Author: The Metrognome

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Big story

My friend in Pakistan

Second leg of Indo-Pakistan school-level project kicks off in both countries today, two Mumbai schools participate in the year-long initiative.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Nobody has pen friends any more. A pity, considering that the value of a word written on a sheet of paper, and read in another country, is much, much higher than a tweet or a post on your friend’s Facebook wall. And if your friend is in Pakistan, and is a person you have never seen before – you may not even know his name – receiving a letter from across the border, and sending your own, in turn, must make the effort extra special.

Children in five Delhi and Mumbai schools experienced this thrill last year, when they wrote to (and received) letters from unknown friends from Pakistan. Letters soon gave way to scrapbooks, scrapbooks made way for video recordings of elders who remembered pre-partition India and Pakistan and spoke lovingly of old friends and relatives now lost to geographical and political boundaries. All of these activities were undertaken by two NGOs – Routes-to-Roots from Delhi and Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) – which coordinated the children’s efforts and ensured that material reached both countries seamlessly.

Mumbai kicks off the second leg of the programme, titled ‘Exchange for Change’ today at Malabar Hill, where actor Juhi Chawla formally inaugurates the programme. This time, the programme is designed around four projects – ‘Letters to the past’, under which children from both countries will speak to their grandparents to understand what life was like before 1947, a ‘Photography series’, under which students will exchange postcards depicting what their lives are like in their countries, ‘Oral history’, under which students share DVDs and create scrapbooks of their perception of life across the border, and finally, ‘Videos’, which will be shot before and after the project to record the students’ expectations of the project; select videos will also be combined and shared across the border.

The participating schools from Mumbai are Adarsha Vidyalaya from Chembur, and Amulak Amichand Bhimji Vividhlakshi Vidyalaya from Matunga. This time around, teachers will also participate in the activity, especially in ‘Letters to the past’, where they will write to Pakistani teachers.

Said Routes-to-Roots founder Tina Vachani, “With a positive response to our first programme (last year), we look forward to Exchange For Change 2012-2013 which will connect many more children, schools and cities this time. We endeavour to spread peace and friendship between the two nations through this project where 3,500 school children with their families and friends shall be involved. We are also creating alumni for the participatory schools from last project, so that students and teachers are still part of it.”

Exchange for Change is a 12-month information exchange programme between Karachi-Mumbai, Lahore-Delhi and Chandigarh-Rawalpindi that involves secondary school children who study in two low-income schools and two medium-income schools. Students in Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai who rarely have a connection with those in Pakistan will be encouraged to develop a relationship with their counterparts in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi through sustained exchanges, while building an alternate sense of identity and awareness, as well as have a better understanding of their shared history and culture.

The programme aims for children from both countries to interact with each other through sustained dialogue and frequent exchange of informative material. Tina adds, “The next generation of Indians and Pakistanis increasingly view each other enemies. With barely any citizen-to-citizen contact it is easy to fall prey to the propaganda that is preached on either side. This project is designed to make students understand that there is little or no difference between their lives and the lives of those across the border. We hope that by the end of the project, there will be a marked difference in the way students approach India-Pakistan ties.”

(Picture courtesy: www.timesofummah.com)

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M

The marriage curse

The most successful Bolly actresses have lost their equity and brand value post-marriage. Will just-married Kareena Kapoor break this stereotype?
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Like in the rest of India, Tuesday afternoon’s lunch conversation revolved around Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s much-hyped marriage. I think by now, everyone is abreast of the most trivial details of this two-day event. A casual comment from a colleague triggered a thought; his comment was: “How can Kareena get married now? She is currently at the top, but now her market will go down.”

Apart from fuming at the word ‘market’, I was intrigued by the fact that despite living in a world where a 94-year-old man can become a father without being frowned upon, a 32-year-old woman cannot get married and still have a career. The age-old perception that married actresses don’t work at the box-office is still rock-solid in the Indian mindset. And even in Bollywood.

Great actresses from the past have been treated like sore corns post their marriage, and stereotyped in roles fit for elderly women. Usually, the public assumes the actress will completely quit or take a sabbatical from showbiz. Some of them do return to the big screen, but instead of talking about their performance or their talent, the marketing is focused on positioning it as a post-marriage comeback.

This really makes me think: are women, especially in India, truly free? Our patriarchal society cannot help but enforce its rigid belief system on Bollywood as well. The next few lines of this column might sound crude, but what is being practiced around us is even worse. For years now, our society has propagated the importance of marring a virgin, who is clean of committing moral sins. This is exactly the reason why married actresses are not accepted in Bollywood.

The men in society cannot fantasise about a woman who is not a virgin. The lusty siren on the big screen that makes them drool, once married, will belong only to her husband. It’s not that men don’t lech at or have sexual fantasies about married woman, of course they do; but they can’t openly accept this in society. Therefore, the actress will still be imagined seducing them when required; but once married, she will not be a good actress any more. In a lighter vein, they must think that the actress loses her talent along with her virginity.

Unfortunately, it’s not just the audience that holds on to these views, there are men within the industry who share the same hatred for married actresses.  Most producers will not risk their high budget projects, and so you will hardly ever see a married actress in a big banner production. Yes, there are exceptions like Kajol, who has managed a successful comeback, but sustaining it will be a challenge. A respected producer in the industry once expressed his thoughts on the same subject. He said, “Married women remind us of our mothers and we cannot expect the audience to like their mothers romancing the hero in the film.”

I feel sorry for actresses who utterly and completely devote their lives to cinema and who live under constant fear of being forced to retire once they settle down and have a family. Ironically, having a family at a decent age is again enforced by the society, and women who don’t abide by this rule are termed rebels or are assumed unfit to find a suitor.

This could explain why a Madhuri Dixit or a Juhi Chawla are left to do television shows, while the Katrina Kaifs of this world rule the roost in Bollywood. This also explains why our actresses can’t have a family along with a healthy career even at the age of 40, but our heroes, who are wrecks at 50 years of age can romance nubile 20-year-olds.

Nobody raised a brow when Aamir Khan or SRK made their debut in Bollywood after their marriage. But has there been a single instance where the actress made a debut post her marriage, and went on to have a successful innings? Not in Bollywood. This could be a distant dream, but for now can we just accept our actresses to be married and still bedazzle us with their performances?

I say, let’s give Kareena a chance. I hope her marriage and subsequent career would be the much-needed breakthrough for other women in the industry.

(Picture courtesy: www.movies.ndtv.com) 

 

 

Categories
Diaries

Where playing indoors is fun

The Children Toy Foundation houses over 700 games in a Matunga school. Students love their play time and their teachers.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Part I of the ‘Little People’ series

“I practice boxing because it helps me hit hard during fights,” a sturdy little boy answers when I ask him what he plays outside school. The class explodes with laughter. The children, a mix of class four boys and girls, have just settled down after a hectic round of impromptu dancing in their play hour. Vandana Sonawane, presiding with other teachers (all of them associated with the Children Toy Foundation) over the class at the City of Los Angeles School, Matunga Road, claps a hand to her forehead. “See how they talk. But we are glad when we see their confidence, because they speak like this only when they’re happy and relaxed.”

The class says they like playing in the play room and not on the ground outside. “If my clothes get dirty, my mother shouts at me,” another boy says with a twinkle, and there is much nodding of heads at this statement. “Another reason why they love playing here is that they get access to the kind of games they’ve never seen before, and cannot find outside the school. Most of the games we have, especially the strategy games for older age groups, are priced upwards of Rs 1,000. But let me tell you, not a single child, in the 10 years that we’ve operated in this school, has broken a single toy or stolen anything.”

She smiles, then yells out a long, “AYYYYEEEEEEE!” that shakes the ceiling. The fidgety class stills at once, though several faces are working furiously, trying not to laugh. “These children come from poor families, and because their parents insist on enrolling their children in the English medium of the school, the class is a mix of communities. There are Muslims, Tamilians, Maharashtrians, Gujaratis. But we speak to mixed classes in Hindi,” Vandana says.

Vandana is the overall coordinator of the Foundation’s work in this centre and another municipal school in the city, apart from supervising other works like their mobile toy van that goes to slum areas and the Sunday visits to hospitals in the city. Started in 1982 in Mumbai, the CTF is the only NGO of its kind to help set up 279 toy and games libraries in India till date.

But it clearly doesn’t matter what language the children are spoken to, because play hour is the best hour of the day for them, and the CTF’s toys and games class in this school is a source of much enjoyment and learning. Teachers, one to a group of six or seven children, hand each group a board game and play begins in earnest. “The CTF first trains the teachers, then the teachers teach the children in class. Once they understand the rules, they are very quick in mastering the game,” Vandana beams.

She shows me a curious little strategy game, where two players’ green and orange blocks must cut each other’s retreat around the board using short and long bridges in the respective colours. “It requires a lot of thinking and strategising. But class five students have already defeated me,” she laughs.

The next play hour belongs to the tiniest assortment of class one students I have ever seen. They trail in, some of the little girls’ pinafores hanging off their frail shoulders, but their eyes are already scanning the room for potential planned activity. But today, the teachers engage them in a group singing, after which they answer my questions and recite poetry in cute, high-pitched voices.

“The girls are normally a bit shy. When they’re at home, some of them do household chores and look after their siblings, so they grow up pretty quickly. But because we are kind to them, and because our common interests are games and toys, they bond with us very quickly. Many of the older girls have already told us about the problems between their parents and other such issues. The boys are very bindaas, but they don’t discuss their home situations too much,” Vandana says.

Diaries is a weekly series of stories on one issue. ‘Little People’ is a series of three stories on the education of underprivileged children in Mumbai. Look out for Part II tomorrow.

 

 

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Do

Your mattress could be killing your back

Bad mattress giving you a painful and sore back? We list 10 tips to help you buy the perfect mattress.
By The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

Sulakshmi Reddy (22) moved to Mumbai from her parents’ home in Satara a year ago. Within weeks of arriving in the city, she developed a niggling back ache. “I thought it was because I was travelling by crowded trains and running about all day. Doctors just prescribed pain medication. I even took up yoga classes to get rid of the pain altogether,” she says. However, the pain showed no signs of abating – in fact, she would often wake up with a stiff back. “It would just get worse as the day progressed,” Sulakshmi says.

Then a physiotherapist zeroed in on her problem. “At my uncle’s place, where I was staying in Mumbai, I used to sleep on a cot with a very thin mattress. I could almost feel the iron body of the cot under the mattress. On the physiotherapist’s advice, I changed my sleeping place for a week, living with a friend who had a good, thick mattress on her bed. The back pain was noticeably reduced,” Sulakshmi remembers.

Poorly-designed mattresses account for back pain in several people. “People just don’t realise the importance of a good mattress. The mattress one uses should be firm, designed to align gently (not squishily) with the spine when one sleeps, and should be sturdy enough to not sag too soon,” says Dr Jayesh Garodia, orthopaedic surgeon. “However, it should not be so firm and sturdy that the person feels like he is sleeping on a flat board.”

Luckily enough, mattresses that are specially designed to combat stresses and pressures have also recently hit Indian markets. Says S K Malhotra, director, sales and marketing for Spring Fit, that has come out with the orthopedically-designed Ortholife mattress, “The high pressure of creating a work-life balance and long hours spent commuting often lead to muscular discomfort and chronic back ache. Using a moderately firm mattress adapts better to the concavities and convexities of the spine leading to better pressure distribution.”

But if you’re just looking for a simple spring mattress, you’ll have to know what goes into making it. Says G Shankar Ram, Joint Managing Director, Peps Industries Pvt Ltd., spring mattresses should have a high carbon spring steel base, cotton felt, foam and a quilted cover. “The base can be varied to make the mattress soft or firm. Cotton felt is put in to absorb excess loads and distribute them evenly. Foam contours itself to different body pressure points, and relaxes the body, while the quilted cover must look and feel attractive and comfortable,” he says.

Get the right mattress today:

G Shankar Ram’s 10 tips to remember when buying a mattress:

1. Purchase a good quality mattress. Research the brand you select – there should be no complaints of sagging or lumping.

2. Select a store that displays mattresses and lets you touch and feel the products.

3. Take your partner along for the purchase. Both of you should be comfortable with the same mattress.

4. Have a look at all the mattresses on display and educate yourself on the various types.

5. Do not feel shy or embarrassed about testing the mattress. Lie down on it and listen to the signals your body and mind give you about the different types of mattresses. Let your partner also lie down and give feedback.

6. Thickness is important. Measure the height of your bed from the floor. This will decide the thickness of mattress that you should buy. Remember that the mattress should be such that your feet touch the floor when you get off the bed.

7. A recommended height for your bed is a maximum of 14 inches from the ground.

8. Today, Indian mattress thicknesses range from four inches to six inches. Internationally, mattresses are about eight inches thick, and these contour with the body much better.

9. A normal mattress must be flipped from head to toe and reversed often. This extends the life of the mattress, ensures the manufacturer’s warranty and prevents early sagging. A luxurious mattress is one on which you sleep on only the top side. These must be rotated from head to toe every three months so that load points are changed and the foam can regain its dexterity.

10. Understand the dealer’s warranty before taking a call on your final purchase – take into account the type of use the mattress will be subjected to, the materials contained therein and what you expect from its use.

 

 

 

Categories
Big story

More breast cancer cases in Mumbai

…as compared to the rest of Maharashtra, say city-based doctors. But awareness of the disease has also gone up significantly.
by The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

A survey commissioned by a private firm in Mumbai to understand breast cancer symptoms and treatment awareness among women has revealed some interesting results – and put Mumbai in a spot. For, while just a small sample size of women was tested in Powai, doctors reflecting on the survey findings reveal that Mumbai women are increasingly under risk of developing breast cancers, sometimes in both breasts.

Said Dr Dinesh Pendharkar, consultant medical oncologist, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim, “In Indian metros, breast cancer has already tops the list of women cancers. Breast cancer is three times higher in urban areas compared to rural. If the age-adjusted rates of breast cancer incidence in Mumbai are estimated to be around 29.3 per 1,00,000 population, then in rural Barshi district of Maharashtra, the same figure stands at a low value of 9.4 per 1,00,000. This clearly tells about the impact of life style change on the incidence of cancer.”

The survey methodology was simple: 375 women in the Hiranandani Gardens area of Powai, Mumbai, participated in the survey conducted by International Oncology Services Pvt. Ltd from January to February this year. The participating women had to fill out a questionnaire and give written consent of their participation. Questions ranged from ‘Have you ever visited a breast specialist?’, to ‘Have you got your mammography done within a year?’, and from ‘Do you know at what age breast cancer is more common?’ to ‘Do you think you are at risk?’ There was also a risk factor analysis done for each of the participants.

The results were startling, to say the least: about 79 per cent of women surveyed had never visited a breast specialist. Nearly 33 per cent had not undergone a mammography in a year, but a big 51 per cent were aware that having breast cancer did not always necessitate removal of the breast(s). Meanwhile, 71 respondents qualified for a consultation with a breast doctor on the basis of their risk factor analyses, and six of these women turned out to be candidates for surgery.

Said Dr Neeraj Mehta, business head, International Oncology Services Pvt. Ltd, “One of the major problems is the delay in diagnosing breast cancer. Only if you take regular breast cancer examination will you be able to get it rectified quickly.” He added that breast cancer has been rapidly increasing in urban women, compared to women in rural areas. “Late marriages, stress, irregular lifestyle, diet and pollution can lead to breast cancer, and all of these abound in the urban areas,” he said.

Dr Sanjay Sharma, President of the Breast Cancer Foundation of India, and Surgical Oncology at Bombay and Lilavati Hospitals, said, “The incidence of breast cancer is rising in every country of the world, but especially in developing countries such as India. The incidence of breast cancer varies between urban and rural women; in Mumbai it is about 27 new cases per 1,00,000 women per year, while in rural Maharashtra it is only eight per 1,00,000. Also, the age-group of cancer affected patients is shifting from the late 40s to early 30s.” He added that about five per cent of breast cancers were hereditary; typically, these families had many members fall victim to the disease, which tends to occur at a relatively young age and often affects both breasts.

Doctors advise that apart from regular check-ups with a doctor, women can self-examine their breasts for lumps or any hardness, or an unusual discharge.

 

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Read

Two Pants on fire

Business journalist Meghna and stand-up comic and humour writer Sorabh Pant are siblings and first-time authors. Any similarities end there.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Meghna and Sorabh Pant have been writing since childhood, and it was a happy coincidence that their debut novels were snapped up by the same publisher. Sorabh’s book was published first, and Meghna’s followed a few months later. The siblings were born just a year apart, and though they share so much in common, their approaches to writing and even answering interview questions were very different. In an e-mail interaction with The Metrognome, the duo traced their writing journeys and the creative processes backing their first books.

What inspired you to write your first book? Why this story? Is there an inspiration from real life?

Meghna: The longest I’ve ever lived away from India was from 2008 to 2010, and when I returned home to Mumbai it didn’t feel like home anymore. I almost felt betrayed because I’d been carrying this image of old India in my head as the ultimate truth, while the place had changed to an extent where my truth had become deviant. That was also a time when reverse immigration peaked and divorce became commonplace. There was a tectonic shift of the golden age from the US to India, and a raging debate about modernity versus traditionalism. I combined these triggers as the narrative for Amara Malhotra’s story in One & A Half Wife.

Sorabh: A combination of depression and curiousity, induced by working in TV for too long. Fortunately, I switched to stand-up and being an author, which has quelled all such tendencies. Also, it was a challenge to write a funny book about the world of death – I mean, who does that? Aside from every major religion.

What was the first story you ever wrote? How old were you and what was the story about?

Meghna: I wrote a short story called Aberration which explored love of an unusual kind and this was actually published by a website called freshlimesoda. I was only 19 at that time and absolutely thrilled.

I started writing seriously around five years back, though at that time it was only short stories. To improve my art, I took several writing courses in New York, and after a fair share of rejections, my short stories slowly began to be published in reputed US literary magazines. The idea for a full-length novel, One & A Half Wife, came only in 2009.

Sorabh: I started writing when I was about 11. I was a fat, nerdy kid and the only person who would talk to me would be a pen, so I wrote all sorts of nonsense – it was complete gibberish about owls and pigeons and dreams. I think I may have been a girl.

How did Meghna’s background (as a journalist) and Sorabh’s (as a stand-up comic) help in the writing of your first books?

Meghna: Fiction is a subjective field, all about emotions and experiences, while finance and journalism are objective fields, based on data and facts. Yet, journalism techniques have come in handy for me while creating stories. It has taught me to write economically, within the bounds of reason, while keeping in mind what is interesting to a reader, and to pay careful attention to what’s going on in the world around me. It’s easy as a writer to shut myself from the world, so being a journalist forces me to keep seeing what’s out there.

Sorabh: It’s shaped it considerably. It made it easier to find the funny in some pretty strange situations. I mean, making fun of Pythagoras and flying Elephants was a whole lot easier with the background. Though, after a point I had to pull it back a bit because instincts told me to almost shove in a joke every three seconds. Fortunately, a lot of them weren’t funny, so people thought I was being serious.

How long did you take to write your book?

Meghna: It took a year. I think seeing him (Sorabh) getting published gave me the impetus to also begin work on a full-length novel. I finished the novel a year later, in October 2010. Westland signed me on in January 2011.

Sorabh: Mine took eons. Close to five years. Mainly because it involved a hell of a lot of mental and physical research about what different mythologies and religions thought about death AND also because, I refused to cut down a lot of my content, little knowing it was coming in the way of the plot. The upside is the book is nice and erudite right now. The downside is that my climax is not exactly what I would have wished it to be.

If I hadn’t ended (writing before Meghna) first, it would have been a Chernobyl-like disaster. And, more embarrassing. Thoda reputation I had to hold up. I finished The Wednesday Soul about seven-eight months before her. And, just when I thought she would be off my back, the exact same publishers (Westland) accepted her book. These sisters are very persistent. Taking rakhi ka bandhan a bit far.

It’s interesting that both of you got published within months of each other, and both your manuscripts were snapped up by the same publisher. Can you explain how this happened?

Meghna: It was sheer coincidence. I sent my novel submission to a few publishers, including Westland. Prita Maitra from Westland was the first among all the publishers to respond to my submission, and since she was passionate about my novel, I went ahead with her.

Sorabh was signed by Westland before I even started writing One & A Half Wife. In fact, Westland did not know that we were brother and sister till much after they’d signed me on.

Sorabh: I got picked up by them first. Then they offered a buy one get one sister book free offer. Simple.

Coincidence. And, also they’re good publishers, and both books are good!

How did the two of you help each other during the writing process and after it?

Meghna: Since we write different genres and have different writing styles, there wasn’t much we could discuss in terms of plot, character building or the narrative. What we were able to share were technicals, such as sentence structure, pace and grammar usage. But it was on a personal level that we were really able to support one another. Writing is a solitary process and we gave each other the space and solitude to write.

Our novels came out within months of each other, and we have so much to talk about! Sorabh has been through the rigmaroles (before me) so I seek his advice on every little matter, and he’s very patient and supportive.

Sorabh: She helped me with a lot of editing, I helped her with a lot of backslapping and, “You go, girl” kind of nonsense. Also, since I experienced book launches and readings way before her, I could share my wisdom (read: mistakes) with her. It worked out well – her book is outselling mine. In retrospect, I wish she had been published first. HAHAHAHHA.

What is your parents’ feedback on your books?

Meghna: They loved it, but were very amazed that their children – born just a year apart –write so differently from one another.

Sorabh: My parents are both equally awesome. My mom has read both our books twice each and marked mistakes in plot and grammar with a pencil. My dad has read every newspaper since 1963, so he has little interest in novels but, he read both of ours. They said supportive things about both the novels, they’ve always been supportive. I think their feedback is similar to most readers – my book is more off kilter and insane, so it takes a little bit of concentration to read it, but, if you do – the pay-off is terrific. Mum said it was surprising that I had thought of this at the tender age of 27. But, she’s my mum – she’s legally obligated to think I’m a genius. Meghna’s book is easier to read and slicker. Our folks are awesome, we raised them well.

What are you working on currently?

Meghna: My collection of short stories is ready for publication. I am also in the early stages of writing my second full-length novel based in – and between – India and China. It’s a dark comedy that portrays a family’s greed, lust and power, in the wake of geopolitical tension.

Sorabh: I’m going nuts with stand-up. Currently travelling abroad and trying to get foreigners to notice my comedy, which is weird since few Indians in India noticed it! And, working on the second book – it’s going to be utterly kickass. Whatever I learned writing the first – positives and negatives –with a whole lot of madness. I think it may surprise a few people AND appeal to a hell of a lot more people.

 

 

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