The Six Lessons - "Dear Zindagi" attempts it big!

This post was first published in Feministaa.

They say a film that is good is one that is honest. But no, not here. The beauty of Dear Zindagi is really in its pretense. For, it does a tight ropewalk between intellectual high tea of essential life lessons, and a soothing, upfront, breezy way of telling us an anyday story of an anyday girl. That is the only way to tell this story so that it can reach till us, so that it can do its work. So that it can make a difference, after all. Dear Zindagi is not an arty film, not at the least. And yet it is so pleasant and so ahead of its time that you feel almost grateful. Dear Zindagi is among the standing proofs of Indian cinema having come of age. It is a milestone, too, in a way.

Children Stories - fears and freedom!

This article was first published at Feministaa

How much can books make or break lives, I often wonder. What role do they play in shaping up who you are? Well if you ask me, I’d say quite a lot.

And yet, do we realize the power of printed words? Do we realize our restrictions with them, and our responsibilities? Do we realize what the bedtime stories cane do to our children, when we say them?

Jodo Gyan!!

So, here is the background. Just a few weeks back, we chanced upon a lot of magicians inside a classroom. They had coem to show us how they are porposing to teach Mathematics to the next lot of production, they said. They said they are from JODO GYAN, which is THIS. 

And then, when asked, they asked us in reply to follow their instructions as they’d take us through the day. 

So we did!

It is on us, Parents. It is on us! - PART 2

This is in continuation to my previous article, which you can read HERE!

(This too was first published at Feministaa)

Talking of bodies and touches, as parents the other things we need to keep a watch on are these:

TONE!!

Something we need to keep in mind as we interact with our kids on these issues is that – we need to keep the conversation LIGHT AND EASY!

It is on us, Parents. It is on us! - PART 1

(First published in FEMINISTAA.)


That day, the morning unfolded with this piece of news:

It happens. We all knew that, didn't we? It happens all over, all the time - the records will confirm. But then, close home?

Swap their toys!

This post was first published at FEMINISTAA

Hello, reader! Thank you for reaching till here, and for reading this. But before that, I hope you’ve had a good day so far?

For me, well if you ask me… No, let me tell you anyway! Remember, what happens when it is a Saturday? Birthdays!! Here’s a simple maths for you… I have a 5 year old daughter. Now the thing is, she has 27 friends and enemies in her class, and another dozen or two more in our society, condominium, family friends. And then, of course you know, that there are just 52 Saturdays in a year. So you see, over the last couple of years in my life, Saturdays have become synonymous to birthdays! And so has it been today. It started the exact same way… with a family visit to a Gift shop in the morning! 

Vipassana - The Art of Introspective Calm

Even though I've been out of Silence for a while now, I'm still not quite as out of it as I always was when I didn't know it exists and how. My self-exile was my best gift, and I still do not know who it was from; I don't care to know either.

Why we owe Co-Education to our next?

This post was first posted in Feministaa.



Every morning we’re hard hit with headlines screeching gender crimes, and I won’t even go into statistical figures there. Every morning, we’re also served morning tea in bed by the mother, the bahu, or the dewrani. Point is, academicians in contextual gender fields have a point when they argue that the previous two sentences you just read are not really distinct, irrelevant and erratic – they actually form parts of the same spectrum. The spectrum that cries out to us right since we’re born, that we are different. Boys and girls, the “us” and the “them”!
Curious, right?

A small step "Together"

It had all began with a rather morbid news, that a 4 year old was sexually assaulted. I was not too surprised that it happened, to be honest. I was shocked, rather, to imagine how many must be happening behind the curtain, unnoticed, unreported, unacknowledged just so that one piece among them could surface up to grab half a column on the daily news. The groups on social media were flooding with demands and disputes around school's intervention in matters of CCTV, female attendant, while I was cringing to think how the 4 year old never came back home to tell it to her mother, because she was either scared or didn't even know it was wrong...

I had put forward an outcry which was more at spur of moment than was purposeful. I had asked if we could arrange a workshop to tell kids and parents what they should know! But they gave me hope, and shoulders. The enthusiasm since last week was absolutely heartening. What was just a musing became an idea, and then a purpose. We formed a team, and we named ourselves "Together". We stole our kids crayon boxes and made posters while they were away at school. We painted the mailboxes and WhatsApp groups red... 

Let’s twist the knots this rakhi…

This article has been first posted at Feministaa.

Last time it was dry flowers and sea shells, and this time it is leftover pieces of ribbons, pista shells and round beads. The collections have been going steady over the past few days at our own little corner of the world. That time is here…

A car on the road!

This post has also been cross published at The Speaking Tree, World of Moms, YouthKiAwaaz and My City 4 Kids.

This is a news bite from New York Times from 20 years back. The time was April, the year, 1996. A few of the possessions of President John F Kennedy were up on auction. His arm chair and his coffee table, for example. One of the last items up on auction was his tape measure. And guess what price it commanded? It sold for a whopping 42,000 USD, not allowing for commission and procedural charges. Yes, 42000 USD, back in the year 1996.

Mindfulness

Let’s do something different today, shall we? Well, today, I am going to start with taking your class attendance! Yes, you heard me right! Today, I am going to start with taking some class attendance. So, let me start.

(Name?

Present.

Name?

Present.)

Present! Present… of course. Present… are you sure?

Just a joke, you'd say!

Below is a picture that I just received, as I tapped on the Wi-Fi icon on my handheld and the Whatsapp messages flooded in. 

The photo is labeled as: “ladies enjoying cappuccino, policeman relishing latte” and has been enthusiastically been followed up with emoticons that shed tears of laughter and rolled on the floor, in ecstasy.

Of December and other good things in life!

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness, how the time has flown! How did it get so late so soon?” – had said Dr. Seuss!

A very good morning, dear Toastmasters! Today I am going to talk about the time of the times, the month of the months. I am going to talk about – The Delights of December!

December brings with it sights, sounds and sumptuous tastes that are unique to its nature.

I wish you a Merry Christmas!

This had also been published in The Huffington Post, Women's Web and MyCity4Kids!!

"How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness, how the time has flown! How did it get so late so soon?” – had said Dr. Seuss!

Right! Before you barely get used to the new digits at the end of the date, it’s time to change it again. That time of the year is back. The Time of the times, the Month of the months!

Look! It’s December, again!!

Working Women's Pregnancy - A running thought!

This has also been published in Women's Web and MyCity4Kids!!


I just watched a small video which is being shared widely in social media, which is below:

WATCH THE VIDEO!

And, here's my reaction to the same (I am copy pasting, actually, directly from what I just wrote in the "comment" box of the video, without any edits.) -



I loved, and more loved the fact that somebody thought about it and made it, and yet I cannot but wonder…


Is the only way to prove is to deny your body the changes, the rest it demands, those morning sicknesses and hormonal upheaval... and the only way to women empowerment is just to HAVE TO put up a strong brave face and make sure to be around as if it's all absolutely the same?

About Gender Neutral Parenting

(This one, in terms of its contents, is particularly close to my heart as I had written it our a while back before Toastmasters happened to me, and also this was published in quite a few web-magazines. You can find my original article HERE!)

Dear Toastmasters and Guests –

Gender discrimination forms one of the most gruesome crises in our lives. While gender crimes are more objectively defined, they are only but the tip of the iceberg. Gender discrimination, which is the root-cause of this social evil, is however much common. We are so accustomed to gender disparities in our society that it often becomes a challenge to even identify them as a problem, leave alone combating them in a constructive manner.

Today I am going to talk about a specific area in parenting. I will talk about gender discrimination among children. I will argue that socio-cultural conditioning at young, formative ages form the foundation stone of gender discrimination. And, as a call to action, I’d offer a few handy tips which can help us develop a progressive parenting approach, to raise more gender neutral kids for the future.

The Little Light of My Life...

This post has also been published in World of Moms!

Menses - let it just be!

This post has also been published in The Huffington Post and Women's Web

Girls Are Not Any Superior To Boys!!

This article has also been published in Women's Web and a magazine.

Girls are not any superior to boys. Please, it’s important to emphasise and re-emphasise this.

Those regular status messages and those frequent Whats-app forwards that paint the town pink – that tearful letter from a father to his married daughter, that list of things woman leaves behind in marriage, surname, home and freedom to not cook food, to why is mother the next best creation, or wait, the best! No, don’t buy them. Don’t buy them at all!