Apu’s World

The last maid who worked at our house - her husband abandoned her, while she was pregnant with her first child. Then, when she stopped working at our place, we got a young woman with two children under 5; she was friendly but feisty - she bargained hard and laid down a strict list of tasks that she would do and not do. She worked with us for a month, after which she had to stop. Because, her husband didn’t like her working; it injured his prestige, you see. If you think you are the boss, you work and support the family, I’m not going to contribute anything, he whined. And that was that - she had to stop. In the interests of maintaining some peace at home.

Read the rest of my new post, over at Women’s Web.

apu Women & Feminism

Some weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing MNIK. Short version : She liked it, I didn’t it. So, she suggested that perhaps I don’t have enough of that ‘willing suspension of disbelief‘ that the poet Coleridge suggested as essential for readers to digest fantastic tales.

I realized that was true, when I read Smita Jain’s new murder mystery, Piggies on the Railway, the first in what promises to be a series of ‘Katie Kumar mysteries.’ Why else would the first things to occur to me be that junior-IPS-officers-turned-detectives surely don’t make enough money to acquire Tahiliani outfits or that female IPS officers are rarely posted to combat zones like the Maoist heartland of Chattisgarh?

Yet, despite many such (what seemed to me) factual unlikelihoods, Piggies on the Railway isn’t an entirely bad read. It mixes up chik-lit and detective fiction genres, and in the process ticks many boxes that are perhaps a must for your average page turner. Gorgeous men. Tick. Plenty of sex. Tick. Dead bodies. Tick. A detective with a personality. Tick. Multiple suspects and multiple motives. Tick. Katie Kumar, the detective and narrator is partly unbelievable, but still funny enough to entertain.

If there is a bigger grouse, it is that the book is too long to be a totally easy read. I mean, 400 pages? Tranquebar could have devoted some energy to pruning it down to a more manageable 250 pages or so. Towards the latter half, one feels as if the author is playing some sort of roulette by spinning around suspects and motives and possibilities, until the story becomes almost difficult to keep track of. Numerous affairs and side plots add to the complication.

This is one murder mystery that could do with fewer twists and turns.

Publisher: Tranquebar Press

Price: Rs. 295

apu The Literary life

It’s very, very early yet, but have received pretty encouraging responses to Women’s Web. We’ve also managed to solve the problem with registration that some users had, so those of you who faced initial problems, please do try again now.

We have two new features up, on Financial Lessons from the 2008-09 recession and on Writing your resume after a break. Plus, there is an interview with Bhavna Chauhan, debutant author of ‘Where Girls Dare’, a novel around women in the Indian army. The first of our bloggers (apart from me), chimed in with a post on mother-daughter bonding.

I’m trying to set up a feeds link here so that it automatically gets updated, but right now, there seems to be some problem with feeds. I’m also trying to figure out how best to use social media to get the site to a larger audience. Women’s Web is on twitter, and that is being regularly updated, but I haven’t done much beyond that. Suggestions from savvy folks are welcome!

Update: We have a Facebook group for Women’s Web now. Sign up!

apu Media-Movies-Ads, Women & Feminism

This one is going to be different sort of a post, in the sense that it’s really not from me. Instead, what I’d like to do is share a reader’s comment and request all of you to respond. Yes, I am specifically asking for comments, since this reader’s note made me feel really sad - all of you reading this, it would be nice if you could take out 2 mins to leave your thoughts. Since my reader, Siranoush has asked for your views, I feel such sharing might be of some help to her.

This is what Siranoush says:

I would like to share some of my story with your readers to see if any of them, feel the same as me. I am a widow, after 55 years; raised multiple children, all college graduates, with their own families and friends now. Most of them, live out of state from me. Since my husband, whom my children adored, passed away almost 4 years ago, most of my children have shown very little interest in me. I suspect it is because I am not needed now and there is very little to hold us together. Their children, my grandchildren, rarely visit me also and, if they come, they immediately go to the television set! This is a negative for me. But, out of every negative, one has to look for a positive–and–the positive for my children, I believe, is, that when I pass on, they will not miss me. You see, how can someone miss someone who is no longer a part of their life!?

I’m sure they love me, but, I really am out of their lives. I am not needed as a baby sitter, so, what am I needed for? Nothing? In the past, if one of my children or grandchildren was hurt or sick, I would immediately go to them–take a plane or whatever. I would always go. They never would ask me. My love for them, would take me there! So–I am always here for them, but, they are not here for me. What do your other readers think about this. I would sincerely like to hear! Thank you.

What are your thoughts for her?

apu In General

Cross-posted on Women’s Web

Until the cut motion in Parliament and the possible fall of the Government upstaged it, it looked as though the saga of Lalit Modi would be ‘breaking news’ on every TV channels worth its salt. Well, one good thing that’s possibly emerged from the IPL hoopla is that cheerleaders may no longer be used at the games. I say ‘possibly’, because the decision isn’t yet clear.

Now, when the cheerleading thing first started 2 years ago, most of the objections that came in were from the perspective that they were ‘against Indian culture.’ By that logic, Rakhi Sawant and the legion of item girls who work in Hindi movies should have been banned a long time ago, but then logic is not the strong suit of Indian politicians.

No, my objection to cheerleading is nothing to do with Indian culture or even with the outfits the cheerleaders wear. It is simply an objection to the whole premise behind the practice of cheerleading, which is that men play, and women cheer. My friend Rashmi, who’s started up this group on Facebook, ‘Say No to Cheerleaders’ explains it very well - so I’m just going to quote her here. She is talking about an exchange she had with her daughter.

Me: “S, do you want to attend the Cricket coaching camp with your brother ?”

S: “Is that where they teach girls to dance when the boys play cricket ?”

And please, don’t point me to the few, token male cheerleaders - we all know what the focus is. (And really, are the male cheerleaders even around anymore?)  Don’t forget the ads in small print that give out a number where you can call and talk to a cheerleader. Is this anything at all to do with cricket or even cricket-as-entertainment? No, just peddling of women.

This is one Western import we don’t need. We have enough sexism of our own, thank you.

apu Women & Feminism