Gifting solutions!

Came across this very unique gifting idea so had to share it with you guys, read on:

It is an age old art form of painting movie posters, almost on the verge of being distinct today so is being revived by two groups, one in Mumbai, the city of Bollywood dreams and the other as far away as in Paris, but again a romantic city of dreams!

You can get your choice of poster incorporated with your choice of real life stars! Imagine your wedding card vis-à-vis the poster of Jodha-Akbar, where you and your partner will replace Hrithik Roshan and Aiswarya Rai!

Or gift a wallet to your loved ones with their favorite stars! For more ideas you can go to the following links!

The Mumbai one - http://hippy.in/
and the Paris one is - http://www.limonastudio.com/

I wouldn’t mind receiving a clutch with me depicted as the Bollywood Queen!

Diversity in Discrepancies

A married women of Indian origins, especially living in India, has such different levels of assorted lifestyles that is astonishes me every time I come across such a paradigm.

Last week I was reading Cosmopolitan and Savvy, (an Indian women magazine) both at the same time, something I normally don’t, coz they both portray a very different Indian women of today’s era for me. Nevertheless both the publications deal with dissimilar opinions they both proclaim to be the best friend of an Indian girl. It must be true, coz we have both the types all around us. Whether it’s in India or abroad!

                                                                                                                                                        

The first one works in the corporate world, as portrayed by the former magazine, wearing designer office wear, and impeccable make-up, accessorized with the best names in the industry! And they ask us what more can women want! This in a land where most ladies, mind you even in metros, are made to drape saris over their heads so as to show respect to their elders! Short skirts and minis are far away dreams for such a female; she is not even allowed to wear salwar kameez only saris. But at the same time she is also a working modern woman who gets up at early odd hours in the morning to complete her home tasks so as to be able to reach office on time. Comes home in the evening and again sets off to finish her day’s domestic duties.

While on one side the Cosmo girl has no place in her life for hassles that we lesser mortals have to face on a day to day basis! No problems with maids, no cooking goof ups, no in-laws, no irritating unwanted guests, all they have to do is look ultra cool, sexy and suave! And on the other side there is this damsel in distress who still fits in our picture so perfectly.

How can one society be so multi-faceted and still manage to prosper so vividly? I know all my female friends (even me!) out there want to be the Cosmo girl, but dear we have others to think about too. So wouldn’t it be nice to be able to strike the right balance between both these conflicting worlds and come out of our age old formal procedures and give up something on the cultural front?

Favored Fatwa!

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-women-use-fatwa-in-driving-bid-1.643431

Breastfeed your drivers to make your bond more virtuous more pious! Can u believe this!

In Saudi Arabia, as most of us know, there is immense gender bias against their women folks. Not only is the Saudi women made to follow strict dress and behavioral codes – read covered with a thick veil and made to hide their skin and hair they are not even allowed to DRIVE! But enough is enough from them also, coz finally the females have raised their demands also, they say if not allowed to drive in their own country, they will use a “FATWA” - (religious ruling) issued by the government, which allows them to breastfeed their DRIVERS!  Is seems by breastfeeding these foreigners, their relationship will be as good as that of a mother and son. This Fatwa is based on the Islamic philosophy that breast milk kinship is considered to be as good as a blood relationship.

But now there is this lady who has not breast fed her own kids,was asking if her the driver will be more of a son to her then her own kids? 

And then there was this other lady who has not sired a son, only daughter, was asking if by this principle, can she forbid her husband from getting a new wife, coz now she has a son! 

And what happens if the husband stumbles upon this weird and unreasonable activity? Or if it happens the other way round I’m sure the wives would not mind at all! Make all the housemaids to breastfeed their husbands, so at least some of their illicit affairs can be clogged.

Punished for being a witness

Today while leafing through the local newspapers I came across an article about Devika.  She is an eleven year old Mumbaikar, who happened to be at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus at the time of the unfortunate terror attacks in 2008. She is the youngest eye-witness who testified against Ajmal Kasab in court and brought justice for all those whose lives were shattered by the massacre.

Now Devika, who was also injured in the same incident, is being denied admission in a particular private school citing security reasons. They think that the school will have to face the wrath of the terrorist and so will be their next targets! Can the school guarantee that if they do not admit Devika they will be not targeted victims of any terrorist’s activities? I fail to understand how schools, the teachers of honesty and patriotism can succumb in such a manner.

And if this is the scenario how will others get the nerve to stand up for the right cause. We all should stand up to the cause and unite to help victims like Devika from not being targeted again and again! First it was the terrorists who devastated her life and injured her physically and emotionally and now the school authorities are troubling her mentally.

That’s the way – MAHI WAY!

For all those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a show, or rather was on Sony Television by the YRF banner’s it was aired on Friday nights from January onwards, but now it’s a bit too late as they showed the finale episode last Friday (19th June) night! Yes you got it right, a show that was on air for just 6 months, I know if Ekta Kapoor had to do it she’d have a heart attack! After all her shows run for like years and decades, generations through generations, and all in the same fashion and styling period!

Ive always wondered how in these “typical serials” one never grows old, never looks the age and wears sari’s fit for a kings wedding on a daily and nightly basis! And still we keep watching the show day after day or rather night after night. And what surprises me the most is the fact that its those Ekta's mindless serials which have a higher TRP than the other more sensible ones!

I loved the way the Mahi way team put a cap on the series. The story is like the central character is a 26 year old overweight (actually fat) girl working for a media publication. But she has a great sense of humor and a extraordinary attitude towards life and her expectations from life are also a bit far fetched! But who knew that the most eligible bachelor in the city, whom Mahi had been eying at for a long time would fall in love with her and want to get married to her! Even though she’s been wishing and dreaming of this improbable probability since we first saw her on the tube, when her dreams turn into reality, she runs away from the wedding mandap! and in all her typical Punjabi bridal gear she runs to Wimpy’s ya, the burger joint to eat!!!! Well and then she tells us that in the past 6 months, after having 3 boyfriend, almost being married she feels more confident! And I ask Why not! You had the best guy in town, ready to marry you and the people at work also at your feet, why not!

But its courage it takes to run away from what looked perfect in the beginning, turned out not too perfect when you had it. Our dreams at times can also be like mirages. They are our illusion or delusion that if such and such happens we will be happy. But we forget happiness is within us! And if we manage to find happiness or tranquility inside us nothing else matters!

Actually about me!

I'm an Indore based "home-maker", wanting to meet more like minded people, who think and believe life is much more and needs to be shared and enjoyed to the fullest each day. And the best part is you don’t need to be from Indore, it’s a global invite, and costs you nothing at all! So keep reading!

I was born in Rajkot, a city in Gujarat, India and then was taken by my parents-literally as I was just 2yrs old, to Dubai, where I started my schooling and also completed it! Phew! Tough task done with I thought, but well I was wrong, coz then I had to enroll for graduation too, like why! Well, so for college my choice of place happened to be Bombay – ya I know now it’s called Mumbai now, but for some people like me it will always remain Bombay! Anyways how does it matter? So there I was in the city of dreams, well not dreaming though as reality was sinking in silently and but steadily. Life in Bombay/Mumbai is alluring but also keeps you plainly on your toes!

After graduating I was back to Rajkot, to cut a long story short, destiny took matters in her hands! Working there as an educator, yes teacher sounds so boring! And then came Mr. Charming and mysteriously convinced me to marry him, no he did now sweep me off my feet, it was an arranged marriage all the way! I said mysteriously because my folks had been behind me for years but I dint happen to agree with them. But then I don’t know when he suggested the same thing and how I agreed!

So now 5 years later, yes we just celebrated our 1/5^th of our silver anniversary (is that the correct way to say it?) last month, and a daughter who will soon turn 4yrs too, I have decided to start blogging. Well I hear lots of people asking me WHY? But maybe that’s the reason why I’m doing this, to find some direction, some justification or just because I don have that many ears to talk to! And the blabber head that I am, thought will make silent conversations! As long as I get to talk! Why not!

So here I am, talking yapping chatting and in conversation with all of you wonderful people out there. Well now that I’ve called you all "WONDERFUL" please leave pleasant comments! At least say “Hello! I was here”.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Sunday endeavor

There my favorite most favorite day of the week just came to an end! Yes, and I'm sure most of you like me also must be Sunday fans! Well who doesn't like lying around till noon not doing anything just being there and wishing all days could be like this only!

I said “most fav" coz all other holidays are also amongst my favorites too! But they are not as dependable as Sundays! The others come and they go, we cant be too sure you’ll have a holiday next year on the same day! It especially happens with Indian festivals. And the others don’t come every week, if I had it my way, I’d be having only Sunday’s on my week list! Oopppss… but then I think it would make the world very lazy place to live in! Well well, maybe some things are not meant to change at all, maybe they are best the way they are. Maybe if we had more Sundays we would wait for Mondays then.

Someone was once asking me the reason for having Monday blues! And I got into thinking, yes at times I even think!! (My thinking cap needs to be pulled out once in a while, aint it?) So, do we get Monday blues coz we’ve had a nice Sunday? Or do we get Sunday coz Monday blues are on its way? And then I was also wondering about my friends in the Middle East, and all those other people who don’t have a holiday on Sunday do they also have Monday blues or would it be Saturday slugs for them?

Waiting for my next Sunday endeavor! Hopefully next week I’ll also have a movie Sunday! Those are my fav fav Sundays!

Shining Ahuja v/s Shabana Azmi

There was a time when even eve-teasing was the most that parents of young girls had to be prepared for. And today even rape cases are so common that parents just pray and thank God it is not their daughter.

I remember movies in which to rape an actress the villains would try and get the to a secluded area like the farms or the forest but these day heroes (Shiney Ahuja and those 4 policemen) need not even bother with it. They have their own dens in the form of houses, jails or even cars for a change. I wouldn’t be surprised if u were to come across you tubes of those b*******, please excuse my language, were caught exchanging which car would be more handy and comfortable to use for their unjustified usage.

But yes times have changed. Those days when a girl was eve-teased the boy was called a “gundda” or a “mawali” but today’s new, the so called educated men of today’s times who run institutions and colleges say its coz the girl was dressed in an instigating manner. I would like it ask these educationist was the lady who was in the jail wearing jeans, shorts or something that is in our “sanskruti” a sari or salwar I’m presuming in all my ignorant ways of thinking. But please do correct me “sir” if I'm mistaken. I would also like u to enlighten me and tell me what you think the outcome would be if we were to impose a dress code on the boys of your institution.

Is this a system failure or should I say a sister failure. If the women of our country are not safe on the roads, cars, homes, offices and now even in the jails where do we go?

I’ve personally always been of the opinion that females do not need any special reservations or privileges to become a stronger race. But now I think otherwise. I think we should not only get reservations and privileges but desperately need areas allotted which are strictly only for females. Arey why not? These will be places where we can roam around in peace in safety with security. Where there will be no men lurking in the dark or in broad daylight to pounce and get his hands on us, the supposedly stronger (emotionally) gender of our species.

We always come across SMSes articles and etc. implying how a wife dominate her husband or in some way or the other how the females control a man’s world. But how often do we actually come across such incidents in real life. We have turned a blind eye towards the reality of our society. It is such a common occurrence that now in our culture we take it to be a way of life. Small practices like getting married and the bride accepting the groom’s world as hers is something that has been followed by all of us just blindly. If we go deep down and see where it has stemmed from we will realize that it is never stated in our scriptures that girl goes to the boy’s house. Once married the bride n groom were supposed to built their own house and start their wing of the family.

When I see serials like “Balika Vadhu” and “Na Aana Is Desh Ladoo” I'm not surprised at all these are incidents which are sowen in all our lives in some ways or the other. It is just that they have particularly given it a defined background and culture. But these are problems of our modern day lives too. None of us can honestly say NO these issues are not common place. I would also like to applaud all these telecast the efforts they are putting up to educate and eradicate these instilled “prathas” or traditions in our minds.

Though ive mentioned only these 2 serials I'm sure there are many more in the rounds. I hope they can and they do bring around some change.

Otherwise finally we have the likes of Shabana Azmiji who are demanding reserved seats in the parliament today and tomorrow someone else will ask for area allocation within the country.