Why the needless damage ??

Image source : toondo

The festive season is upon us, Indians in India and around the world are celebrating one of their biggest festivals... Diwali ! Happy Diwali to all my blog friends around the world !!
I've mentioned before on the blog, that I'm not much of a religious person, so for me festivals don't have a high religious significance, however that does not mean I don't celebrate them, I love celebrating any ocassion, big or small and festivals are no different. I love to celebrate them, including diwali and enjoy the festivities associated with it .

A daughter is a blessing too !!!!

Image source : arthit

                               A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart
                                                                                        ---- Author Unknown                                                                                                  
This sunday i.e the 25th of september 2011 was world daughter's day, as a daughter as well as the mother of a daughter, this day certainly is very special for me. It is the only formal occassion  to celebrate being a daughter or having one.
I am not one of those who think that daughters are better than sons or vice-versa. There's something unique and wonderful about all children, and god gives us children that we are supposed to and meant to have in our life, so be it a son or a daughter they bring a whole lotta joy into their parents lives .

The changing face of the desi Dad

The desi dad has undergone some changes in recent years . No, I'm not talking about them getting pot bellied, or bald, or getting cosmetic surgery to change the way they look . Nor am I saying that the desi moms are changing partners often, LOL.
I am referring to the role the desi father played in his home . His role has undergone a paradigm shift in the recent past.

Why sita sings the blues ?

Anyone who grew up during the 80's in India, during the era of doordarshan (i.e pre cable tv era) , has definitely seen the epics of Hindu mythology, which were made into television shows on doordarshan, i.e the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Both were hugely popular shows, causing deserted streets, during the air times, because of their popularity. These epics have a very big significance in the Hindu religion, why I am not exactly sure, but I've been told that they are important.  Recently I happened to come across a narration of the Ramayana, through a different angle, i.e from sita's angle. It is an animated satirical documentary film, by Nina Paley called sita sings the blues (warning : it is mature subject matter) . It explains the story of ramayana through the eyes of sita, while also having a parellel narrative of an American couple and their split, eventually relating the story of sita to the modern woman. It got me thinking about the story of Ramayana, and in turn about most of hindu mythology and it's treatment of women, from an angle I hadn't given much thought to before.

Where's the sisterly love bollywood ?

Image source : Prairie girl

I had heard some good reviews of the latest bollywood hit ' Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara ' (roughly translated is you only live once ) . Many of my friends were raving about it on facebook, and twitter, so I was super excited to see a good bollywood movie. Although the movie wasn't disappointing, beautiful locations, nice songs, good performances, overall a good bollywood movie, but one thing that kinda struck me was to see yet another movie dedicated to the close male friendship bond.
I guess I've seen one too many bollywood movies about  brotherly love, and male bonding, so the less than enthusiastic reaction, and, it begs the question in my mind, 'Where's the sisterly love, Bollywood ???'. Where are the movies showing similar close female bonds, with their girlfriends ?

My disenchantment with Raksha-Bandhan

Image source : yah.in

Many Indian homes will be celebrating the festival of  raksha bandhan or rakhi as it is usually called, in a few days. Sisters all over Indian homes, will tie a sacred thread on their brothers wrists, reminding him of his duty of protecting and loving them.
It is a beautiful tradition that celebrates the bond and love shared by brothers and sisters.
It has roots in hindu mythology, with many versions of it's origins, the most common one being the one where draupadi tore off a piece of cloth from her sari to tie up a bleeding wound on krishna's hand, and he in turn promises her to protect her and repay her debt down to the last thread, which he later follows through on, during the attemped disrobing of draupadi in the royal kingdom, when he magically appears and keeps adding fabric onto her sari, eventually saving her from getting disgraced.
Thus began the tradition of rakhi, or raksha bandhan (which roughly translated means a bond of protection) .

The Delhi slutless walk

Image Source : Indian Express

It was a warm sunday morning in July, in Delhi, the capital of India, and a few hundred women and men took to the streets for something called a slut walk . For those of you, who haven't heard what this walk is, lemme tell you, it's nothing creepy, it's actually a women's movement. You can get a detailed account of this movement here .
In a nutshell, it started, when a Toronto cop made a statement saying, that women should avoid dressing up like sluts (i.e provocatively) so as to avoid getting victimized (raped/molested). This triggered a response in the form of thousands of women marching the streets of toronto (many dressed as so called 'sluts') with messages written on their body or holding placards reading things like 'Don't tell us (women) how to dress, tell men not to rape' . The movement spread like wildfire across the world with similar walks being held in multiple cities in the USA, england, australia, new-zealand, across europe, across south america, etc. Women everywhere were inspired to take a stand and make a statement about not accepting being branded as sluts for taking charge of their bodies and sexuality.

Money, Indian parents and a sense of entitlement

" Na biwi na baccha na baap bada na bhaiyya,
   The whole thing is that ,
   Ke bhaiyya sabse bada rupaiyya"
Translation : 'Nor your wife, kid, father or brother, is as important as money' !!
Wait a minute, this isn't some new age philosophy I'm spitting out, it's a famous bollywood song from the 70's.
It's a satirical song which describes how money is taking precedence over relationships in modern times .