Tuesday, September 12, 2006
saw lage raho munna bhai a couple of days ago and loved every moment of it. vidya balan had a huge part to play in my loving the film - who can resist that delightful smile- but other than her, i fell in love with Gandhi.
what a wonderful way to bring home a man who one has seen standing in parks and hung on walls! suddenly he comes alive and becomes relevant to our "modern" lives. satyagrah and non violence do not stay only as symbols of India's independence struggle but now become a living reality.. a possibility in our lives.
"gandhigiri" seems like something to aspire to.
" Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes"
Mahatma Gandhi
just returned from attending the 7th National Conference of Women's Movements, Affirming Diversities and Resisting Divisiveness in Kolkata.
have never attended any of the previous ones and have always heard of them. was an amazing experience. women from all over India, some women from Burma who are now living in India, women from Nepal and Bangladesh too. at any point there was a bable of different languages... hindi, assamese, english, nagamese,tamil, malayalam, kannada all grappling with each other and women getting themselves heard. dissonances- agreements, sorrow-happiness: all of this was a part of the daily lives there.
what struck me the most was that in this age of globalization and standardization of bodies, the Salt Lake Stadium represented diversity of shapes, sizes, identities.... small, large, big, fat, thin tiny, hairy, non hairy... everybody had a space and occupied it. completely contrary to what one could see represented on hoardings outside the stadium and in real life. thought a lot more about it on the way back.
was in a kingfisher airline flight and was amazed at the symmetry of the air hostesses. all of them seemed to have come out of the same factory that produces these bodies: fairly perfect figures, all fair and tallish. didn't anyone else apply or is it that kingfisher wanted to provide eye candy to diminish the boredom of the air journey ? and in complete contrast was the flight i took to kolkata. indian airlines and the air hostesses who appeared as they are. they did not fit any mould and therefore seemed more real. diversity was truly represented and in retrospect, i know that i was pleased to see them.
i know that a lot of people have a problem with the air hostesses on indian airlines...many complain of their rude behaviour, i agree with that. and many others complain of how they are not "smart" enough, or that they look like"aunties". and what is wrong with aunties? the "uncles" one sees on board are not tall, dark and handsome either! anyway, what one wants is good service.. not eye candy.. because there is not much that you can do with that on a flight but one can do a lot with good service!
we need to think more about the way that women are expected to conform to the new ideal of beauty which is all about being tall, fair, sexy ( in a conventional slim hipped, big breasts ( not too big),long legs kind of way) ! what happened to the days of just being who you are .. or am i going to be accused of promoting unhealthy ways of living or worse still be accused of being a feminist?????
on another note, what happened to the concept of dark men? fair and lovely for men seems to be doing good business........
have never attended any of the previous ones and have always heard of them. was an amazing experience. women from all over India, some women from Burma who are now living in India, women from Nepal and Bangladesh too. at any point there was a bable of different languages... hindi, assamese, english, nagamese,tamil, malayalam, kannada all grappling with each other and women getting themselves heard. dissonances- agreements, sorrow-happiness: all of this was a part of the daily lives there.
what struck me the most was that in this age of globalization and standardization of bodies, the Salt Lake Stadium represented diversity of shapes, sizes, identities.... small, large, big, fat, thin tiny, hairy, non hairy... everybody had a space and occupied it. completely contrary to what one could see represented on hoardings outside the stadium and in real life. thought a lot more about it on the way back.
was in a kingfisher airline flight and was amazed at the symmetry of the air hostesses. all of them seemed to have come out of the same factory that produces these bodies: fairly perfect figures, all fair and tallish. didn't anyone else apply or is it that kingfisher wanted to provide eye candy to diminish the boredom of the air journey ? and in complete contrast was the flight i took to kolkata. indian airlines and the air hostesses who appeared as they are. they did not fit any mould and therefore seemed more real. diversity was truly represented and in retrospect, i know that i was pleased to see them.
i know that a lot of people have a problem with the air hostesses on indian airlines...many complain of their rude behaviour, i agree with that. and many others complain of how they are not "smart" enough, or that they look like"aunties". and what is wrong with aunties? the "uncles" one sees on board are not tall, dark and handsome either! anyway, what one wants is good service.. not eye candy.. because there is not much that you can do with that on a flight but one can do a lot with good service!
we need to think more about the way that women are expected to conform to the new ideal of beauty which is all about being tall, fair, sexy ( in a conventional slim hipped, big breasts ( not too big),long legs kind of way) ! what happened to the days of just being who you are .. or am i going to be accused of promoting unhealthy ways of living or worse still be accused of being a feminist?????
on another note, what happened to the concept of dark men? fair and lovely for men seems to be doing good business........
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
ruminations
this is where i want to be - by the sea with a cool, tall drink of something. unfortunately i sit before the computer and stare at the screen which does not promise me much. a drink, a soft breeze, a book in hand and music.. something gentle that lulls me and yet keeps me awake.
i am on the look out for articles in hindi on human rights, sexuality and women's rights and it is such an uphill task to locate them. also completley spoilt by the english language! all i have to do is put in key words in google and before i even finish, a long list appears. then i just have to sift through them. unfortunately, that option does not exist in hindi since websites in hindi are few and one has to search with a patient heart.
it was like a treasure hunt and was most excited to get the sarai hindi site and the site for Hans, a fabulous magazine in Hindi that i enjoy reading. so some stuff has come my way.. but it makes me wonder... why is it so difficult to get academic/activist writing in hindi? is it that few write, is it that articles are not translated, what is it? it bothers me. once again the hegemony of english and it bothers me further when people look astounded that i read hindi fiction and articles ( not all the time, i will confess). why shouldn't i read hindi? is it a class thing or an english speaking thing or a convent educated type thing..... i will pursue this further..
and the reason i do not write in hindi is because i tend to disregard gender all the time, so objects which should be masculine end up being feminine and vice versa.. which is good for queer politics but not for those that do not wish to gender bend!
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