Goddess for Nine Days

Mixed media on A5 paper

Original work

Enough Is Enough

 

Even Mahatma Gandhi would have lost his cool today. 

#rapeculture

Medium- FC Pitt pens on A5 paper

Color Version in FC Polys

Lockdown

अपनी छोटी सी मुट्ठी में एक टुकड़ा धूप पकड़ती 

अपनी ललचायी आंखों से अपनी भाइयों को निहारती 

उस गेंद को उनसे ऊपर उछालना चाह्ती हुई बच्ची

वो मैं ही तो थी 

अपनी थकी हुई माँ के साथ चूल्हे के पास सिकती 

शाम होते ही खेल छोड़ घर भागती वापस आती  

अपनी दादी के साथ मंदिर सत्संग में बैठी हुई 

वो मैं ही तो थी 

स्कूल में सहेलियों के साथ पीछे की बेंच पर, धीमे हंसती 

घर का फ़ोन नंबर मांगने वालों को शिकायत का डर देती 

बूढ़े टेलर से अपनी स्कर्ट को बार बार और नीचे सिलवाती हुई 

वो मैं ही तो थी 

एक ही रास्ते से चुन्नी लपेटे चुपचाप कॉलेज आती जाती

बनारसी साडी में शर्माते हुए चाय समोसे की ट्रे लाती 

एक अजनबी से ख़ुशी से सात जनम जुड़ती हुई 

वो मैं ही तो थी 

अपने बेटे में अपने अधूरे सपने छुपाने वाली 

अपनी बेटी के लिए चुन चुन दहेज़ जोड़ने वाली 

खुद को भूल सबकी पसंद को पूरा करती हुई 

वो मैं ही तो थी 

वो खिड़की, वो मंदिर, वो पीछे की बेंच 

वो सीधा रास्ता, वो टेलर, वो रसोई

मैंने तो हर तरह के 'lockdown' देखे हैं

तुम्हारे लिए ये सिर्फ एक नया शब्द है

जिसने तुम्हे परेशान कर दिया है 

पर मैंने जाने कितनी सदियों जिसे हर रोज़ जिया है 

Jennifer Lopez

My favorite Jlo. I love her personality and fitness. she is so inspiring! 

Jennifer Lynn Lope (July 24, 1969) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and producer of Peurto Rican heritage. (Wiki)

Medium- Polys and Caran D' Ache Luminance color pencils on Strathmore 400 series Color pencil paper.

Book Review- Mrs. Dalloway

Title               Mrs. Dalloway

Author          Virginia Woolf

Pages             208

ISBN              978-81-7599-421-8

MRP              Rs 150

Publisher    F!ngerprint!  Classics

Rating          2/5 Stars

So finally, I am done reading ‘Mrs. Dalloway’ (1925) by this overhyped, Indo-phobic, semicolon fanatic goddess of incoherent writing known as Virginia Woolf.

This is a circadian novel thus traces the lives of all characters over a single day. Set in early 1900s, this 200 page convoluted work revolves around a 52 years old high-society English woman named Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a politician in England. As she is constantly disappointed by her reclusive teenage daughter Elizabeth and her ever busy husband Richard, she busies herself in preparing for a party at her house because she has nothing better to do, even though out of some illness, she has turned weak and pale.

That morning, she goes to the market to ‘buy the flowers herself’ for her party in the evening and philosophizes pointlessly on everything around. This novel also describes the insane adulation masses had for the Royal family; everybody in the market goes nuts when a royal car stops for a second before passing by. Another character, a clinically depressed solider, Septimus Warren Smith, is busy conversing with the dead and imagining weird things while strolling in a park with his distressed Italian hat-maker wife. Yet another major character, Peter Walsh, Clarissa’s old lover is back, after serving five years in India’s ‘heat and dust’, to the life civilization and society of London and every woman, ‘even in rags’, seems pretty to him. Woolf’s writing degrades India and its people to dirt and many times, the book put me off. Walsh is staying at a hotel and broods constantly. He goes to meet Clarissa and she invites him to her party which he attends as he could not stop himself from loving her passionately.

Some major themes emerge-

1.  English Culture- The frivolity, snobbery and idiosyncrasies as well as the typical English shrewdness of characters comes to surface very clearly. Clarissa herself is shown as a very worldly, class-conscious and cold.

2.  Clinical Depression- It is one major theme that takes up much space. Described through Smith, Woolf throws much light upon the malfunctioning of a depressed mind. She herself suffered from it and had committed suicide just as Smith in this novel.

3.  Same-Sex Love- The very undertone of Clarrisa’s undying love for Sally, a wild and carefree friend of hers suggests the same.

4.  One-sided Love- This theme is described through Peter Walsh who is helplessly in love with Clarissa and remains unmarried and bitter when she rejects him for a far more successful Richard Dalloway.

5.  Hatred for India- India is described as a grimy land of uncouth barbarians after which London seems like heaven. The author also expresses sympathy for those who served in India while she exalts her country England as the epitome of civilization. By the way, Woolf was sexually abused for a long time by a ‘civilized’ English gentleman named George Duckworth who was her first cousin. Her fatal depression was a direct result of that exploitation. England is the harbinger of apartheid and this work shows many incidences betraying this outlook.

6.  Class Clash- Firstly, Clarissa is perceived as a spoilt, dumb, and wretched woman by her daughter’s underprivileged but erudite History teacher, Miss Kilman. On the other hand, Clarissa detests Miss Kilman for being independent, ugly, poor and single. Secondly, this occurs when Elizabeth feels ashamed of riding an omnibus in market. And lastly, Clarissa maltreats her ‘very poor’ cousin, Ellie Henderson and is shown to be ‘really very hard on her’.

The story describes the lives of people across all classes and sections of post World War- I England, especially focusing on war’s psychological effects. However, the writing is very knotty with truckloads of commas and semicolons, page long sentences, prolonged descriptions of minor characters, never ending musings and pointless philosophies. The outcome is a jumbled maze that annoys for most part. Some parts are good though.

The story ends with an unhappy, lonely and ill Mrs. Dalloway, despite being married and wealthy, drifting towards Peter Walsh, who despite being single and independent, is feeling sad and empty too, just like her.

PS- No more Virginia Woolf for me!

'Still I Rise'- A Portrait of Maya Angelou

Tried Derwent Pastel Pencils today. Pastel pencils are far more easier than bar pastels for these provide much control and neatness. The paper used is Brustro 160 gsm A5 pastel paper. This paper is not smooth but is slightly dotted in texture which I think, is not very appealing.

This is a pastel portrait of Maya Angelou, the great American writer. Her poem 'Still I Rise' is one of my favorites!

Adarsh Bahu

I have no appropriate words to describe how flabbergasted I feel at the news of Barkatullah University in Bhopal launching the ‘Adarsh Bahu Course’ (Ideal daughter-in-law Course). It is funny prima facie, but a serious look into it brings to fore some depressing truths. Even in these times when we find a pleasure in our non-traditional views and modern ways, such a course that aims towards training young women to become good housewives and brides is discouraging. We are pushing our women towards rut; forcing them to confine themselves into the space defined by the men with rotten patriarchal mindsets. We are manipulating them psychologically and making them visionless, dumb machines suitable only for domesticity, recreation and procreation. This course is a slap on our society that promises little gender equality. The overall situation remains as grim and gloomy as ever.

Also, the recent gang rape by a dozen men of a CBSE topper in Haryana reflects how low the already fragile male ego can stoop to any low to satisfy itself. The nincompoops who could achieve nothing have exacted this perverted revenge on a helpless girl who worked hard for her dreams. Intellectuals are leaving the country and brain drain is very high, colleges are struggling with lack of faculty and facilities, good health care is too expensive. In a nutshell, we are slipping into a dark one way ditch and the sooner we realize it, the better.

Freedom

Men often take pride in ‘granting’ freedom to their women, which they think is a grand favor on their part. Sadly, women too feel or are made to feel lucky upon having such a liberal man in their lives. However, freedom is one’s fundamental right and cannot be granted, given or permitted by anyone. Sadly, in our culture, women are made to feel thankful for basic rights and apologize for everyone’s mistakes. Such things, in the long run, make them feel guilty about everything that goes wrong with anyone around them. Society turns them into blame absorbing sponges. 

Even though one may face hateful remarks, I feel personal freedom is something that must not be compromised upon. A woman's freedom is not a piece of cloth that can be trimmed as per someone's idea of freedom or perceptions.

Chakravyuh

I happened to watch the ‘Chakravyuh’ scene of B. R Chopra’s ‘Mahabharata’ today on Epic channel and the first thing that struck me was its uncanny similarity with a certain thing. The young, confident and cheerful Abhimanyu entered the Chakravyuh formation when his uncles and other family members promised to help him but later they were barred from entering the formation by the enemy soldiers. Inside, Abhimanyu was attacked by his elders in the Kaurava army all at a time: an unethical attack. He died bravely defending himself and crying for this father. Gurus Dronachrya and Kripacharya were genuinely sad about this but could not do anything. A brave young life was lost due to unethical fighting.

‘Chakravyuh’ exist in modern context too and are known by the name of the ‘Arranged Indian Marriages’ that don’t turn out to be as expected. A young and confident girl enters the alliance but ends up catering to everyone’s demands and fighting for her freedom and rights. Her family members are not allowed to interfere and thus they become helpless as well. She ‘dies’ fighting, not literally always, and even though her downfall and deterioration is mourned by a few members, they are too dependent to take a stand. An arranged marriage in India is an unethical combat that swallows young lives where they not only battle for their freedom every day; they are attacked by many societal malpractices all at once as well. There is no way out from such formations, they are one way streets that lead only to frustration and rapid decline.

Image from Shutterstock

Warrior Abhimanyu entering the Chakravyuha. 

Stone artworks of the 12th century Hoysaleshwara temple in Halebidu, India.

The Turmoil of Change

The recent spat in BHU campus in Banaras highlights an underlying pattern. The birth of new ideas is never easy; the change from the league always faces much turmoil and resistance. The old mentalities take centuries to change and this change has started, albeit late, in the very ‘Hindu’ campus of BHU. If we look closely, any religion or ideology, if applied upon the masses in rather its ‘pure’ form, tends to decay. The traditional ‘Hindu’ ideology which has always vociferously opposed the Muslim one, tagging it as ‘barbaric’ and ‘misogynist’ has put its foot in mouth by asking girl students to ignore lurid remarks and to stay indoors post evening. Similarly, nations where a comparatively ‘pure’ Muslim ideology rules, horrendous condition of women has attracted international flak. Even the elite and powerful snooty Great Britain that has ruled almost every country and looks down upon Hinduism and Islam, the ‘Georgian’ as well as the ‘Victorian’ periods of pure ‘Christianity’ have been atrocious for women. Jane Austen’s novels describe how women suffered, for they had absolutely no rights and were dependent upon the males for everything. From being forced to study at home to developing coquetry skills, women in Britain were raised with a single goal- to find a suitable husband. Austen’s another famous novel ‘Sense and Sensibility’ makes this point far more clear.

So, the pattern is that any religion if given a free reign in application of its core ideology on subjects tends to restrict the liberty of its women folk first. Clerics all around the world have been insecure of women and their education. In her seminal work ‘A Room of One’s Own’, Virginia Woolf reveals that women were not given entry inside the Oxford University library and also that the university allowed a separate girls college only after much protest. So, be it any religion, core ideology is always polar to women and their rights, even most fundamental ones. The society has always been male dominated and as usual, in BHU also, girls were asked to ‘ignore’ the molesters and ‘shut up’. What can be more unfortunate than to encourage dirty psychopaths?

Surprisingly, the interior areas of Mongolia, tribes of Africa and Jews (hated even in the poems of ancient Greek poet Homer and Shakespeare; the Song of the Witches’ in Macbeth has these lines about Jews- ‘Liver of blaspheming Jew; Gall of goat; and slips of yew’) can boast of a high gender equality. People we cast off as ‘wild’ and ‘uncultured’ can teach us a lesson or two on respecting women.

The change never stops; it arrives gradually and like birth, like a plant it has to claw its way up, break the seed and then ground to come out and survive. Anything that is forced in its unaltered form tends to suppress the weakest parts of the population first. Hence, any religion or ideology must be flexible and must be altered with time, and most importantly, must not be forced. After all, gender equality is the foremost sign of a culture that keeps up with change and adjusts well with its flexible framework.

Ironically, all this is happening during the Navratri festival. By the way, fresh sprouts are appearing on the rusted saffron ground in Banaras and from all of my heart I want them to survive and grow.

My Second Book is Out!

I have a reason to cheer. By the Grace of God, my second book ‘Swati’s Marriage and Other Tales of India’ is out.

It has been published by Modern History Press, USA and will be available in India very shortly.  I am extremely thankful to Mr. Victor Volkman of MHP who made this book possible.

This book is a collection of 11 short stories that revolve around the lives of Indian women belonging to all social classes. It is not easy to be a woman in India and this book, through fictional stories, tries to explore various aspects of their lives, decisions and situations.

This book is available on Amazon.com

Why Me??

The facts about laundry presented by Ariel, honestly, did not shock or surprise me at all. Almost every family I know either has a housemaid to wash the clothes or else, womenfolk do that work. It does not matter if women are working with their day’s schedule as tiring as a man’s; household work, mainly cooking and laundry are the two constants in her life. From undergarments to upholstery, women spend a considerable time in washing clothes. Even today, the advent of latest washing machines has not really changed the situation, because the issue lies in perception and thinking, and is far deeper. It will surely take time to change but the constant efforts towards awareness like those of the brand Ariel may accelerate the results. This wonderful video questions this deep set but nonsensical belief.

The disparity that has been there since centuries has molded the lives of women and confined their precious time into a cocoon. For housewives as well as working women there is hardly any time left for other important areas of life and most importantly, for their own self. The only thing that gets the least attention is their own self: tired bodies and bored minds. As per the data by American Time Use Survey (released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics), on an average only 19 % of men do housework like laundry compared to 49 percent of women. Hence, it does not matter in which part of the world one is, women are expected to do almost all the household work. This shows how deep rooted the chauvinism is.

The first thing is to change the perception of Indian men- As the stats say that more than 76% of men feel that laundry is a woman’s work only; it is a bit depressing. Even boys belonging to progressive and educated families fall behind at some point when it comes to open thinking and equality towards women. If a girl lags behind in household work or has a disinterest for cooking, she is tagged as lazy and her other talents and interests are completely ignored. Boys need to be trained right from their childhoods that a job is a job, sans a gender of its own. When both the sexes are equal, it should reflect in attitudes as well.

Second thing is sharing- Men should help their women in laundry instead of stuffing themselves with food or watching that cricket match. This way, not only love will increase but his woman will feel cared for as well. And we all know, nothing can be more risky than a woman in a sour mood all the time. Gallup's annual Social Series Lifestyle poll, conducted in December 2007 shows that only wives are expected to do the laundry.

Set an example- Children are amazing learners and most of their perceptions come from passive observing. Hence, a boy will learn to give women equal importance and to respect her time. Girls too would learn to value their time and self respect this way. Hence, this is good and practical way to teach children some lessons in gender equality.

Doing laundry is not only boring but can be very time consuming. If a man does not help his woman in this chore or thinks it below his ‘macho-ness’ he needs a crash course in manners. The urban male who is educated and modern in real sense of the word, would never run from his responsibility. So, guys, show your girl, how much you care for her. Lending a helping hand will only elevate your respect in her eyes, and in your own as well!

PS- how deeply gender roles are inscribed! This one explains it awesomely well!!

I am writing for #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.

Images  from-

http://time.com/2895235/men-housework-women/

http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/household.htm

http://www.gallup.com/poll/106249/wives-still-laundry-men-yard-work.aspx

http://4pmhappyhour.com/2014/02/

Book Review: The Mouse Charmers

     Title:          The Mouse Charmers

     Author:      Anuradha Goyal

     Publisher:  Random House India

     ISBN:         978-8-184-00492-2

     MRP:          Rs 299/-

It would be hard to pinpoint one because I enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. This is not the kind of book you can skim through or read while munching or waiting for someone in a noisy café; rather, it is more of a repository and knowledge bank on the online industry in India with several charts and case studies. Needless to mention, the author has done a commendable job! Also, being an entrepreneur myself (I run an online company) I enjoyed every bit of this book!

This book talks about ‘Mouse Charmers’ and the title is very apt for the theme as it is about the various entrepreneurs who made it big with dot com companies or in electronic business world. The author has taken into consideration only the B2C e-companies dividing them into three categories, viz,

• Commerce   
• Content
• Connectors

The Commerce section includes studies on the online giants like Flipkart (aka Big Daddy), MakeMyTrip (travel), BigBasket (Groceries) and CaratLane (jewelery). The Content section includes cases on sites that do not sell physical goods but provide and sell abstract content. The studies included are on Zomato (food review), Games2win (online gaming), Images Bazaar (digital images) and Chai with Lakshmi (interviews and chat content). The third and the last section- Connectors consist of studies on portals that connect customers in some way like Shaadi.com (matrimonial portal), Rang De (microcredit), Common Floor (real-estate) and our very own, IndiBlogger that has given me this awesome book for review!

Each story or case study has been well explained in terms of business models and various factors like capital, technology etc. The author also sheds light on lesser known facts, like not many of us know that Flipkart’s founders initially wanted to start a price comparison site but ended up changing the face of Indian e-commerce! The tables and data along with statistics provided make this book a delight to read. The language is simple and flowing and the categorization provides a well defined overview of the Indian e-commerce industry.

Another thing the author observes is the presence of few women entrepreneurs (Glass Ceiling of Digital World/page-319). She says she came across only three women founders (not women employees) out of all the ones she spoke to for this book and two were in the content based businesses.

Did you know?

• CaratLane has one lakh solitaire diamonds and more than 2,000 designs!
• Shaadi.com has 350 million views per month!
• Flipkart’s A/B architecture allows 20-25 experiments to go on simult.!
• Zomato operates across 11 countries and 35 cities!
• IndiBlogger has more than 35,000 blogs listed!
• South India leads in e-commerce biz.
• Lakshmi Rebecca won the international ‘Manthan Award’ for digital initiatives for Chai with Lakshmi!

And there are many more awesome facts about the ever expanding market of Indian online retail that will astonish you no end! Get a copy, you won’t regret.

We Are The Spark !

Entry for The Stayfree & Healthy Day contest

  Sometimes, life may be a bit harsh but if some basic facts are overlooked, it can be even more torturous than hell. Missing woods for the trees is a specialty of our government that most of the time claims to focus on areas like education and infrastructural development schemes for rural areas. However, what we fail to realize is that education is a ‘superstructure’ that is, it requires a foundation to stand upon. That foundation often lies neglected and hence all such super-schemes fall flat on their faces. I am talking about the very basic thing called the hygiene, the female hygiene especially, because it is rather more complex in nature. Unfortunately, even in this era of ‘India Shining’, girl children are still considered an unwanted responsibility or ‘amaanat’ of the would be-groom’s family. This is why even their own parents do not bother much about their education and development. Add to this the callous attitude of the insolent government; much of the development of rural areas is left to kind hearted and dedicated NGOs willing to lend some support to destitute village women living in abject conditions.

  The statistics paint a grim picture; according to a research study, ‘Sanitary Protection: Every Woman's Health Right’(October 2010), carried out by the leading information and measurement company, A C Nielson- a staggering 75 percent of rural women do not have the required knowledge regarding female hygiene. This study, conducted on a sample size of 1,033 rural women by a team of 151 gynecologists, was reviewed and endorsed by NGO Plan India.

  
As per its report, almost 81 percent of rural women use unsterilized clothes instead of sanitary napkins, mainly due to price factor. The alternatives like sand, ash, husk, unclean rags and such things are widely used and increase the chances of reproductive tract infections by 70 percent. The price factor, poor financial conditions of rural women and lack of female hygiene are constrains that discourage the use sanitary napkins. More than 45 percent reuse their sanitary cloth and some 70 percent shade-dry them thus increasing the changes of tract infections. These facts are quite painful since a healthy woman is the core of a healthy family

  As said earlier, education and such things are superstructures, but we have to build a proper foundation for them. It is certainly an arduous task but not impossible if we all join hands together and spark a change. Most important change has to be done in the direction of building a strong base for welfare of girl-child. Another very depressing fact that survey has uncovered is that adolescent rural girls have to miss more than 50 days of schooling every year only because of menstruation and related troubles. Even more upsetting is another fact- some 30 percent of rural girls between 12-18 years, completely drop their studies because of inadequate sanitary facilities in their schools and/or after they begin menstruating. Lack of sanitary facilities is not a new thing in our country. It is one thing that has never been taken seriously but in fact is one of the most basic elements in the development of a healthy country. We need to create a strong base first not ignoring this important thing in overall aspect of female hygiene.

  Earlier, SNs were misunderstood as a bit elite, a luxury rather than a necessity but according to the study- around 97 percent of gynecologists recommend their use as a strong preventive measure against reproductive tract infections, and even cervical cancer.

Spark the Change

Some steps can be taken by us so that we can contribute to the betterment of rural girls and women.

1.  Easy Distribution- NGOs, no doubt, do their best but one thing they can be requested and persuaded to add to their list is the wide distribution of sanitary napkins at very low costs.

2.  No Tax - Campaigning against the taxation of sanitary napkins is must. We can start a sign petition and involve more and more people into the wave. Government should be requested to include SNs under essential health items.

3.  Low Cost Versions- With a majority of rural women compromising on their health due to price factors, local cottage industries should be persuaded to make low cost napkins especially for poor womenfolk.

4.  Sanitary Bank- Creation of a ‘Sanitary Napkin Bank’ where urban women can donate as per their wish can be very helpful.

5.  Vending Machines - In schools, primary health centres and rural areas to ensure availability of SNs at all times at very low cost can be extremely helpful.

6.  Clean & Safe Ladies Toilets- Most of the time, girl miss schools due to poor toilets and washrooms. This aspect needs special attention. Proper ladies toilets in schools can curb the high dropout rate.

7.  Educating Maids - About the hygiene and infections- Charity starts at home- educating your maid about use and health benefits of sanitary napkins can be a small but a significant step in this direction.

8.  Group Power- Lastly, those who have both, a will and some time, can make a group and visit under privileged schools for educating girls about female hygiene.

Choosing a SN like ‘Stayfree’ is also a step towards betterment since some proceeds on every pack sold go to UNICEF. These are some steps we can undertake to make the lives of rural women better. If we really wish to develop, we need to come out of our stifling cultural cocoons as well for we still believe in mindless myths and taboos attached to menstruation.

  We cannot become a superpower or even a developed nation with such dwindling bases. In fact, 100 percent in Singapore, 88 percent in Japan but mere 12 percent of women in India, use SNs. The Union Health Ministry has declared some initiatives to provide SNs at very low prices, this scheme too, as usual, is yet to take off.

  It is high time to start a spark of change for the betterment our less fortunate daughters and sisters. As Mahatma Gandhi said ‘be the change you wish to see’, we need to stand up and change what is undesired. After all, even in our diversity, we are still related by one common bond- the bond of ‘womanhood’. We all should help each other and enjoy true celebrations of this scared relation! After all,

We Are The Spark !

For ‘Stay Free & Healthy Day Contest’