LIVE from Mumbai VI

28th February
Nariman point
Mumbai

WARNING: the following post is purely a feminine one, about things that interest only women. If you’re a guy and are still reading this post, do it at your own risk. At the end of it don’t roll your eyes and say, “Women!”

So yesterday was our first Sunday in Mumbai. We’d been waiting for this day even before we came to this city. And it has nothing to do with the fact that this Sunday would mark our one week anniversary here or that we’d get a break from slogging at work. It has everything to do with what girls love most in this world. (Not every girl loves it, but most of them do) It’s a simple word. It’s a simple process. But it gives us immense pleasure and indescribable joy. Its our relief from pain, its our escape from stress, our remedy of a heart break, our medicine from sickness, our solution to every problem, our best friend, our lover, our life: SHOPPING.

Ok. So I sound like a total drama queen and you think I’m fit to star in those silly chick flicks like Legally Blonde and Sex and the City. But even though those of you out there who don’t enjoy shopping like me and my friends do, shopping in Mumbai is a different experience all together. And not those big store Prada-Gucci-Christian Dior shopping, mind you. It’s street shopping. And those of you, who come from smaller cities like me, will understand how much fun this experience can be. And how amazing it is when you don’t have to hunt for the things you want, but in fact have a wide variety to choose from.

So we were just two of us in Mumbai this weekend, and since we’d been waiting to go out shopping since forever, our friends not being home didn’t stop us from venturing out on our own.

We headed for Causeway in Colaba, since I’d had a glimpse of it last Monday when I’d gone to Mondy’s with a friend. Plus I’d heard great things about the place.

So from about 1 in the afternoon till about 6 in the evening, we rambled the streets of Causeway in the hot sun and crowded lanes, ignoring the loud noises, the sweaty people and our growling tummies (only for while though). The place, for us, is what Disney Land is for kids. There were clothes of every colour, shape, size, make, design, fabric, length, occasion, time of the day, part of your body (and I could go on).

Not to mention gorgeous footwear at an exceptional price. My friend and I went absolutely crazy! We tried to keep a control on each other and kept telling each other that it’s the first day of shopping, we’ll be back soon. So we don’t need to buy everything right then and no need to spend every rupee we had in our pockets. And even though we knew that, we still couldn’t help seeing all the things and going gaga over it all.

But I have to say, I’m proud of us. We didn’t buy unnecessary things (not entirely unnecessary things) neither did we spend all of our money. We bargained with all our might and self respect and bought good things for ourselves and our respective sisters. (It’s so easy to shop for girls. You know what’ll make them happy. Unlike shopping for guys, which is next to impossible)

So, without spending too much time on this post, I’d like give a few tips for those who decide to go shopping at Causeway:

• It’s a good idea to buy clothes and footwear here
• Jewelry is unnecessarily expensive ( will look for a cheaper alternative)
• Just because the seller tells you that his clothes are Remanika discards, and hence are expensive, don’t fall for it. Quote your price. If he’s sensible he’ll sell it to you. Both of you know that if you wanted to shop at Remanika prices, you would go to Remanika
• Just like all that glitters is not gold, all that is priced less is not of the greatest quality. You might find stalls that sell clothes/footwear at unbelievably low prices, but check twice before you buy it. There is a reason its being sold at a cheaper price

Another fun thing we did yesterday while we were out shopping was we went to see the Taj Palace, the Gateway of India and the marina. We acted like complete tourists, took pictures of the boats, the Gateway and the Taj and of ourselves with all these things in the backdrop.

All in all, we had a typical ‘girlie’ day, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back to work on Monday, yet looking forward to next Sunday too.


PS: i forgot to add one thing. We were on our way back to Churchgate station when it just struck me that I hadn't gone for mass (it was a Sunday) So Churchgate being the most obvious choice, we began hunting for the 'church' at Churchgate. We saw one, with a huge statue of Jesus on one of the towers. We crossed the street and saw the exit to the church. There sat a policeman, surrounded by a wall of sacks (filled with I don't know what) and a long rifle pointing towards the street. We asked him politely, "are we allowed to go inside the church?and where's the entrance to it?" He looked puzzled for a moment, and then with a smile he said, "Madam, yeh toh High Court hai, church nai." (Madam, this is the High Court, not a church)

So much for wanting to be holy for a change.

Erin Brockovich-review

ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) is directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Julia Roberts who won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors' Guild Award and BAFTA for Best Actress. Written by Susannah Grant, it is based on a true story of Erin Brockovich’s first fight against the American West Coast energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). An unemployed and single mother, outspoken and outright, with trashy clothes and earthy manners, Erin struggles to be taken seriously both, at work and in life. Also starring Albert Finney as Ed Masry, Erin’s lawyer, he hires her as his legal assistant and together they bring down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply. A highly interesting story line, backed with exceptionally strong and moving acting by the cast makes the movie an absolute must-watch. It’s a story from which we can all learn something; a story that inspires us to believe in the system and fight against corporate injustice on our own personal level; it’s the kind of thing which shows that each and every person can make a big difference.

Men shine at women's film festival

The male population at MSU whole-heartedly participated at a film festival surrounding issues of women




Vadodara, March 14: It was a rare sight at the Urja Film Festival when an audience of interactive men joined in in the discussion about women injustice. Organized by The Women’s Studies Research Centre (WSRC), Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and Nazariya, the film festival was held at the Faculty of Family and Community Sciences of the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) on Saturday.
Based on the theme of girl child, the film festival had a large number of males in the audience as well as eminent male dignitaries on the panel. The students actively participated in the debates surrounding the films that were screened. Heated arguments suggested that involvement on the part of the audience was high.
Gaurang Raval, CEO of Drishti Media and programme manager of Nazariya, was one of the panelists who stood up strongly for women’s rights and justice. Voicing his opinion, Raval declared, “Just because we are men does not mean we are not to fight for our women. It becomes our responsibility to empower women and support them. We should encourage every man who stands up against any sort of injustice and indiscrimination.”
Also present was Dr.Raja Ram, Professor of Sociology at MSU. Impressed by the response of the audience, Dr. Ram stated, “It is indeed interesting to have such a mixed audience. Having the men react so strongly to feminine issues is truly a good sign that the struggle for justice has taken a new turn. Family upbringing, support and encouragement play a tremendous role in instilling such values in the male sex.”
Pradeep Shinde, a student of Psychology and Anshuman Srivastava from WSRC at MSU, affirmed the role of a man in a woman’s battle for integrity and against prejudice and oppression. “It is occasions like these where we get to voice our opinion and actually be taken seriously,” confesses Anshuman. “It is not to be thought that supporting a feminine cause makes us less masculine. We are simply confident in what we believe in.”
The festival turned out to be quite a success with films like Bawander, Maum ki Gudiya, Drizzle and School Chale Hum being screened and professors from various faculties of the university present at the venue.▌

SHE'S NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE

Today I attended a film festival called 'Urja' organized by the Women's Studies Research Center, Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Nazariya. The theme was Girl Child. They screened various movies on social issues like women oppression, women injustice, women empowerment, girl education, gender bias, portrayal of women in society etc. Movies such as Bawander by Jag Mundhre, Maum ki Gudiya, Drizzle by Ahsam K R, Girl Stars by UNICEF and School Chale Hum by Kanika and Bharatbala were shown. Each movie was followed by a discussion between eminent panelists and the audience, that included feedback on the movies, personal experiences, suggestions etc...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
All of this could go into the papers tomorrow and no one would care..its objective, impersonal and indifferent..its almost as personal as me writing about the gravel in my shoe..who cares about what happened at the film festival?! what i care about is what comes after the films? what after the discussions? what after the debates? are we just going to go home thinking "hmmm i wasted my day.." or "hmmm good movies..." but then what??? what difference are we going to make in the world by just viewing 3-4 movies on women injustice? there are millions of women out there LIVING those movies..but what about them? what can we do? we might not be able to change each and everyone of them..heck!we wont be able to change even One. but what we can change is our mind..our thinking..our behaviour..our attitude..both towards women and men..

our fight isn't against the men who oppress women or harass them..once upon a time this was our struggle..it still is..but what's more important now is the fight to Support those men who believe in equality for women.to let them know that its OK to think of women as an equal.to let them know that just by doing a woman's task of buying vegetables to help his wife, doesn't mean that he's not manly enough. to let them know that just by being a subordinate to a female boss at work doesn't make him any less competent.. we have always fought against men trying to put us women down. today we fight to encourage those men who are willing to treat women just as good as any other man.

we've always been protesting against the fact that women aren't given equal rights at various places. trying to shout out against gender discrimination and bias.. we open women's protection cells, women's grievances cells and promise to solve any kind of problem that any girl or woman is facing..but how much does it really help? in my opinion (and this is truly my sole opinion, we're simply making poor harassed and oppressed women dependent on the women activists..what we really need is to not to make them realize that men are wrong..what they need to understand and believe first is that THEY'RE RIGHT..they need to believe in themselves..to know their own strengths..their own needs..their own ideals..merely fighting against the men isn't enough..fight against every part of your self that tells you you're not good enough.revolt against forces that make you feel you're in anyway inferior to men. throw away every thought that tells you you cant do the things men can.your own confidence and belief will do half the work..if you're convinced that you're just as good as the men, it'll fill you with a sense of power that'll enable you to take on the men in a completely different and easy manner..show them that you can do anything they can..know inside your heart, and believe, that even YOU deserve every opportunity given to HIM..

as i heard everybody in the audience and on the panel talk about all the things women can do, and are good at, i was reminded of a song by Shania Twain. its called "SHE'S NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE". it goes like this:


She hosts a T.V. show--she rides the rodeo
She plays the bass in a band
She's an astronaut--
a valet at the parking lot
A farmer working the land
She is a champion--she gets the gold
She's a ballerina--the star of the show

She's--not--just a pretty face
She's--got--everything it takes

She has a fashion line--
a journalist for "Time"
Coaches a football team
She's a geologist--a romance novelist
She is a mother of three
She is a soldier--she is a wife
She is a surgeon--she'll save your life

She's--not--just a pretty face
She's--got--everything it takes
She's--mother--of the human race
She's--not--just a pretty face

She is your waitress--she is your judge--
she is your teacher
She is every woman in the world

She flies an airplane--
she drives a subway train
At night she pumps gasoline
She's on the council--she's on the board
She's a politician--she praises the Lord

No, she's (she's) not (not)--
just a pretty face
She's (she's) got (got)--everything it takes
She's--not--just a pretty face
She's got everything it takes
She's not just a pretty face