manner. After some time, I saw him returning after having taken a U-turn, meaning it was just a casual stroll to entertain the kid before he went to work. As the man rode the bicycle, occasionally he would turn towards the kid and kissed him on his cheek. The whole scene was so heartwarming that would melt even a stone.

I don’t know if the kid would remember this when he would grow up, since he was very small, and how his relationship with his father would be after growing up. Life is full of ups and downs and we can’t say “happily ever after” for everyone. But I hope the kid would grow up to be a little grateful and loving, the way he received love from his father.

- Rahul

 

The Samosa Seller

 

In my hometown, I had gone to a neighbouring sweets shop after a long time. I found that while other sweets were handed over to the customers inside the shop, for samosas we were asked to take from the outside stall. When I went to the stall, I saw that there was a small boy of about 10 years old packing and handing over samosas. When I visited the shop the next time, it was the same arrangement. But this time I noticed that the boy was not only packing and handing over samosas, but also frying it in a big iron kadhai.

Since samosas are typically consumed as evening snack, and by evening the weather is already tolerable, it was fine that day. But when I went there for third time, it was day time and hence sunny. Even during the daytime, the same boy was making samosas, frying it in kadhai, packing and giving away to the customers who paid for the same inside the shop. I was shocked to observe that there was no real roof above stall since the stall was made outside the shop. The boy was standing in partial shade and partial sunlight and making samosas whole day. This time, the boy was appearing weak, perhaps he was not keeping well at that time. His hand was shaking while picking up hot, fresh out-of-pan samosas.

I felt really bad this time seeing this child-labour happening in front of me. When I went home, I told my mother about all this. She gave an instant solution by asking never to buy anything from that shop again in future. After doing a little ponding if that will benefit or harm the kid, since such situations are complex in real life, I concluded that it was a better idea not to buy from that shop. I did not want to inform the government authorities because child labour cases are rampant all across our hometown and if I complained about that shop, the boy may just get employment somewhere else.

I can remember boys of similar age working at kirana shops, welding shops, painting shops, etc. Even in the 21^st century and amidst so many claims of good governance, this child labour is happening rampantly. And in most of the cases I can see only boys and not girls working in such shops. When people talk about “male privilege” etc on social media, they forget to check real life on the ground. It also reminds me that many people like us take childhood for granted, believing it is always beautiful for all of us, without being aware of many such kids who skip whole childhood for a few rupees. Thanks to human greed which has no limits.  

After that incident, I have been to the sweets shop area and purposely avoided that shop once. I plan to continue doing the same in future. It may not improve the overall situation in the city, but at least I can feel a bit better that I am not part of it.

- Rahul

The Kid On a Traffic Signal

 

I have a few memories of the time when I was a kid and used to go to school on a ‘school rickshaw’ in my small hometown. It was a manually pulled rickshaw, with specially made wooden trailer, where four or five kids used to sit facing each other in each of the two parallel rows. I think I still have some glimpses of the rickshaw-wallah who used to service our school-rickshaw. He was dark skinned, had nice hair, and was very talkative. And how the roof of the rickshaw was made of “tin” like metal which used to make sound whenever the rickshaw moved or came across a jerk! When railway ‘gumti’ (level crossing gate) came, a couple of boys used to get down and push the rickshaw so that it could ride the small hill called the ‘railway gumti’. We also enjoyed the other side of it, when the rickshaw rolled down at high speed due to the slope.

Recently, after many-many years, I had stopped at a traffic signal and noticed that there was a ‘school van’ standing besides me. I think it was a yellow colored ‘Tata Magic’ vehicle which is popular as a school van these days. There was a kid sitting near a window, perhaps a boy, and he happened to observe the vehicles who were stopping at the red traffic light and said to his friend in Hindi, “Jo log imaandaar hote hain, wo rukte hain” (Those who are honest, follow the traffic rules and stop when the signal is red). His statement instantly went deep inside my heart.

The kid had thought that stopping at a traffic signal was a conscious choice of riders which could tell about the person’s integrity. This was such a touching thought. I think after growing up, today I believe that most of the people who do not stop at traffic signals do so because of general carelessness and disregard to the traffic rules, irrespective of their personal integrity. Although I stop at traffic signals most of the times, but the boy’s statement made me reflect on several occasions when I did not. I did feel a little embarrassed. I was not aware that if I did not stop at a traffic signal, a kid could be watching and judging me, thinking that I was not an honest person.

The way the innocent kid pronounced the long word “imaandaar” in Hindi still wanders in mind when I think about the incident. May the magical thing called childhood be always enjoyed by all kids everywhere, in all times and places.

- Rahul

Cow, in the Middle of the Road

 

While going somewhere in my hometown, I came across an interesting scene which made me wonder. In the middle of the road, unfazed by the passing traffic, a cow had started feeding a calf. The cow was totally white while the calf was totally black; but it was possible that it was her own child. I was in awe with the cow’s courage, or her lack of bother for ‘external validation’ (if such a thing exists in animal world too), that it decided that the calf needed to be fed then and there because it was hungry.

At the same time, I felt disgusted at the owners of the cows who force them to wander on the streets and eat whatever they can scavenge, just to save some money. This happens only in the towns and cities and not in the villages where there is plenty of free natural fodder available.

There is a very popular idol of a cow feeding her calf which is considered sacred in Hinduism. Cows are associated with many gods in Hinduism, along with Shri Krishna who acted as a cowherd in childhood. But I never imagined I would come across the sacred cow feeding her calf in such a modern context: in the middle of the road.

May the cow and her calf enjoy a happy long life, always.

- Rahul

Travelogue: Delhi Airport (Terminal 3)

 

Travelogue: Area around Patna (Bihar) in Rainy Season from an Airplane

 

Travelogue: Night View of City from an Airplane

 

Stray Dogs Menace in India: Why Everyone Should Cooperate and Rid Our Streets from Dogs

 

Currently, there is a huge outrage in India over the increasing population of stray dogs, increasing dog bite cases and deaths due to rabies. Supreme Court of India has taken Suo moto cognizance of this problem in Delhi after which hell has broken loose and from media to common people, everyone is discussing this subject. Here are few of the points I want to mention about this issue.

Disclaimer: I love stray dogs, especially pups and if you read my blogs, you would know; otherwise also it is fine.

1. There are many people who are saying that they do not have any problem with stray dogs and stray dogs have never bitten them. But it is important to note that the most common victims of stray dogs are small children, old men and women, poor people, ragpickers, maidservants and beggars. We need to think about welfare of these vulnerable groups of people instead of our own feelings about this issue.

2. Population of stray dogs increases because of easy availability of food on the streets. India is plagued with general lack of hygiene in public spaces and hence it has created this situation where there is huge quantity of food is available for dogs, cats, insects, pests, etc on the roadsides and in the garbage thrown everywhere around.

3. Due to the above reason, people who go out on the streets to feed stray dogs are actually being foolish. It is an invitation for stray dogs to exist in areas where they do not find enough garbage. If dogs are dependent on their artificial feeding, what will the dogs do on the days these people do not go out to feed the dogs?

4. Because of easy availability of garbage and leftover food, dogs’ population is expected to keep increasing exponentially. It is important to understand that stray dog population will increase “exponentially”, just like any species population. And hence, a point will come when things go out of hand and mass culling of dogs will be needed. Hence, it is important to manage this problem before things go out of hand.

5. Municipal corporations in many cities spend lakhs and crores of rupees doing forced sterilization of dogs, which is expensive; since the same money could rather be used for better purposes, like feeding homeless people or educating children of the poor. No amount of sterilization will be able to control dogs’ population if it keeps rising exponentially. 20 years of population control through sterilization can be undone in 5 years if sterilization is stopped. Hence, sterilization is not a sustainable or permanent solution to this menace.

6. Many people are calling for pet keepers to adopt stray dogs, but this is not going to be widely popular because people keep dogs of foreign breeds for status-symbol purpose and most of them won’t keep local stray dogs because the purpose they keep dogs is not for charity but for amusement and companionship.

7. Since the matter has reached the Supreme Court which has already ordered all stray dogs to be captured and sheltered, everyone should cooperate, and municipal corporation of Delhi should obey the order religiously and leave not a single stray dog on the streets.

8. Govt should make a law that if anyone abandons their pet dogs on the street, the dog owners will be sent to jail.

9. Municipal corporations all across India should use mix of sheltering and sterilization of dogs to reduce the population of stray dogs to zero.

10. After stray dogs population will be reduced to zero, population of stray cats will rise, and municipal corporations must ensure good cleanliness of localities in order to avoid us getting into a similar stray cats’ catastrophe.

- Rahul Tiwary

To Speak or Not to Speak is the Question: The Marital Fraud Conundrum

 

Everyone comes across frauds at some point of time or the other. In this world, there are cheats, there are liars, there are backstabbers, and there are frauds of all kinds. But if we come across a fraud who takes away only objects and things from us, we are lucky. Worst kinds of frauds are those who take away the very essence of what constitutes us – a part of our life. I am talking about marital frauds.

There are people from both genders, who marry only for money. If they marry for money but still be with you, it is still a win-win. If they marry you but steal only money and objects from you, you are still lucky. But what if they marry and then take away part of your family – how can you cope with that? You feel incomplete forever. Marital frauds are the worse kind of inhumanity on earth.

When something like this happens to you, you find it very difficult to keep it all together. Would you still have faith in the goodness of this world? Would you still be able to trust others? Would you still have faith in the institutions you have trusted and revered all through your life? Will you still be looking at the roses and not the thorns? It is one thing to be left to die. But if you are victim of a marital fraud, your every living moment is hell. You wish every moment that you better die and then perhaps this endless pain stops.

There is a term called “heartbreak”, which we do not understand until we go through it. Every boy experiences it in his teenage, when they realise that the girl they though was the prettiest in the world does not love them. Then if your friend ignores you, or someone you respected abandons you. All these are nothing when compared to if your spouse defrauds you.

I remember coverage of Raja Raghuvanshi on Times Now Navbharat channel. This TV news channel has a wonderful host named Sushant Sinha. He was telling about this crime and when he came to the point where Raja Raghuvanshi’s wife asked her friends to kill him, he described the moment in a very touching manner. He asked to imagine how Raja would have felt when he realized that his very loving wife was getting him killed. At that moment, would he think of saving himself or be pained with the reality of his wife? That was heartbreaking and beyond it altogether. I would say Raja Raghuvanshi was very lucky that he departed. He would have found it more difficult to live with the true identity of his wife he so loved.

While marital frauds destroy the very fabric of our soul, sadly, there are no laws and institutions to give us justice once we are its victims. There is no surprise that so many people can’t come to terms with it and just give up. Everything has a breaking point.

The worse part of it is that this is not a legal problem to solve. This is not even a social problem for all – because it does not happen with everyone. Those who are at its receiving end suffer mostly in silence. They are silent because they fear ridicule if they speak up.

Hence the title: to speak, or not to speak, is the question.

- Rahul