Crafty christmas

School days were a nightmare for me , not for academics but for the arts and crafts classes. I never had the natural gift for arts, drawing or craft work. While so many of my classmates enjoyed these classes and thought it was nice a break from the routine boring subjects, for me, personally, it was a nightmare as I could never draw a straight line even with the scale and not stitch or do the various embroidery work that was taught in the school. During holidays when all my friends were busy pursuing their artistic skills attending drawing classes and sewing classes, I was happy playing in the hot sun or snuggle up with my favourite books.  I always thought all these craft work could be just a time pass and never a serious enough to make a living out of it. But now with age and maturity , I understand, one should be talented or gifted and hardworking as well to be good craftsman.
Bandra is so full of these crafty decorative materials during Christmas that I enjoy going around the small by lanes to just watch the various dolls and decorative items that are used  for Christmas decorations. In fact every small shop and bigger showrooms too actually remove their regular showcase materials and place these small dolls of Jesus Christ and the scenes depicting his birth. Even a traffic jam at the junction of these shops become an enjoyable experience with people, kids included busily clicking pictures of these cute doll arrangements and colourful decorations. Looking at the expressions on the face of the passers by I realise how much one should be gifted to make these dolls that brings joy to so many irrespective of the strata of the society they belong to. Kudoz to all those who are actually making a living being craftsmen.

To dye or not to dye

Being in the middle age, even though I have not inherited my father's mental abilities or my mother's cooking skills, I am happy that at least I am genetically blessed to have black tresses from my parents. Both started greying quite late in life and my hair has just started turning grey in patches. But the inherent fear that grey hair is an indicator of age makes me pull them out whenever I get the chance. But my daughters and husband are of the strong opinion that one has to age gracefully and accept these signs of ageing with dignity.  I am trying to convince myself that dyeing my hair is not yet an option and its a big question whether I would be comfortable using a chemical dye or herbal dye that is available in the market since I am not a great fan of the wide variety of cosmetics available in the market. In fact I feel so uncomfortable applying make-up that  I turned out without make-up even on my wedding day.  So, to dye or not to dye my hair is a big question I have to face in the near future.

I have fallen into the habit of observing people around  me for signs of age (quite a popular pastime in the middle ages , I guess) and amazed at the urban middle class population who are not shy of using any amount of cosmetics to make them look younger. Other day, I was waiting with my husband to see his doctor at the nearby hospital and the one hour of waiting period made me realize that there was not a single person in the waiting area with grey hair though the majority of them were above 60. Even the doctor himself, who I guess should be more than 50 didn't have a single strand of grey hair. But the most amusing part of this observation was that even though people are trying their best to hide their age behind the dyes, I could still guess that they were not young. Every filmstar you see including thespian Dilip Kumar to haggard Sanjay Dutt to ever fit Kamalahaasan strut around proudly with thick black tresses.  But we know that they are no longer young but still they want us to believe that they are young. More than any other cosmetic, I think hair dyes are the most popular and widely consumed ones irrespective of the gender and hope one day there is some survey regarding this.
Southern cinestar Ajith Kumar seems to be one exception in this crowd who has happily settled for his salt and pepper look and is even daring enough to take up roles which suit this look rather than the other way round. Hope I get the same courage to face the world with my shining grey hair ala Medha Patkar, the social activist and not think about these things as important than fighting for a social cause. Hope I get that maturity and dignity few years down the line.

Democracy for rapists?

Past few months, especially since the infamous Delhi rape case last December, Indian media has been relentless in exposing rape cases , not even sparing the high and mighty involved in them. From Asaram Bapu to Tehelka editor now, there are endless stories everyday. I feel, women are more forthcoming now a days and are becoming bolder  to go against the mighty and powerful if they have been wronged. Kudoz to these women who have the guts to do so. But women being abused dates back to centuries and even Sita from Ramayan and Draupadi from Mahabarat are no exceptions. At least one woman in every Indian family is sexually abused by her own husband or uncles or cousins or family friends.

I, personally, was disturbed by a piece of article by an Indian dignitary's wife on how she was sexually abused by a visiting international dignitary and how she could never come out in the open for years about the abuse and had to carry on with her normal life as though nothing had happened. If a high profile woman has to undergo this, imagine the plight of millions of women belonging to middle class and lower strata of the society.  My own childhood experiences were so traumatic that I am too scared about the security of my daughters. I am scared to allow them to travel alone in public transport or stay overnight at even a close friend's or relative's house. You never know who could misbehave with them.

How can we put an end to this trauma? I feel its time India stopped being proud of being a democratic country. Justice is never on time here. I feel, we should just follow the model of Arab countries to punish the guilty.  Once proven guilty, the culprit should be punished in full view of the public. This would create fear in the minds of the wrong doers. Till such time I can only pray that my girls return home safely and every other girl on the street is smart enough to protect herself.