Name and partner's name: Sheila Wijayasinghe and Corey Tucker

Occupation: Family doctor

Age: 39

City: Toronto, Ont.

Years trying to have a baby: Four

When the "mom gene" kicked in: I'm an only child and I'm very grateful for the close bond I have with my parents. They have shown me unconditional love and provided so much support throughout my life, and I've always wanted to do this for my own child as well. Soon after meeting my husband 10 years ago, I knew I wanted to start a family with him and share in the incredible experience of parenthood.

The infertility diagnosis: Initially, when it was taking us longer than expected to get pregnant, we thought that we were still within the normal timeframe and that pregnancy would eventually happen. As a family doctor, I always counselled my patients around how long it can actually take and as such, I initially tried to reassure both of us that our time would come. When we came up to 6+ months of trying, given our age, we were referred to a fertility clinic. All our tests were normal and as such, we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility in November 2013.

The reaction: It wasn't so much a surprise as it was a frustration, as we did not have a specific reason for why we were infertile. It was the first time we had to come to the realization that getting pregnant would likely not happen naturally.

It was quite upsetting as it felt like we were running out of time rapidly and that it was due to my own body failing us.

When we went to our second clinic in 2016, we had retesting done which showed that my ovarian reserve was decreasing. We finally had an answer, but it was quite upsetting as it felt like we were running out of time rapidly and that it was due to my own body failing us. [I] felt worried, devastated and a loss of hope.

The plan B: We have done four cycles of intrauterine insemination (IUI) and two rounds of in vitro fertilization. In addition to these treatments, we also sought out support from traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and naturopaths for supplements, meditation and acupuncture.

The biggest challenges: Despite having a wonderful circle of family and friends, we still felt very alone at times during our infertility experience. We didn't know how to ask for help, and some of our closest friends didn't know how to give us the support we needed.

Investing in fertility treatment is huge from an emotional, physical, social and financial perspective without any guarantee of a return. This constant uncertainty and the feeling of putting our life on hold during treatment was also incredibly challenging.

The high points: We decided a year into our journey that we wanted to grow our family in some way. We adopted our puppy, Bella, who has been our saving grace. She helped us laugh when we were at our lowest, got us out of our house when we had bad news, and was a constant cuddle buddy.

We also had a glimmer of hope when we were first able to get pregnant after our first round of IVF. Sadly, we miscarried eight weeks into the pregnancy. It was incredibly sad, but it was also the first time that we had ever been able to get pregnant and it gave us a sense of hope that it was possible.

Finally, the biggest highlight for us was when we gave birth to our daughter Layla in August 2017 after a successful second round of IVF.

Reaction to conceiving their daughter: We were in shock and were very, very cautiously optimistic when we first found out. Because we had gone through several years of fertility treatments and [a] miscarriage earlier in the year, we struggled initially to feel fully excited in order to protect ourselves from potential sadness and disappointment if it didn't work out. Once we were able to see her heartbeat on our ultrasound at 12 weeks, we felt more confident and secure and allowed ourselves to feel the joy that we had been waiting to feel for years.

More from HuffPost Canada:

• How One Woman's Humour Is Helping Her Cope With Infertility
• Why Pregnancy After Miscarriage Can Be So, So Hard
• "As A Doctor, I Want You To Know Your Miscarriage Isn't Your Fault"

Meeting their daughter for the first time: It was really beautiful. She was put right on my chest directly after delivery for some skin-to-skin time and I remember feeling her soft skin and weight sink into me — and my heart felt like it was about to burst. Afterwards, when she was being measured and changed with my husband and mom, I recall looking over and feeling very grateful and calm (it may have been my sheer exhaustion!), but it was a beautiful and surreal moment.

Unexpected feelings: Now that we have had our little one, I feel some survivor's guilt. We got to know the other people in the waiting room [while undergoing fertility treatments], not necessarily by name, but we were all there at the same time, every morning going through the same journey.

I remember seeing people being congratulated when they had positive results while we were waiting and feeling very happy for them, but also wishing it was us. When it did happen for us and we were the ones being congratulated, there was a feeling of guilt that we were so fortunate knowing fully that not everyone has this positive result.

Despite the physical, emotional, relationship and financial investments people make, not everyone has the outcome that we all wish for and we feel very grateful that we were lucky to able to do this.

How their relationship changed: We have been fortunate in that we became closer over the last several years. Fertility treatments can really take its toll on relationships, but we made a commitment that we would have each other's backs, give continuous love and support, and did regular check-ins to ensure that we were doing OK as a couple.

It wasn't always easy — especially when I was in the throes of high-dose hormonal treatments and my sleep and mood were at their lowest — but we approached each other with kindness and understanding. We were in this together as a team and thankfully got through it.

How they coped: When we had negative outcomes early on, we would allow ourselves a few days to grieve. We would usually find solace in taking our puppy out for a walk or doing something enjoyable like a movie, seeing our friends, going to our favourite restaurant and opening a bottle of wine. Within a few days, we would feel a renewed sense of hope and try to move forward to our next cycle.

Talking about infertility: I always appreciated when people would check in with us. Several friends kept track of key days of our cycle monitoring and would check in on these days to see how we were doing. There wasn't anything specific that they said, but their thoughtfulness and love made a huge difference to us.

[However], while people were well-intentioned with their advice, it was often unsolicited and could be hurtful. The one that always bothered us was the advice to "just relax" and "it'll happen," which made us do anything but relax! Also, everyone has a story about a couple they know who had success when they just "stopped trying," which also was at odds with what our experience was and just caused further stress.

What she wants other couples to know: Know [you] are not alone despite often feeling that way. If things get overwhelming (which is also very common), I would recommend getting help early for the individual or the couple either through group or online support or individual counselling.

I also suggest creating a circle of support of individuals and to not be afraid to call upon them when you need it. We should have done this earlier because we felt quite alone in the first couple of years. When we eventually did reach out, we were met with beautiful love, which helped us through and made our journey much smoother.

Try to keep things as normal as possible even when everything feels out of your control. Often with fertility treatment, life can feel like it's been put on hold, but it's important to not lose sight of who you were before this journey. Keep up exercise, see your friends, go on holiday if you can. Those moments of self-care will help get you through the harder days.

And finally, build your family in whatever way you can. For us it was our puppy and building our circle of trusted friends. It can look like whatever you'd like — a plant even! Having something that you can nurture and care for in your home can also help you get through your treatment.

Final thoughts: Fertility treatment is tax deductible, but the Canada Revenue Agency will need to see your receipts — so keep them all to submit! It's not a huge amount, but every little bit helps.

[And] if having children is a wish, talk to your doctor earlier than later. I now counsel my patients who are at childbearing age to think about fertility and how it [declines] with age so that they can better plan ahead. It's a very personal decision and discussion, but an important one to have.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Also on HuffPost:

AHMEDABAD, Gujarat — From sedition charges and a nine-month jail term, to a sex CD controversy, Hardik Patel has had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him in the two years since he challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their home state of Gujarat. It's sometimes easy to forget that the man who led the rallying cry in the Patidar movement is only 24-years-old.

In the aftermath of the Bharatiya Janata's Party's sixth straight win in the state, the leader from the land-owning Patel community has become somewhat of a political score board. Many people measure his success against the 16 seats that BJP lost and the 19 seats that the Congress Party gained.

That is, in Hardik's mind, a narrow view of him and the youth movement in Gujarat which he believes is only going to get stronger in the run up to the 2019 national election.

When I met him at his apartment in the upscale locality of Shilaj in Ahmedabad earlier this week, the Patidar leader kicked off our conversation by saying, "Abhi to kaam shooro hua hai." (Our work has just started).

"My biggest achievement is the public outrage which we have generated," said Hardik. "That is something that will not go away easily and it is something we will continue to build on."

When I asked him if he was disappointed that the BJP had prevailed again, he said, "What does a 24-year-old man do in this country? He dates his girlfriend, goes to college or tries to get a job with a good salary. What do I do? I'm fighting injustice. I'm doing something different. I'm still young and this a big thing for me to do."

I'm fighting injustice. I'm doing something different. I'm still young and this a big thing for me to do.

It was in the summer of 2015 that the commerce graduate, whose father runs a business selling immersible pumps, became the face of a struggling section of young Patels. His fiery speeches made amidst violent protests for quota benefits transformed him into an overnight sensation in the country.

Not only did he channel anger over unemployment and agrarian distress against the BJP government, the youth leader stripped away Modi's larger than life image in a state where the prime minister has commanded only reverence for a long time.

It wasn't long before two other leaders, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor, faces of the Dalit community and Other Backward Classes (OBC) respectively, rose up in Gujarat. In the run up to the state polls, the three youth leaders joined forces against the BJP government, calling out the ruling party on a host of issues such as unemployment, privatization of education and basic human rights.

Even after he was jailed for nine months and banished from the state for six months as a condition for his release, Hardik did not fade away. During the election campaign in 2017, the youth leader attracted crowds that rivaled the throngs which showed up for Modi's rallies.

While Hardik is in his element in public rallies, the 24-year-old admits that he is a tough subject to interview. I found him to be somewhat indifferent, somewhat engaged but never humourless. When I called him out on his pithy responses, Hardik chuckled. "I normally respond with a few sentences but I do convey everything important," he said.

In fact, early on in the interview, Hardik said he doesn't like journalists, preferring to communicate directly with his followers on social media. "I like journalism but I don't like journalists. A lot of journalists just come to show off. There are others who come with questions that their bosses have asked them to send," he said.

I like journalism but I don't like journalists.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, we soldiered on.

Hardik was rarely emotive during our conversation, but the youth leader did let on that being incarcerated and having to appear in court again and again had taken its toll. "That is the most difficult bit. I think of myself as a freedom fighter and jail is the second home of a freedom fighter," he said.

I think of myself as a freedom fighter and jail is the second home of a freedom fighter.

Looking Towards 2019

For Hardik, the next milestone is the 2019 national election.

The youth leader is unfazed by BJP's winning spree. After its recent victories in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the Hindu nationalist party controls an unprecedented 19 out of 29 states.

"When you have a dadar (ring worm) and you put medicine on it, it doesn't go away immediately. You have to put medicine on it for a few days, perhaps a week, before it starts going away, little by little. The BJP is a like a dadar. This time, the medicine brought them down from 119 to 99 seats. Next time, we're going to put more medicine and wipe them out in 2019," he said.

For the first time since it came to power in 1995, the BJP has won less than 100 seats in the state election. The BJP won by seven seats more than the 92 seats required to get a majority, with as many as 16 seats having been won by a margin of 3000 votes or less. In Saurashtra-Kutch, the epicenter of the Patidar agitation, the BJP won 23 of 54 seats from the region, with the Congress taking 30. In 2012, the BJP had won 35 out of 54 seats in the region.

Whether Hardik remains a voice of the Patidar community or broadens his support base remains to be seen, but the youth leader told me that he is planning to attack Modi on every front.

"Our movement is coming back from January 1 (2018). The fight will continue. I can't tell you the details because a freedom fighter never gives away his strategy."

Our movement is coming back from January 1. The fight will continue.

Even though he refused to divulge the details of his plan, Hardik said that two fold strategy would involve mobilizing farmers who are already angry about the support prices for crops as well as reaching out to young women and men who are stuck in an unemployment rut.

This time around, however, Hardik plans to "redouble" his efforts in reaching out to the urban youth. The election results showed that while the Congress made significant inroads in rural areas, the urban voters almost unanimously voted for the BJP.

He said his one regret is not having been able to change the minds of the urban youth. "There are a few things that I would have done differently like doing twice as much to get the urban youth riled up. We need to make them understand their rights, circumstances and problems," he said.

There are a few things that I would have done differently like doing twice as much to get the urban youth riled up.

"I'm not a test tube baby"

There was a moment during the Gujarat election when it seemed that his rivals had bested Hardik by releasing two sex CDs purportedly showing him. At the time, Hardik said the CDs were morphed and accused the BJP of playing "dirty politics."

Just a decade earlier, Sanjay Joshi, a rising BJP leader in Gujarat, had his political career cut short after sex CDs allegedly showing him were made public. It made no difference that Joshi was a 39-year-old bachelor at the time or that the CDs were later found to be doctored.

In Hardik Patel's era, however, the sex CDs have proven to be nothing more than a damp squib. When I asked if the CDs had rattled him, the youth leader responded with another question: "Are you a test tube baby."

The 24-year-old laughed as I took a minute to process his question and then explained himself.

"I'm certainly not a test tube baby. I think that only one in a thousand is a test tube baby. Otherwise, we are all born the way nature intended. This goes on in every house. There is nothing wrong with it. That is why it didn't bother me," he said.

Hardik believes that he belongs to a political generation that no longer cringes at sex, but what he deeply minded was the invasion of his privacy.

"The world has changed. I can talk openly talk about such things. There are no virgins even at the ages of 16 or 17. But my privacy was violated and that is wrong," he said. "There can be no democracy without respect for privacy."

There can be no democracy without respect for privacy.

READ: Jignesh Mevani: 'Fascism Is Fascism. It Will Ruin Our Country If We Stay Silent Any Longer'

Thanks To Modi and Hindutva, BJP Has Won Gujarat By The Skin Of Its Teeth

Congress Can Never Hijack Hindutva From The BJP, Says Gujarat's Deputy CM

Win, Lose Or Draw, Rahul Gandhi Has Emerged Stronger From Gujarat

In The Age Of Competitive Hindutva Politics, Young Muslims Want A Hardik Patel Of Their Own

'Muslim Vote? Does Muslim Life Even Matter In India,' Asks A Gujarati Doctor On Election Day

Also on HuffPost India

Yash Raj Films' tentpole winter blockbuster, Tiger Zinda Hai, opened to a mammoth 5700 screens worldwide today.

While Salman Khan, in an interview with HuffPost India, has said he doesn't care what critics have to say about his film, the reviews have already started pouring in.

A key change in the sequel is the change of director. While Kabir Khan directed the original, Ek Tha Tiger, the sequel has been directed by Gunday/Sultan-director, Ali Abbas Zafar.

Saibal Chatterjee, in his 2-star review, wrote, "TZH simply isn't interested in achieving any balance. The emphasis is unwaveringly on Salman Khan the Saviour. Katrina, fetching but flimsy, is compelled to take a backseat. Mercifully, the principal antagonist Abu Usman, played by Iran-born, UAE-raised Sajjad Delafrooz, is no pushover: he makes his presence felt in no uncertain terms."

Raja Sen, in his review, said, "To its credit, however, this film isn't built on the jingoism we grew up with. It's taken a while, but we have finally shaken off the handpump-uprooting anti-Pakistan ridiculousness of Gadar and now have a film where India's RAW and Pakistan's ISI work hand in hand, literally carrying each other's flag, in order to topple a more vile enemy," calling the action 'solid' while criticizing the film's 2 hour 40 minute long.

In her review for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta said, "Only once in a while, the film gives in and provides us a killing which sobers us up, but very quickly it's back to the base, with Bhai taking over, and everyone– including Nurse Poorna (Goenka, who plays Parvathy's role), and Zoya making way for him."

After praising Ali Abbas Zafar for working on an ambitious premise that is a blend of spy-thriller, romance, and a real-life incident (of Indian nurses trapped in a hospital ISIS-controlled Iraq), Anupama Chopra, in her review for Film Companion, said, "Tiger Zinda Hai is flat-out exhausting. The story is much too long and convoluted. Apart from Tiger, none of them (other characters) make any impact. The film's biggest weakness is that it doesn't move you emotionally."

Writing for Firstpost, film critic Anna Vetticad commented, "Tiger Zinda Hai's strength is that it is unapologetic about its stupidity. And so, although it is for the most part simplistic in the socio-political statements it lays on thick, it is packed with so much action that it ends up being a fun, even if clichéd, Bollywood-and-Bond-style masala flick which, if you are looking closely enough, does make a subversive point or two."

A review on Hindustan Times said, "Tiger Zinda Hai does everything you thought it would do. From establishing India-Pakistan friendship to proving the secular credentials of our chief agent, you witness everything. The good thing is all this happens rapidly."

In his review for Filmfare, Rachit Gupta said, "It may look like a Hollywood action thriller, but at its heart, Tiger Zinda Hai is an unabashed masala movie. The excessive use of slow motion shots and the constant fall back to comedy keep reminding you, this film wasn't made in Hollywood. But the heady mixture of an international looking action film and the regular tropes of Hindi cinema make it a pleasing watch."

The critics may have mixed views but the trade is super bullish on Tiger.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh is predicting a tsunami at the box-office while Komal Nahta said the film is 'off to a flying start.'

As expected, Tiger Zinda Hai off to a flying start.

— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) December 22, 2017

Director Ali Abbas Zafar delivers an eminently watchable film, no two opinions about it... Final word? #TigerZindaHai delivers what it promises: King-sized entertainment... Get ready for the Tsunami at the BO.

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 22, 2017

Film exhibitor Akshay Rathi shared a video from Raipur which revealed the inexplicable popularity of Salman and the way people line-up to watch his movies.

Everybody in #Raipur wants to watch the tiger roar! 😎 @rohan_m01@BeingSalmanKhan@yrf@aliabbaszafar#TigerZindaHaipic.twitter.com/9L4zIBH6DN

— Akshaye Rathi (@akshayerathi) December 22, 2017

Also on HuffPost:

A special CBI court on Saturday found former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav guilty in a fodder scam case. The quantum of punishment will be read out on January 3. Yadav was taken into custody shortly after the verdict. Yadav is accused in six fodder scam cases, and this is the second one where he has been found guilty.

"Had people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Baba Saheb Ambedkar failed in their efforts, history would have treated them as villains," he tweeted after the verdict. "They still are villains for the biased, racist and caste-ist minds. No one should expect any different treatment."

Meanwhile, his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), referring to the Central Bureau of Investigation as a "caged parrot", alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using the investigation agency to curb their political rivals.

Truth can be made to appear as a lie, as ambiguous or a half lie by concerted onslaught of bias driven propaganda. But blurred layer of bias and hatred will still be removed, come what may! In end Truth will win

— Lalu Prasad Yadav (@laluprasadrjd) December 23, 2017

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the verdict was a "lesson for all". "For me, it is a matter of some personal assurance that I had the privilege to argue the PIL in Patna High Court in the early 90s leading to the institution of CBI inquiry which was strongly opposed by the then state government headed by Lalu Yadav," he said.

Lesson of today's conviction of Lalu Prasad is that law will catch up with you if you commit corruption: Ravi Shankar Prasad #FodderScamVerdictpic.twitter.com/nQqxaXUV2I

— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2017

"We will move the high court," said senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. "There is no other alternative."

Also On HuffPost:

By Sanjiv Phansalkar*

I have noted in this column earlier that advising villagers in India to become entrepreneurs is like carrying coal to Newcastle. Most of the income-earning activities of rural individuals and households carry such enormous risks and challenges that the so-called risk-taking, which is considered the core of entrepreneurship, is almost second nature to them. Yet, we see few of the enterprises of rural households going to scale. Why is this so?

The answer may lie in the stance or mindset of the entrepreneur. For a rural household, whichever enterprise they initiate is a part of their overall living pattern. Hence, whatever they do for the enterprise, they do in a manner consistent with their lifestyle, including their revealed leisure-income trade-off. In a sense, therefore, they are lifestyle entrepreneurs.

For a rural household, whichever enterprise they initiate is a part of their overall living pattern.

On the other hand, a formal profit-seeking capitalist entrepreneur is supposed to set his goals at stiff levels, proactively aim, seek and work for growth and is seen to be willing to adjust his lifestyle to the needs of that enterprise. Here is the difference. There are, of course, a very large number of urban persons in business as well as in professions who also treat their enterprises as a way of life rather than as vehicles for growth and profit maximization.

Lifestyle obstruction

What level of size of the enterprise, what level of growth and what level of income satisfies an individual is strictly her choice and we see there is a wide range in the way these choices are made. A well-known restaurant in South Mumbai — the hub of India's capitalism — is known to operate only between 10 am and 3 pm for lunch and only on weekdays. It is full any time you visit and the owner would see no dearth of custom were he to start a dinner service as well, but he has made his choice. So does every one else. Thus, stating that merely because rural households treat their enterprises as a way of life hinders the growth of their enterprises is only a partial explanation.

Discussions with people working in different capacities with rural enterprises throw some more light on this matter. An entrepreneur working with tribal individuals and providing them techno-managerial and marketing support to start and run their enterprises making tableware from sheaths of areca nut trees made some interesting points.

Modes of thinking

His contention was that rural individuals have learnt and think in terms of sequential action. Illustrating this, he says, for instance, a farmer knows and acts in a sequence for his crops — prepare the land, sow and plant the seeds, possibly with basal dose of manures, remove weeds, provide irrigation, spray plant protection chemicals, harvest, thresh, pack and sell and store for self-consumption. He is attuned to act in this sequence and thinks in that fashion.

On the other hand, even the simple enterprise of making tableware from areca nut sheaths involves many simultaneous actions — collecting fallen sheaths, procuring from others, stacking them, producing tableware to given designs, packing them, undertaking necessary banking operations and so on. There is thus a fundamental challenge in modes of thinking for the individual and there is a challenge in making sequential thinkers to think simultaneously on multiple fronts.

There's another example about an entrepreneur who sources woven fabric from tribal households in Assam. Weaving is a household activity in that area and there are pretty designs traditionally being woven in silk and other materials. The entrepreneur procures yarn for them and expects woven fabric that can then be used to make garments with traditional motifs but modern forms.

Sticking to schedules

"The trouble is getting them to adhere to schedules. When rain creates a lot of water bodies, you can be sure that your weavers would much rather go for fishing than weave, ignoring the deadlines set for tem and forgetting their own commitments," he says in frustration. "Around times of festivals like Puja or Bihu, our demand peaks, but weavers are busy enjoying the festivals themselves, so we just do not get our supplies. How can these enterprises grow?"

However, once rural entrepreneurs — and even tribal folk — make the mental transition from production work of the enterprise being a calling and not just a part of way of life, things seem to improve. An entrepreneur from Manipur, who engages with pretty craft objects made out of kuona grass, said that when he could assure the producers of a certain volume of business, and hence, of much enhanced income working at or close to homes, they found a way of adjusting their life pattern to cater to the rising demand. "They recognize the merit of making adjustments once risks associated with the economic activity are absorbed, and hence, income beckons them."

Patterns of living

The lesson seems to be somewhat as follows. Entrepreneurial activities are risky and rural individuals take to them, as every economic activity for them is risky. They also have a well laid out life pattern. To start with, they fit the entrepreneurial activities within their pattern of living. On their own steam, few of these individuals have either the capacity or the inclination to overcome the expectations and challenges of their pattern of life to put that extra energy in their enterprise, which is needed for growth. Hence they remain stagnant.

The trouble is getting them to adhere to schedules. When rain creates a lot of water bodies, you can be sure that your weavers would much rather go for fishing than weave, ignoring the deadlines set for tem and forgetting their own commitments

Any external intervener therefore must recognize the demands of the pattern of life on the entrepreneurs and do one of the two things. Either she accepts that rural and tribal individuals are "like that only" and makes her own business projections. Else, he creates sufficiently strong and credible incentive for the rural and tribal folk to make proactive adjustments to their pattern of life and become reliable, highly productive producers.

While there is no live data for making this statement, it would appear that once the rural individuals have made adjustments in their pattern of life to suit economic activities, they may then be far more ready to take these risks and grow on their own.

Note: The author gratefully acknowledges the inputs from presentations made by Arindam Dasgupta, Bhajit Singh and Mayuri Baishya at the Tribal Samvaad conclave held in Jamshedpur in November 2017.

Sanjiv Phansalkar is associated closely with Transform Rural India Foundation. He was earlier a faculty member at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Phansalkar is a fellow of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. Views are personal.

This article was first published on VillageSquare.in, a public-interest communications platform focused on rural India.

​​​​​​​(The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.)

The World Inequality Report 2018, a first of its kind, was published last week by Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and their associates. Indeed, as Piketty demonstrated in his 2015 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, we are witnessing a resurgence of the rentier class – the class which owns (financial and non-financial) assets and they obtain a rent/return on their ownership – and not the 'euthanasia of the rentier class' as John Maynard Keynes had expected.

In this short essay, I argue that our staggering inequality of income and wealth severely undermines progressive politics, and therefore renders our collective vision of a good life for all impossible.

One of the key insights from Piketty's book is that the rate of return on 'capital' (which includes financial assets such as equity shares, mutual funds, and bonds and non-financial assets such as land and housing) has grown faster than the rate of growth of output (or GDP). Remember that the rate of per capita GDP is a proxy for the rate of annual growth of income per person. Hence, on an average, as a worker, I can reasonably expect my income to grow at the per capita GDP growth rate. However, if, for instance, I own financial assets, I do not need to work and yet my average annual returns will be greater than those who work.

India, or more accurately, Indians, are extremely poor as well as highly unequal. More precisely, 93% of Indian households earn less than ₹ 2,50,000 a year (or ₹ 21,000 a month) and therefore are exempt from paying personal income tax. That is, most Indians do not possess an income that can be taxed. At the same time, the richest 1% own 53% of India's wealth according to a Credit Suisse report. Owing to the high return on financial assets, the wealthy get wealthier. Moreover, they are able to use their socioeconomic standing to ensure that their children also have access to a clean environment, good schooling, quality health care, and eventually a job that 'pays' well.

What is scary is that we have uncritically bought the idea that to improve our socioeconomic standing, we have to individually strive to become better.

Our current socioeconomic order gives us time only for work and work-related activities such as traveling to and from work, and increasingly, looking for work too. As Francis Wheen writes in his biography of Karl Marx's Capital, "The average British employee now puts in 80,224 hours over his or her working life, as against 69,000 hours in 1981. ... many people have no time for anything beyond labour and sleep." Many workers in Bengaluru spend around 2 hours a day on an average commuting to and from work. Contrary to our expectations from this socioeconomic order, technological progress has neither resulted in shorter working days nor in higher wages.

​​​​​​​

Every time, I am out on the roads of Bengaluru, I am struck by our neglectful attitudes towards our common property – lakes, trees, parks, buses, and roads. This is accompanied by a growth in: lake-facing apartments, big SUV vehicles plying on the roads, international schools which guarantee our children seats in MIT and Harvard, trees being felled to make away for the increased cars and school buses, and lakes frothing due to household (and industrial) waste from all the toxic ingredients in the substances we use daily for cleaning clothes, dishes, and our dwellings. I will not be surprised if, in the future, some large gated housing communities partner with schools and hospitals to provide services exclusively for their residents.

In the manner described above, the responsibility to ensure a good life for all has been passed on, rather sold to, all of us, individually.

The death knell of our extant socioeconomic order is and has been ringing, and it keeps getting louder. What is scary is that we have uncritically bought the idea that to improve our socioeconomic standing, we have to individually strive to become better – work harder, save more, and become more efficient and smart. [The burgeoning self-help books industry is testament to this need created by the current socioeconomic order. A 2012 study by Marketdata Enterprises valued the US self-help industry at around $10 billion per year.] And the reasoning continues: after all, our children's educational attainment (aka merit) chiefly depends on their individual hard work; overall ecological improvement depends on individual decisions and actions – of what to and what not to consume; our access to good health care depends on our individual savings, or financial planning, as they call it; our ability to subsist well after our retirement also depends on our individual retirement planning.

In the manner described above, the responsibility to ensure a good life for all has been passed on, rather sold to, all of us, individually. And this idea is deeply flawed in an unequal society like ours because the poor cannot afford to make demands for better public infrastructure and services, and the rich meet their growing needs through purely private means.

(The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.)

A freelance journalist who writes often for The Hindu newspaper in India and several international publications, was whisked away on Tuesday from a demolition site in Mumbai's Vakola, charged by the Bandra-Kurla police with instigating protestors, allegedly denied access to her phone, roughed up, and held in police custody for about four hours.

Journalist Priyanka Borpujari recalled her ordeal over the phone with HuffPost India:

"The police said I was apparently instigating protestors. I've been a journalist for many years now. I have covered human rights. There is no way I would incite violence. I am shocked that this allegation has been levelled against me. I remember clearly, I kept saying over and over again 'mujhe apna kaam karne do' (let me do my work). Because that's what journalists are supposed to do under such circumstances." Borpujari was not commissioned by The Hindu to cover the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolition about 300 metres from her home, in Santa Cruz East. She got to know that houses were being demolished and rushed to the spot.

The ruckus at the demolition site started at around 12:30 in the noon. She was escorted to the police station at about 1:30 PM. Borpujari's phone was taken away from her and despite her repeated request to be allowed to make a call, she was kept waiting at the police station till about 4 in the evening. She had no idea at that time that she and four other women who were picked up from the site were going to be charged with obstruction of duty.

I just spoke to @Pri_Borpujari and she told me that she's safe. However, she added, her cellphone has visuals of cops assaulting slumdweller children, and hence they're not returning it to her. @zigzackly@MumbaiPolice@CPMumbaiPolice@DevenBhartiIPShttps://t.co/BYjpbBpyFI

— Gautam S. Mengle (@NotMengele) December 26, 2017

"They were trying to intimidate me, they kept snatching my phone away, and when I bent down to pick it up, they pulled my shirt. I came home with two-three bruises and contusions." Borpujari said the police went through the mobile phone she used to take videos and photos of the demolition.

"It was very shocking. It's my personal phone and had my personal data on it," she said.

Later in the evening, a policeman, who was documenting the events at the Hans Bhugra Marg, and whom she refused to name, allegedly told Borpujari that if only she had a press card, she would have been let off.

However, Borpujari said that the focus should not shift from the 250 houses that were demolished and their now-homeless occupants. "At least I came back to my house and slept in my bed. Imagine the plight of those people. There's a bigger story here to report."

When Borpujari asked the policeman how could her action — of documenting the razing of houses — be construed as instigation, she was allegedly told that simply the fact that she was present there with a camera in hand encouraged the protestors.

She gave The Hindu a detailed account of what went on at the site, describing police brutality. Journalists from the paper raised the alarm when they could not reach her over her phone. "As is the case now (with contacts saved on smartphones), I could not remember anyone's number, except for an old friend's whom I called when they (the police) finally allowed me a call."

Borpujari did not know at that time that in a WhatsApp group of Network Of Women In Media (NWMI), of which this writer is a member, there were frantic exchanges of messages, not just of solidarity, but also pooling of resources to reach help to her on time. Numbers of lawyers were exchanged, calls to police stations made, tweets posted, and media reports written. The pressure created by senior journalists helped expedite her release, mediapersons on the group conceded.

DCP Anil Kumbhare, Divisional Commissioner for Zone VIII told The Hindu that they detained the freelance journalist "for encouraging slum dwellers and instigating them to protest against the action taken by the BMC." An FIR has been lodged against the five women under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 114 (abettor being present when offence is committed), 141 (show of criminal force), 143 (unlawful assembly) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, according to the paper.

Press backing, poor pay

As a freelance journalist, Borpujari did not have a press card, a common enough plight for India's contractual media workers and stringers. The harrowing trial faced by her exposed the plight of freelance journalists in India. The Press Information Bureau (PIB), that issues accreditation cards for access to high security areas such as the Indian Parliament require five years of experience as a full time working journalist. A freelancer must have fifteen years of experience to apply for a PIB card.Foreign journalists (correspondents and camerapersons) require five years of experience as a full time working journalist and a valid J-Visa.

"Most newspapers don't pay us anymore. Earlier, there was a monthly fixed amount but that was till around a decade ago but that too stopped over the years," a journalist who has worked as a stringer with many papers for over three decades, told HuffPost India, requesting anonymity.

"Many of the journalists fell on bad times, they were in middle-age, and couldn't change jobs overnight."

"Later, some papers used to pay per news ranging from Rs 75-Rs 100 (for each 'cutting' news that was printed). This includes a national English paper. Barely 5-6 stories were carried a month, it was nominal amount that couldn't even cover petrol cost. Then, it was also stopped. They carry our news but don't pay, expecting that we would have some other means or side business to run household," the journalist added.

"Many of the journalists fell on bad times, they were in middle-age, and couldn't change jobs overnight," the journalist said. "I too worked with a national daily as stringer for years and was promised that I would be given an identity card but it remained a promise which was never fulfilled, forget money, even card was never issued," the journalist added.

"Even a renowned national news agency pays less than Rs 500 per month though we cover entire district with a population of 20-25 lakh."

Sexism, a daunting challenge

Gita Aravamudan, an award-winning journalist from Bangalore, has been a freelance writer for 50 years of her life, starting her career as an intern with the Hindustan Times in 1967. She told HuffPost India that threat to personal safety is the commonest peril of working off the grid.

"When I joined journalism there were very few women in newsrooms, and the atmosphere was generally anti-women. The perception was - 'women can't go to war, they can't cover strikes'. When I joined the Indian Express in 1968 in Bangalore (now, Bengaluru), I was the only woman reporter on a beat. You could be a woman on the desk, that was acceptable, but reporting was another matter," Aravamudan said.

The senior journalist and author recalled being paid Rs 15 per piece back in the 70s. Sometimes she was paid on time, and sometimes the payments were delayed. "When you landed an interview with a political leader, you were told by your colleagues, "women have it easy, all they have to do is smile."

The perception was - 'women can't go to war, they can't cover strikes'.

After her marriage to R. Aravamudan, an ISRO scientist, she was even asked if her husband wrote her articles for her. For the patriarchal media cabal of that time, it was clearly implausible that a woman investigative journalist who wrote in English could have done it without a man's help.

"Years later, when my husband wrote his first book — ISRO, A Personal History — chronicling his years in space research, I must confess I helped him with his language," she said, chuckling over the phone.

Rampant sexism aside, Borpujari's experience is a perfect example of the violence woman journalists face. Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, a vocal critic of right wing politics, was shot dead right outside her home in Bengaluru on 5 September this year.

From public toilet walls to Facebook walls

India ranked 136 among 180 countries in the latest world press freedom rankings, just marginally better off than its South Asia neighbours with an established track record of assault on press freedom. Journalists in this part of the world work under some of the most stressful conditions, often battling bureaucratic red-tape, threats to life, political and police intimidation, and invasion of their privacy. Freelancers can add limited access, pitiable wages, non-payment of dues on time to the list of pet peeves while covering the world's largest functioning democracy.

"See, we didn't have press accreditation at all. In those times, India Today gave me a card that would enable me to go to a telegraph office and send them a telegram. But that card would not guarantee access, or protection from police action."

"See, we didn't have press accreditation at all. In those times, India Today gave me a card that would enable me to go to a telegraph office and send them a telegram. But that card would not guarantee access, or protection from police action. Whatever access freelancers get, is based on years of building credibility," she said.

Sometimes the newspapers and magazines freelancers wrote for, had their back, such as The Hindu in Borpujari's case and Aravamudan's many years ago when she needed it to gain access for an investigative story on female infanticide.

"When I was covering dowry deaths for an investigative report, people came and told me I'd better be careful because I don't know where I'll end up. Same happened once when I was looking into a story about a group of pornographic filmmakers. Every day at 2:30 PM in the afternoon and 11 PM at night I would get threats over the phone. They clearly knew who I was, because once they found out that I didn't speak Malayalam, the threats were issued in Tamil," Aravamudan said.

The freelancer is mostly on her own in these circumstances, she said. However, Aravamudan said the trolling young girls face on social media today, somewhat compare.

"The messages that were scribbled on public toilet walls in our time, now come up on social media walls. It affects you psychologically."