5 Reasons Why My Solo New Year’s Night at Home is The Best

So, as you are settling into 2019, I hope you all had a wonderful celebration to welcome 2019, in your own way.

Usually, there is so much pressure to go out, do something fun and live an extraordinary night #fomo This is problematic in many ways but mostly for your mental health.

If that’s what you like, it is great but before you instantly agree to it…take a few moments to read about my solo new year’s celebration at home and ponder.

1- Home cooked Chilli Chicken with Toasted Buns VS expensive restaurant food

So, nothing is more crucial to a celebration than food. I am a bit of a chef and love my own cooking. Hence I made one of my all-time favorite, Indo-Chinese style Chilli Chicken.

Making restaurant reservations for months, paying super high prices and staying on point in uncomfortable tight/formal evening wear…. compare that with an evening in sweatpants, bare feet, home cooked, no wait, authentic meal. Yum, I always pick the latter.

2- Boring movies/entertainment, super expensive VS Netflix and solo chill 😉

The next important thing after food is your entertainment. The hours that build upto midnight are crucial. You are supposed to have fun YOUR WAY and what’s better than your own sofa, lots of cushions, and movies picked by you with no commercials and no extra prices to pay.

My choice of movie was PK, Amir Khan’s legendary film. I know it’s a lil old but I had not yet found time to watch it and lucky for me, now that it’s on Netflix, I loved watching every second of it. My kind of entertainment, with my kind of food.

3- Cold and wet streets VS cozy home sofa with loads of blankets, cushions, and heating

I know this is highly subjective and I am not saying that my way is the best way. But when it comes to ambiance, I always go for non-crowdy spaces. Watching a LIVE firework somewhere amongst a million other people has its own charm. But it gets old. Not something that one can enjoy every single year. Good to try once in a while especially when you visit some iconic city. But otherwise, as you age, you rather be in your cozy spot rather than large crowds for hours in the cold. It really is so much more nicer.

4- Better views of fireworks from different angles VS from the crowds

This might again be up for debate but watching the midnight fireworks on LIVE TV is a lot more fun because you get to see all these different angles and you are not holding your phone trying to record it, getting pushed or groped among endless crowds.

5- Do YOU VS do what the crowds on Insta and Snapchat and FB are doing

No doubt this is the age of social media. And when you see all your friends on beaches, music concerts, under landmark buildings etc. you feel like you are lame and people will judge you for being boring or uninteresting or whatever.

But let’s face the facts here. Like me, many of you might not be in the best of health to stay on your feet for 3-4 hours or more in public areas. Many of us have visible and invisible illnesses. Many of us also have money constraints or families to care for. Staying outdoors until midnight with small children or elderly people is risky and frustrating too.

Other than the above restraints, there is also an internal mood of the soul, depending on the kind of person you are. If you are someone like me who prefers quiet places without crowds and dim lighting… you don’t need to beat yourself up just cause you are not the life of the party. I am not a drinker myself but I don’t see why if you were a drinker, you could not do even that by yourself. Probably that way you’d have more control over your consumption and save yourself from a terrible headache on the first day of the year.

The point I am trying to make is DO WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE DOING AND NOT WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA TELLS YOU. Be happy with what you have and who you have. Life is precious. I know at least 2 people who died on the 31st itself and could not see the morning of 2019. Life is precious. Don’t spend it living up to someone else’s standards. Set your own standards and find happiness in the little moments.

And most of all- learn to enjoy your own company because you are all you got. I know countless people who are so shit-scared of being on there own, they chose to live with partners that mistreat them like slaves. But the fear of being on your own keeps them in ‘doormat’ position.

That’s my message to you. I hope you all have a great year ahead.

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Why did Dr. Ford or Tanushree not speak earlier about sexual assault? #MeToo

Originally published on Youth Ki Awaaz.

‘Since last week when Tanushree Datta’s interview claiming Nana Patekar assaulted her have caught fire, the most common attack against her (other than her character assassination) has been this narrative of time lapse. 

I can’t recall how many comments I’ve seen from people on social media and how many celebrities have mentioned this time thing that if Nana assaulted her she should have done something then and there. 

What’s the point of speaking up after 10 years?

So in this article, I wish to clarify. 

First of all, as confirmed by Janice Sequeira the journalist, an outraged Rakhi Sawant and devils advocate Ganesh Acharya himself: it is 100% true that TANUSHREE did complain then and there. 

First to the choreographer then to the director and then to the Artists and producers association including the cops. 

So all those people who are saying that this media trial is useless and she should have taken a legal road then and there; she did and guess what happened? Nothing!

Instead, thanks to the corrupt legal system, she and her family got re traumatised over and over again to the extent that she flees the country and her career ended. She has about 40 films signed but film sets got so traumatic for her, she decided never to return. 

Now that this has been cleared, let’s assume that she didn’t speak up then and is only coming out now. 

Lets say it’s been 20 years. 

Or may be even 30/40/50 years. ‘

Continue reading here.

The loud silence of Non-Muslim Indians on the #NewZealandTerror attack shows hypocrisy towards terrorism

I want you to look at these comments and pause before you read the rest of the article.

Among all the reactions that poured in after the recent terrorist attacks on a Mosque in New Zealand, most were reassuring.

Being an Indian, it was obvious to see reactions from Indians in my friend lists and networks. Sadly, I waited and waited and there were barely any Non-Muslims who shared any reactions at all on this tragedy.

There are also Indian Facebook groups who are quick to share details and openly condemn attacks when the killer is a Muslim. For example, when the Manchester Arena attack happened, Hindu women in the group were vehemently expressing disgust and hatred towards Muslims, especially immigrants, despite being immigrants themselves.

However, the silence of the majority of Hindus in the aftermath of this terror attack on Mosque going people was appalling. While I was thinking silence is disturbing, I came across the comments from people that were expressive.

Instead of being sympathetic or sad, they were openly bigoted. You saw for yourself in the above picture. And this is just a tiny part of the screenshot. There are several posts under which such hatred and bigotry are flowing.

Of course, I know that this is not representative of all Hindus. My best friends have been and still, are plenty of Hindus and I know plenty who absolutely stand by people of other religions.

But is it only my job to understand that these hateful people do not represent all Hindus? And the non-muslims of the world are free to tag all Muslims as terrorists when one moron goes on a killing spree?

Exactly a month ago when the Pulwama attack happened 40 CRPF Indian soldiers were martyred, apparently terrorism was on the hit list of all Indians. Not one person was silent on their strong stand against terrorism. When the names of the terrorists are Muslim names, the passion and hatred towards terrorism are at peak. But when the terrorist is a Hindu or a white guy, then apparently terrorism is not that important of an issue to be talked about or challenged.

Anyway, the last two days have been unspeakably depressing not just because of the murder of these 50 innocent people but more because of this hateful rhetoric in the air. My mental health has been deeply affected by this because the fear of something like this happening to me or my loved ones is much closer. I’m dreaded to think if such a thing would have happened with me or the ones I love. It’s just something straight out of a violent film, just that this one is actually real life and the blood spilling everywhere is real.

I am a Muslim but I was equally expressive and disturbed when last year there was an attack at a synagogue in the USA killing Jews by a white power supremacist terrorist.

And the same when other innocent people are killed anywhere in the world regardless of the association of the killer. Just hope more people stood for the innocent people and could see past their hateful bigoted feelings.

 

Believe them~believe them not-why fans are finding it impossible to believe #LeavingNeverland & MJs victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Michael Jackson is no more. His legacy lives on, both negative and positive.

#LeavingNeverland is a chilling documentary that has been talked about since its first release in Sundance Film Festival.

And since then, there have been protests of all kinds and people have expressed very strong emotions about Jackson and their love for him.

I personally have been biased towards Michael, I want to admit it openly today.

I was a teenager myself when all this stuff about Michael abusing children first made the news. I purposely avoided watching this. The very thought of my favorite pop star being a child molester was so hurtful that I did not want to confront it. What if it turned out to be true? My memories would be ruined forever, memories of my childhood listening to his songs, dancing to his tunes. All of that would be overshadowed with filth and fear, hence I stayed away from any such news and did not even give the survivors a chance to be heard. It was convenient for me this way.

Years passed by and I had been molested multiple times during these years. I had PTSD, learned how to make sense of trauma, read books, met victims of assaults, wrote books on the subject and counseled several survivors myself.

At this stage, when I first saw Leaving Neverland making the news, I did not ignore it like I did in my teenage years. I decided to give it a fair chance. It is still hurtful and I am aware that it would still ruin my memories and all those songs I loved growing up would now have to be deleted cause they would only remind me of the survivors. But still, I decided to watch it on TV when it was aired in the UK, two nights ago.

From the very beginning, not for one second, I felt that the survivors were lying. From their descriptions of how they were totally in awe of MJ, to the point where they had Stockholm syndrome and defended him, it was all familiar and in fact, hit too close to home.

My best friend who is also a huge fan of MJ, her and I have been sharing our views about this whole issue and she has been adamant on MJ’s innocence. And no matter what the survivors say, her end remark is just one “MJ is dead now so you can say whatever you want”.

I suppose many fans of MJ would say the same. But here is the thing: yes he died, which means this is not about MJ, this is not about revenge, not about getting even or anything else at all.

This is about the survivors. About their unburdening themselves, about the charming power and influence of a superstar that blinded the parents of a kid.

Child sexual abuse is extremely complicated and I think that is the lesson we need to learn from all of this. It is not as simple as a binary ‘go tell someone’ as people think it is. The depth of this manipulation is so intense that not only you don’t realize you have been abused, you, in fact, think of yourself as a special, gifted person because the molester makes you think that.

And you can only see the abuse for what it is when you see it happening to someone else or imagine it might happen to someone you love.

Like in the case of these two young men. When they had their own sons, their life went down a spiral. As their own children grew closer to that age, they began to have nightmares about MJ doing all that sexual stuff to their own boys.

And this is how things got so bad, they went to therapy and finally made sense of what happened to them. They could then admit it to themselves that they had been abused.

Fans all over social media are arguing whether or not to believe the survivors. To me, there is not a single ounce of doubt that these two young men would be liars. People don’t just wake up one morning and decide to accuse the pop God MICHAEL JACKSON of sexual abuse because it is so much fun to be on the receiving end of all this hatred and trolling from his fans, right?

The mothers of these boys blame themselves and they have to live their entire lives with this guilt that they were not able to protect their children when they needed them most.

The wives of these men, their own children, so many lives have been affected by this. And these are just two. We don’t even know how many others were there who never came out and who still might be suffering in silence.

And when the world is going ballistic against these two men, guess who is standing by them? The feminist! The same people who you accuse of hating men.

Whether you choose to believe these two men or not, it is your choice but remember that every time you chose not to believe a survivor of sexual assault; a woman or a child around you suffers in silence knowing that you won’t believe their story either.

You may have your own idea of what a ‘perfect victim’ looks like or talks like. Just like you have an image of the perfect pedophile or the perfect rapist. But the truth of the matter is that rapists and molesters don’t look like monsters, they look absolutely normal as any other human. And victims also don’t have to have any special skills or characteristics, they are just usual, regular people with human flaws, who trust easy and share their vulnerabilities with us.

The only and only and only reason why someone would not believe these men after watching this documentary is that they are giving MJ the benefit of doubt and they are blinded by the star power of a super talented artist and fail to see the human with flaws that he was like all other humans.

 

Why Women Ask ‘How’s Dinner’ and How To Answer That Correctly

I know some men cook but as surveys, media and my own eyes tell me, women are the primary cooks in every house, in every country.

There is a thing with women though.

While you were busy playing video games, arguing with your mates about politics or watching the latest Die Hard on TV, she was probably slaving in the kitchen, making meals for you, your kids and in case of India, also your entire family.

When women serve you dinner on the table or bed or sofa,

and you begin eating, they probably would ask you “so, how’s dinner?”

More often than not, they get the wrong answers.

Too salty.

Too greasy.

Too crispy.

Too chewy.

Too burnt.

I don’t like this.

Bla bla

You see, there is a right way to answer it. And that is:

The thing is, after slaving in the kitchen for two hours, looking after the kids and most probably lots of other chores, when someone still does something for you, they are NOT looking for you to go all judgy-MasterChef on them.

What they want is APPRECIATION.

And since you are too busy watching TV to even notice, she has to ask you if you like your food. Just say thanks and something nice about it and shut it.

You may ask- what if the food is genuinely bad? Salty? Burnt? Crispy?

Of course, in that case, you don’t have to appreciate the food or eat it.

In that case, go to the kitchen and cook your food yourself!

Clearly, she is unskilled in that department and you need to do the cooking.

So, go to the kitchen, cook something nice and bring her some too, cause you know, what is she going to eat if the other food was burnt.

That’s how to correctly answer the question: How’s Dinner. 

What Do Lady Gaga’s Oscar Award Mean For Women All Around The World in (Domestic) Abusive Relationships

So, if you aren’t aware, Lady Gaga is the first person ever to win

a BAFTA

a Grammy

a Golden Globe and

An Oscar.

Watch her victory speech here:

She said that she once had a boyfriend who said that she would be a forever failure, never achieve anything in life. Possibly the guy must have meant a big deal to her since his words hit her so bad and remembered all of that to be mentioned in her OSCAR SPEECH!

But what does this really mean?

She could simply have taken the trophy and thanked her rich friends and family and walked off the stage, right?

Why did she mention that crazy boyfriend and what does that mean to us all women around the world?

That’s because too many of us women in the world tolerate abuse from the men we love in fact we are told and taught to mistake abuse for love.

Abuse does not always reflect broken bones and a black eye.

I think worse than that is the emotional and mental abuse that takes the self-esteem and self-worth of a person forever. Broke bones and bruises take time to heal but do heal even if they leave scars behind.

But emotional wounds are so deep and so permanent, they often remain forever and rarely heal. Of course, there are people like Lady Gaga who heal from those wounds but it’s not easy.

Way more than the women who move out of such relationships, I personally know women who are still staying in bad relationships and often stay in it forever.

And this also remains true for men. If your women think of you as their personal atm’s, and make you feel bad if you cannot buy them one thing or another, then you don’t have to take that crap.

You must have people to love you for you. And love must not hurt.

And if you are in one such relationship, I hope you take inspiration from Lady Gaga and get the courage to realize your potential.

 

5 Reasons Why People Hate Valentine’s Day (I Don’t) ;)

It’s the 14th of February, the day young couples in India are publicly humiliated, beaten up or forced to marry while the chocolates and flower prices touch the sky and cheesy couples share cheesy love messages on social media while sleeping in the same bed next to each other within a distance of 2 inches (yet express their love on social media).

While you see plenty of people having their first honeymoon phase years together, there will be plenty of unhappy couples and also a ton of singles.

Many single people who have been in awful relationships celebrate their solo status. Others are mad at all the people who are in love and get bitter at them.

 

From what I notice, there are 5 main reasons why those people love to hate Valentine’s Day:

#1 Reason to hate Valentine’s Day- Lack of someone to love, so let’s be mad at those who do

It’s the same logic that if I don’t have something, I will spread rumors about it and hate others who do. Simple bitterness at its best. Since the advent of Facebook, this has become way easier since our love lives are on display. So people can just spy on other peoples timelines and get jealous in their own home for free. Best time pass for valentines evening.

#2 Reason to hate Valentine’s Day- some moral/religious issues

This one I absolutely despise. People do all sorts of immoral and so-called ‘against culture’ activities and when it comes to two people choosing each other and loving, then all of a sudden the moral fabric and the cultural history is falling apart.

I call BS.

#3 Reason to hate Valentine’s Day- unable to cope with the pressure of impressing your loved one

There are plenty of people on the fence, undefined relationships. Valentines Day can put a lot of pressure on people because they fear their partner might be expecting something big and if they failed to impress them, they would hurt their partners’ feelings. Or worse, look like a cheapskate and uninterested person. Fair enough.

#4 Reason to hate Valentine’s Day- ‘why should there be one day for love’ brigade

There are idiots who’d protest against Valentine’s Day to argue that one must love their partner all the 365 days of the year and that celebrating this one day is stupid and meaningless.

I called such people idiots because Valentine’s Day is the death anniversary of St. Valentine who was executed for getting people married in the times when it was illegal. You can Google the history if you already don’t know about this. Hence, this day is celebrated in his memory and has historical significance.

In the modern day, where life has gotten too busy, it is just an excuse to find some moments to spend with your loved ones, to do something special for them. Of course, whoever you celebrate this day with, you love them all through 365 days, that’s obvious, but you don’t go for a date night, or buy them flowers, or gifts every single night of those 365.

It is nice to be reminded that there is love, there is something to celebrate and cherish, so why not?

#5 Reason to hate Valentine’s Day- Capitalism

Can’t argue with that.

So, my lovely readers, whether or not you celebrate Valentine’s Day, please remember these 3 things:

1- Your first love should be yourself. If you cannot spend time alone with you, then you need to work on that first before even thinking of getting into a relationship.

2- When you do get into a relationship, give it your all. Cherish it and be faithful, no matter what.

3- Love doesn’t hurt, and if it hurts, it isn’t love.

 

 

We Need To Talk About Men’s Entitlement to Women’s Explicit Photos & Videos

“A recent study has shown just how common it is for teen boys to coerce or threaten girls into sending nude pictures: an analysis of 500 accounts from 12- to 18-year-old girls about negative experiences sexting found that two-thirds of them had been asked to provide explicit images — and that the requests often progressed from promises of affection to “anger displays, harassment and threats.” In an article about the study for The New York Times, psychologist Lisa Damour writes, “Teenagers are drafted into a sexual culture that rests on a harmful premise: on the heterosexual field, boys typically play offense and girls play defense… Most schools and many parents already tell teenagers not to send sexualized selfies. But why don’t we also tell adolescents to stop asking for nude photos from one another?”

– ‘Send Nudes’- A New Study Shows How Often Boys Pressure Girls For Explicit Photos

While I was ending school, personal mobile phones were becoming common and home video cameras were still a luxury for some but gaining a place in society slowly.

As the use of technology grew, so did the pressure from men. Sometimes this would be for sending explicit pictures, sometimes to do video chats in skimpy clothing and other times just sex chat with explicit language.

I always had reservations and never, ever gave in to such pressure simply because I am a shy person and never felt that the pressure and threats from the man in question were a reason enough for me to withdraw my personal boundaries. In fact, I blew off several guys who were pretending to be ‘friends’ but turned out were just perverts that today we call ‘fuck boys’.

Years passed and now I am in my early 30s.

But guess what?

The pressure from men has not gone down.

Recently, I was catching up after 10 years with a guy friend who I had never met but had text and Skype conversations with at times. This guy had revealed his liking for me in the past and asked if I would consider marrying him.

Considering that I am still single and have no plans to tie the knot, you can imagine how ridiculous the idea of marriage was to me back then.

Anyway, he got married and now has 2 young daughters about 6 and below, the pictures of whom he often shares on his timeline.

Catching up with him after 10 years on FB Messenger was a delight. I thought it would be good to know how life has treated him and exchange some grown-up talks on a lazy evening.

Unfortunately, he had different ideas.

For him, the conversation was about how awful his wife was despite working as a teacher and looking after the household chores entirely alone. And then it came down to turning the video camera on and posing.

I agreed to talk on a WhatsApp call after a ton of please..please and begging.

And while we talked he was worried that if he wanted to talk the next day, would I still take his call. Actually, his wife was visiting her parents for a few days and he wanted to make the most of his time by flirting with women.

The next day when he called, I was in the bathtub and when he began pushing for the camera, I told him I cannot and knowing about the bathtub his pervert inner self just jumped out of his balls and he began pushing madly to turn the camera on.

The guy is blocked till eternity so that was the end of that. But did it really have to go like that?

Why do men feel it is OK to bluntly ask women to send nudes or sext or come on video and worse, why do they handle the rejection so bad?

The article I talked about in the beginning was about teenagers but even as grown-ups, that entitlement from men does not stop, does it?

And I have no words for the manipulation they try to trap you in when you say NO.

They will appear all sad and try to make you feel sorry and pity for them.

Then they will try anger and the ‘I won’t talk to you either’ threats.

And ultimately when they go out of patience, they even abuse and say all sorts of curses because they did not get their way.

We are talking about teenage men but grown-up men, father of two young daughters… when they have no respect for boundaries and exploit every second the wife is away to flirt and fuck with other women, what can we expect them to teach the younger generation of men?

 

 

3 Things Men Must Learn From Liam Neeson’s Rape-Revenge Fantasy and Racism Row

I’m sure you may have come across this news about Hollywood actor Liam Neeson’s comment on a movie junket about this deep revenge urge.

Basically,  a friend of his who was raped about 40 years ago had confided in him and Liam talked about his reaction to the news.

And his reaction had 3 major points:

1-The urge to lash out
2-The need to defend her honor
3-The desire for revenge

Before we go ballistic on him criticizing him, calling him a racist, let’s focus on the fact that Liam was not ‘caught’ being racist. He in fact admitted to having this hatred that he felt. There are 3 things to note:

1- Admitting the fact that this happened
2- Willingness to change and learn (still continues)
3- Sought help after

Trevor Noah has the most logical take on this issue which summed up to: people have taken it more seriously than they should because it’s Liam Neeson. Also, Liam going around saying he’s not a racist is just making it worst.
Of course, it was racism, hatred against the entire community for the crime of one.
Muslims would secretly be muttering “been there, felt that”!

But the point here is that aside from the race aspect, the most important thing is absolutely undiscussed.
What help did he offer to that friend?
Did she visit the doctor?
Did she get the appropriate help from the police if she reported?
Could she report it?
What was it /would have been the consequences of openly admitting to being a rape victim?
How did his Catholic community treat rape victims and what help was provided?

Just like this incident, a million movies are made where the rape of a woman is used merely as a plot point that unleashed the wrath of the powerful male protagonist and women are reduced to mere props and eye candy.

What men need to learn from this incident is that this is NOT ABOUT THEIR REVENGE THEIR FEELINGS, THEIR HONOR OR THEIR WOMEN.

It’s about the woman in question and for once in your lifetime just please take the backseat and ask what does she want. How she feels. What could you do to help?

Don’t make it impossible for her to share her pain with you because she may already be feeling guilty (as society does a very good job of blaming women for rape) , upon that when you lay the burden of a revenge murder or revenge rape on her, she may take her secret to the grave but never share it with you as she may fear you going to prison and that would also be somehow upon her.

Does that make any sense at all, guys?

What Liam did well was:
Admitting his act
Talking about bigotry
Urging to have difficult discussions on race and toxic masculinity
Willing to learn and look for the teachable moment

The 3 things you should thus learn from this incident are:

1- When a woman confesses her pain to you, keep your savior/knight in shining armor cape aside and just be there for her, empathize with her.

2- After listening, ask what she wants, what is her wish, how does she want to deal with it. Don’t force her to tell the police or family and neither force her to hide. Let her take the wheel of her life and let her decide what she feels is best for her.

3- Don’t lash out to hurt other people in order to take some sort of ‘revenge’. Not against the people of that race/religion and not against the women of the rapists family either.

I had a friend who once confessed to her husband about her rape incident and the husband was insistent that he will have revenge by raping the sister of the rapist.

Ultimately, it is an innocent woman who will suffer the consequences of a man’s actions. Please don’t fulfill your rape fantasies and justify them as ‘revenge’ for the pain caused to your wife/girlfriend.

Yes, it is awful to see your friend or wife as a victim of rape, traumatic even.

But remember you are not the primary victim here. Try to be there for the rape victim who actually suffered that trauma instead of acting out in a way that is the opposite of helpful.

Why Both Hindus & Muslims Need To Shove Their Judgments About Khatija, A.R. Rahman’s Daughter

So, only if you live under a rock, you may not have heard the song Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire movie and be unaware of world-famous musician A.R.Rahman.

These days his daughter is in the news and not for the reasons one might expect.

She was spotted in a complete Hijab in a couple of places and people took notice.

She was also invited for a show on TV where she interviewed her Dad in a hijab.

Quint had a blog story about it.

Both Hindus and Muslims in India had opinions on her attire and both need to just f”””k off, excuse my french.

Just take a look at the comments under the Quint article.

 

 

 

To sum it up for you, Muslims defend her hijab because ‘a woman is a pearl, chocolate, gold (some object that needs protection).’

And for non-Muslims, the judgment is all for being non-progressive, anti-women and offensive.

IT IS NEITHER!

Khatija is an enterprising young woman who is very much capable of making her own choices and decisions. And her hijab is NOT FORCED by the males in the family.

It is as normal as a man wearing pants to work. Whether women wear skirts, saree, pants or hijab, it is great as long as she is the decision maker behind that attire.

And for non-muslims, please focus on your religion because not one religion in the world is without sexist traditions and customs. So let the woman do what she wants and please get this stupid notion out of your mind that every woman who wears a hijab is somehow living under Al-Qaeda. THEY ARE NOT!

Muslim women are NOT forced by Islamic laws to wear a hijab.

Islam prescribes ‘modesty’ and respect for the opposite gender, which is mandatory on BOTH GENDERS and not just women.

So inquire first before passing judgments, they just make you look stupid.

And lastly, as a believer of equal rights and feminism, if you demand women’s rights to wear what they want, I hope those rights include a woman’s right to wear hijab and a man’s right to wear skirts… not just white girls in bikinis.

Can people living in India support Pakistan in a cricket match

A few weeks ago Virat Kohli made some remarks that went viral and annoyed a lot of Indian cricket fans.

Watch 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5G0ARRNMKU

Growing up I was always oceans away from cricket as it didn’t interest me at all however whenever there was a match between India and Pakistan, there used to be a unique buzz in the air.

Even in my home where no one liked cricket, everyone was excited about the results.

There were talks of some bad Muslim families who supported Pakistan and I remember my mom being furious at that. She’d scream “if you eat and earn in India, you’re supposed to root for India”. It seemed absolutely fair and natural.

That would be absolutely traitorous to be an Indian, live in India and support another team.

My naive, cute, patriotic self was happy in her bubble world until I traveled abroad and lived in the UK.

The English cricket team is one of the finest I hear and the match between India and England have that special backdrop of Lagan movie hence the deeply embedded patriotism bursts when the match is on.

I found it weird that Indians who live in the UK, earn in the UK, struggled and acquired the British passport are rooting for India when the cricket match is on.

This confused me to bits.

When one changed their nationality and don’t have their bread coming from anywhere else but this country, why would they not support it?

It feels very natural for us to call someone a traitor who lives in India and supports any other nation.

But when we live in other countries we want all the liberty and freedom to support countries that we want.

What kind of patriotism is this?

Indians in the UK, literally have their festivals celebrated, their restaurants, their cultural and caste-based organizations and groups. They parade around Piccadilly chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai!

Great.

But if there is a ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ or Long Live Britain on the Indian soil… there’s sedition charges and national shaming on the media channels.

I fail miserably to understand why one is traitorous while the other is a civil right.

Can A Woman Ever Really Have A Room Of One’s Own? Sasural or Mayka, which one? Neither?

When Virginia Woolf might have written about the need for a woman to have a room, a corner, a place of her own… I am not sure if she knew how relevant this idea would be for years after her.

A friend of mine who is considering divorce recently was talking about her ordeals and how she felt like an imposter, a bother in her husbands home where she lived for about 5 months after they got married.

She was told what to do when to do and during a fight, her husband threw at her face that she ate £500 worth of breakfast in that first month after their wedding. (while he ate most of it because of his manly appetite but good to blame the wife)

Unfortunately, she is not the only one, the only woman who feels like an imposter in her husbands home. This isn’t much of a surprise coming from women who are married into joint families (its the Indian family system in which the guy gets to live with entire family while the women are supposed to leave their parents homes and settle in their in-laws’ homes).

But is the freedom of a woman as restricted when she lives with just her husband, as a couple?

Apparently so.

One woman I know tells the tales of her husband literally locking her inside their home as he feared she might go out and cheat on him. Don’t even get me started on the physical abuse and the whole ordeal of pain.

But there’s another very weird but real case.

This woman lives with her partner and they have been together for about 8 years. There is no physical abuse. They have some issues, they sometimes fight but there is no ‘fear’ of the man as such.

However, since she isn’t the earner in the house, she doesn’t have that authority. The guy feels like he can say whatever, do whatever, make rules and she is supposed to follow because he is ‘right’.

A few days ago, her partner went to see his family for about a month. Before he left, she cried in secret because she knew she was going to miss him.

When he left, she did miss him.

She felt that silence around the home and she often talked to herself out loud.

But something really weird happened that she had not expected.

She loved the freedom.

She watched whatever she liked on TV (there was no struggle like every night where he puts on blood and violence despite knowing she gets nightmares).

She cooked whatever she liked just for herself (she has to make two separate meals because her partner eats bland food so every night she first cooks for him and if there is any time left, she quickly whips up something stupid for herself, survives on junk or eats frozen leftovers because she puts him first). Being on her own was easy.

She often did not cook when she didn’t feel like and ordered food which she enjoyed eating for 2 days. There was no judgment for ordering food or rants about money wastage, it was all up to her.

Having insomnia, she sleeps at weird times and her partner being away, she was free to wake up and sleep when it naturally happened and the quietness in the house was a big factor for uninterrupted sleep.

She loved being on her own despite the few extra responsibilities.

She loves him, missed him terribly, was on the phone all the time and flew into his arms when he got back.

They spent a few very happy together and some weeks in… it was back. The rants, the small things that people don’t talk about because they are not life-altering acts but it does make a difference in the life of someone who goes through it.

Having to watch whatever you like on TV, is FREEDOM.

Having to cook anything you prefer or not cooking at all is FREEDOM.

Sleeping and waking, whenever you like, is FREEDOM.

While the majority of the women in the world are suffering from domestic abuse, lack of basic education, basic human rights, and choice, it might seem like a grand luxury to demand or dream a ‘Room Of One’s Own’ OR more sensibly a HOUSE of one’s own (because a room inside the house of a controlling man is still under his power and doesn’t have much freedom).

Since the moment an Indian baby girl is born, she is reminded constantly that her husbands home is her actual home and she is merely a temporary passerby at her parents’ home where she grows up and builds her earliest memories.

However, she is forced to leave that home and go live with her husband (and often his family) however far that may be.

Only if all this was worth it.

Only if all these sacrifices gave a woman that place where she could be free. A place where she could breathe free.

One may call it selfish and that even to live with a friend or any other human, one would have to make compromises.

I ask, why does one need to live with someone at all in that case.

To have a room/home of her own is something women are promised as soon as they are born and they die like fucking unwanted guests but they never get to live in any place that they could feel like is their own.

Single women rock this ish. I guess they got this figured.