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The Day I Fell in Love with America!
I always had a personal vendetta of sorts with America, since I was on a long-distance relationship with my then-boyfriend (now, husband) for about 3 years when he was working in USA. The cause for our separation (read : America) naturally made me detest the place to the core. However trivial it might sound, that was the only reason for my repulsion to America. While people all over the world craved to materialise their American dream, I hardly ever gave it a thought! Meanwhile, I travelled to different countries and even stayed in one of them for about a year. Perhaps, the travel during that time, gave me a lot…
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Public Opinion – Yes, We Are A Country Obsessed With BODY WEIGHT!
This is a sequel to the last post in the Social and Lifestyle segment of WANDER BIRD – “19 Things People Say When You Are Lean ~ The Saga of Being Thin”. This has been the most popular post so far, with thin people exactly relating to each point mentioned in this article. Rather, they even sent me few more hilarious comments which they’ve personally experienced for being lean. Even if I plan to put all the new details in a fresh post, the list will be unending. This made me realise, how casually people have normalised an abnormal behaviour of taunting or nagging someone constantly for his/her body weight.…
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Why Did Dowry Ever Come Into Existence in India – High Time for a Reality Check?
The dowry system in India has been blindly followed since ages and I have always found it extremely absurd. Detesting this evil practice to the core, I decided to dig deep into the actual history of the dowry system in India. How did such an evil-practice ever come into existence? Did our ancestors actually have such a backward thinking? The answer is – NO. Earlier, dowry was nowhere described as a mandate for the groom to make demands on the girl’s family. Inspite of this practice being so obsolete, regressive and a significant reason for a higher crime rate in today’s times, people in many parts of India are still following…
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Justice for Asifa : Can Rape Ever Be Justified?
I begin writing about this ghastly incident, with a very heavy heart. Yesterday, my day started with a Facebook post shared by a friend which read – “The Gory Details of the Khatua gang-rape shows that the India we live in is NOT really shining.” Going through the gruesome details mentioned in the post, I drew a deep shuddering breath. The grim news of the gang-rape and murder of an 8 year-old girl was described with such horrific details that the basic faith on humanity inside me, actually made me question the article – “Is this news authentic?” The details mentioned in the post, seemed too heinous to be true.…
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Soul Cleansing at PONDICHERRY
“A Dream ~ There should be somewhere on earth, a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord and harmony.” This perfectly summarises my experience called ‘Pondicherry’ in a nutshell. Fiddling with Google Maps on the location of Hotel South Avenue, I walked straight out of the Pondicherry railway station, amused at how it was showing a total transit time of just 1 minute to reach my destination hotel. And there it was – right…
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The Ugly Truth of Dowry in India today
While going through the government’s initiatives for women empowerment in recent times, I stumbled across few thought-provoking ads which deliver powerful messages against the age-old practice of dowry in Indian marriages. The messages were loud and clear – “Say NO to dowry.” Dowry system in India refers to any form of movable goods, property or cash that the bride’s family gives to the bridegroom’s family, as one of the pre-requisites for marriage. Considering the nagging societal pressures and crimes regarding dowry, I decided to delve deep into the history of dowry system in India. I strongly believe that the history of this culture-rich country has been distorted time and again to…
