Remembrance

There is a core you, a you that you can't live without. The core you that you should never give up on. Your entire existence is based on that belief system that you have. And, that's something you should never compromise on. Life  takes you through myriad lanes, some are narrow, some broad, and some super highways. You cross these lanes at different juncture of your life, sometimes stumbling, sometimes at a new high. This journey is never the same, at each turn you learn something new, you find something unique. But what happens when all of a sudden you decide to sit on a milestone, not to rest, but to let life happen to you? What do you see? What do you find? Do you get to see something new every day? My guess, No. You see the same old mundane life passing you by, you fall into a pattern, which in the beginning seem comforting, but gets claustrophobic slowly. You try to compromise, you comfort yourself by saying, give it time, it will get better. But does it?...

Labeling someone as per their ' character ', that's the favorite topic of most people. It gives them a different level of kick to judge others and pass their opinion based on their own narrow mind-frame. They do not consider any other variables other than their own biases. They have certain labels, boxes and categories, and every person is typecasted as per their definition of 'character', especially women.  Here are some samples.  Characterless:  This is a gender specific characterisation - used for defining a woman with evidently 'loose' moral. If she drinks, smokes, parties, comes back home late and has friends who are boys who frequent her home, she is definitely characterless. She, unlike a man, cannot have an independent life and the freedom to live on her own terms. She is the epitome of 'loose woman'. The Other Woman:  Strangely, no one says the other man. It is always that evil other woman who is the home-breaker, who somehow...

There are two universal truths that most of us (women) cannot escape due to the way we are created - we have menstrual cycles and breasts. With regards to breasts, that is an essential part of our anatomy and once and for all we would like to tell the menfolk that these do not speak, so stop staring at them. However, this post is about sanitary napkins, and the entire stigma around 'being down' or having 'those days'. Really, why do we mince words. This is a reality that cannot be avoided and hiding it under the carpet is not a healthy option. But that's a topic of serious discussions, that requires ground-level effort at a mass scale to bring about change. And, maybe starting by de-taxing sanitary napkins the Government could do a big favour. Let's hope for the best. But, for now let's focus on our main topic, sanitary napkins in black polythene. My same gender readers, especially in urban India, would identify with this. Every time you buy pads from...

Brides in India are supposed to bring loads and loads and loads of dowry. That’s the truth of the entire country – be it the hinterland Bharat or the upwardly mobile India. A girl is still a liability, and boy an asset. And yes, we don’t believe in family planning, unless we are lucky enough to have sons during the first few attempts. To hell with Beti Bachao Beti Padhao! We are here to raise a generation of girls who are taught to remain in their ‘ maryada ’ and boys trained to become MCPs. Now imagine such a heavy dosage theme turned into an entertaining movie. Did I hear impossible? With Badrinath Ki Dulhania, that’s exactly what newbie director Shashank Khaitan made possible. In its outer packaging, this rom-com looks fun and entertaining, but the deeper themes of dowry, gender inequality, women emancipation, sexism, interweaved in the movie portray the condition of the society we still live in. It is in this very ‘progressive’ India the protagonist Vaidehi (another ...

Most women are like phoenixes, they might get battered, soiled and destroyed, but like a true phoenix, they rise again, that too from their own ashes. What gives them such power? No one really knows. They might look vulnerable, emotional, clingy, weepy and demanding, but with all of these they are also confident, rational, independent, smiling and understanding. Yes, they are the great contradiction, and it is this contradiction that makes them unique, with each claiming a little bit of sunshine. When I see my women friends getting promoted at work, finding a new job, marrying the person they truly love, quitting their jobs to raise their newborns, juggling with project deadlines and school homework, raising their voice against injustice, standing up for their dignity, I feel a bit of a personal triumph myself, only because, I am a woman too...And, like every other woman, I also have a simple desire, to fight for my identity.