Baithak is a peculiarly Indian noun from the verb Baithana or sitting down . Within homes or in the public sphere a Baithak is a comfortable sitting space for enjoying friendly freewheeling discussions . This is what I hope the blog will lead to . As a child I noticed that Baithak Khana,  the formal sitting room in tradional homes, was a male space . Women could, if permitted and sufficiently free(which was rare) listen in from the room beyond, to the male talk, but participating formally or informally remained impossible. Only when a particularly important issue( such as a marriage alliance for a member of the family, or property matters) was being discussed, elder women took sitting behind the curtains made their dissent or displeasure obvious by first clearing their throats, or, if that went unnoticed, sending out a young child and asking for the husband to come in for a moment . That was all .
Time, I said to myself, this was undone . Thus started a popular TV programme in Hindi around the late 1990s titled Mrinal Ki Baithak. Two years later I left the private channel airing it, and the programme closed down .  
This blog I hope, will continue the free and frank exchange of views between the blogger and readers and go beyond national politics into all matters that make up the politics of our daily lives .