Posts

A WEEK WITH MY RAZIA SULTANAS

How long would I remember them, their names? How long would I hold on to their memories? Better to pen it down before my memory betrays me. Nasreen, Masuma, Rizwana, Shagufta, Rima, Asifa, Lucky, Shirin. It was destiny that took me there, a residential co-educational mission school. I was put up with the students of class 9. It was a room of around 14-16 beds. They were the most promising girls I have ever come across my life. Their philosophy of life, their ambitions to not just be educated, but do something meaningful with their lives astonished me. Somewhere they gave me goosebumps when I realized this was the same spirit and ambition that I had once but somewhere I lost track of it. They were classmates, yet they behaved like sisters from another mother. Their compassion touched my heart, touched my soul. I believed they were a bit closer to the Almighty with their compassion. Just about 15 years old, their exuberance was so perfectly matched with their understanding and affe
Post a Comment
Read more

OUR CULTURE

We have definitely evolved socially and culturally. Still off late every little detour from the traditional beliefs is smeared to be culture assassination or indecent. Our national cultural policies are no doubt comical, but even stranger is our social norms which change from people to people, from time to time, simply based on convenience. Advertisements of condoms and contraceptives are declared indecent! Perhaps condoms are indecent too. Men using them must be monsters or indecent inglorious creatures of nature. People defying popular social norms are indecent and are considered to give birth to trans-genders (considered as abnormal beings). Sanitary napkins must be more indecent, hence a higher GST is levied on them. Even their advertisements should be timed from 23:00 hrs till 06:00 hrs. Shhhh! Children must not see them or know about them. But the children can be violated by molesters, pedophiles, rapists. Even then the society tries to hush them. Unfortunately, that i
Post a Comment
Read more

GIFT A BOOK

It has been more than twenty years since we left school. Still, remember the school's practice of awarding prizes in forms of books. That is how the attraction to books began. That is how Enid Blyton, Lewis Carol, Robert Lewis Stevenson and so many more got entry to our bookshelves. Then there were parents who gifted To Kill a Mockingbird, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice and likes of them took the entry, and many more kept coming their way. It was an overwhelming feeling when we received a present in the form of a book on our wedding. Perhaps it was the most delicate feeling to be all of a sudden reminded of the sweet childhood memories. It still sits gracefully on our bookshelf and we are grateful to the person who gifted us the book for being so thoughtful. Till date books keep flowing in but not as gifts, mostly as buys. The fashion of gifting books has strangely taken a back seat. But my husband and I have kind of taken a vow to revive this tradition. Be it wedding invitatio
Post a Comment
Read more

LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN - TRUST THEIR VOICES

The #METOO trend has taken the world by storm. Strangely a lot of these incidents refer to the time involving either the childhood or the early teens of the victims. What drew our attention was most of them are celebrated personalities, well established in their respective fields. It is now they have chosen to speak because it is now that their voices will be heard and will be given some attention, as they come of an accepted social standing. So yes, #METOO. And #THOSE TOO who much before their harassment encounters in trains, buses, roads, had to face the devil right within their extended families. Let us not blame the society for making these pedophiles. It is their upbringing that is questionable. And more so the support they get from their families when they are exposed. That is a shame. Families think it is shameful to get exposed for such trivial matters. Strangely for them, the exploitation of the young minds is not shameful. If that is the mindset our society continues
Post a Comment
Read more

BEAUTY AND THE BANANA

Just as a statutory warning is printed on the cigarette pack, same should come with all the synthetic beauty products and even the natural, easily available home products, especially the ripe Bananas. Strangely, the home-front warnings do continue, but those are the ones paid least heed to, especially when you think the world knows better than your own folks do. It was in the second year of graduation, I remember precisely the day to be a Sunday. Some newspaper had run a beauty tip for shiny bouncy hair - ripe banana paste. No time wasted, the paste was ready in a minute and applied in another 3 minutes. My father was busy in his morning newspaper, mom was shocked to see an eatable getting so ruthlessly wasted, but both had kept silent. Happily, I waited till the paste dried and I was getting impatient to see the bouncy, shiny long tresses. The next one hour was like a war-front. The dried paste was like glue dots on my hair, not even softening after half an hour soaking in water.
Post a Comment
Read more

CHRONICLES OF RURAL PERIODIC MARKETS

Rural periodic markets have long been an essential place for exchange where farmers and local people congregated to conduct trade since times immemorial. They play a pivotal role as a platform to gather news and information, to exchange views and knowledge, to engage in various social, cultural, religious, and even political activities. They are venues for both commerce as well as festivity exuding a feeling of unity and strength. These weekly markets exist as India's grassroots retail network as ‘ Haats ’ (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa), Santhe (Karnataka), Sandhai (Tamil Nadu). The Haats occupy the lowest rung of the marketing system in rural India. They are often mobile and flexible as they shift from one location to another. They are held weekly, scheduled on the day the employees get their ' hafta ', as the payments to villagers still are made on a weekly basis. They seem sufficient to meet the local demands since the necessities of the peasants in a subsiste
Post a Comment
Read more