Life seems a tad tough when you are not the “ideal” weight. It seems tougher when you are 25 and single. Your family, friends, and society start giving you the ‘you’re next’ nudges as you reach the ‘marriageable’ age.
In Encounters of a Fat Bride, Samah Visaria tells the story of Madhurima Pandey who is the ideal age for marriage, but not the ideal weight. Riddled with jovial and witty encounters, Samah tells the story of Madhurima’s struggle to her D-Day.
Here are six struggles that Madhurima faces which will make you feel for her.
Oh! Why can’t things in real life be as perfect as in the reel life.
Caught between the weighing scale and school.
Promises! Promises!
That’s a real disease.
The heaviest metamorphosis.
Rather be overweight than unhappy.
Are Madhurima’s struggles resonant with every girl’s? Tell us what you think.
Tag: featured
6 Fascinating Political Strategy Pointers from a Gujarati Classic
K.M. Munshi was one of Gujarat’s most well-known literary writers. Munshi’s Glory of Patan, the first book in the epic trilogy is a landmark and bestselling classic in Gujarat. A mix of romance and politics, this fast-paced saga is sure to delight readers of historical fiction.
Here are six fascinating points of political strategy from the K. M. Munshi’s masterpiece.
Honour Comes First
One Kingdom, One Rule
Where Expediency Matters
Winning is Everything
Measured Tactics, Calculated Risks
Religion’s Nemesis
Get the bestselling epic about a key moment in Gujarat’s history here!
6 Luminous Lessons from Dharmashastras to Look Out For
Business law in medieval and early modern India developed within the voluminous and multifaceted texts called the Dharmashastras. These texts laid down rules for merchants, traders, guilds, farmers, and individuals in terms of the complex religious, legal, and moral ideal of dharma.
The Dharma of Business – an exciting new book by Donald R. Davis, Jr. – provides a new perspective on commercial law in this period. It makes a compelling case for the relevance of the dharma of business to our own time.
Here are six lessons from Dharmashastras that are relevant in our modern age.
The Dharma of an Employee
The Dharma of an Employer
When not putting one’s best foot forward
The Culture of Rewarding Excellence
Tax for Welfare
Greed, the Destroyer
Want to apply ancient wisdom to your own work and issues at workplace? Get The Dharma of Business here!
Dealing with Dual Transformation
With the ever-changing environment, the adaptability of a business determines its height of success. A leader’s ability to percept the changing environment and act in accordance with it marks the sign of true leader. We have umpteen numbers of cases for both, the success and the failure in leading the organization towards change. Often, the path to change is seen as a one-dimensional one. However, the authors of Dual Transformation beg to differ. They firmly believe in the dual course of action required to take the company out of turbulent waters. The following excerpt clarifies the fundamentals of Dual Transformation by keeping Deseret News at the pivot:
‘Our bedrock case study comes from coauthor Clark Gilbert’s firsthand experience leading a transformation at Deseret Media. The Deseret News is one of America’s oldest continually published newspapers, tracing back to 1850. Ultimately owned by the Mormon Church (which also owns the local KSL television station), the paper historically competed in Utah with The Salt Lake Tribune under what is known in the industry as a joint operating agreement, wherein the two companies share facilities and printing presses but have independent journalists, brand positions, and so forth. As the number 2 provider in its market, Deseret Media was hit particularly hard by the disruptive punch of the internet; between 2008 and 2010 the Deseret News lost nearly 30 percent of its print display advertising revenue and 70 percent of its print classified revenue.
In 2009, Gilbert—who had done his doctoral research at Harvard on the newspaper industry and had consulted to the industry before he became head of online learning at Brigham Young University-Idaho—was asked to launch Deseret Digital Media, a newly formed organization that contained Deseret Media’s collection of websites.
Five years later, however, Deseret Media had a vibrant print publication, including a national weekly that was one of the fastest growing publications in the United States. It also had built an impressive array of quickly growing digital marketplace businesses tied to its KSL classifieds products that collectively produced more than 50 percent of the organization’s combined net income. These digital businesses shared brands, content, and a few other resources with the core business but largely functioned autonomously. Deseret Media had revitalized its historical core business while simultaneously pioneering the creation of a new hill on the media landscape. By the time Gilbert left in 2015 to become president of BYU-Idaho, net income at Deseret, in the midst of an industry in free fall, was up by almost 25 percent from 2010.
Deseret’s success, according to Gilbert, is attributed to organizing the company to adapt to two very different types of change. Rather than view change as one monolithic transformation process, Gilbert organized the company into two parallel change efforts: one to reposition the core newspaper business, and another to unlock new growth in digital markets.
We call this change effort dual transformation.
When you take your first algebra class, you’re introduced to the Greek letter delta. The capital form of the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet, Δ, also serves as shorthand in math equations for change. The kind of change we’re talking about here is indeed a very large delta. Achieving that change requires following this formula:
A + B + C = Δ
Here’s how it breaks down.
A = transformation A. Reposition today’s business to maximize its resilience.
B = transformation B. Create a separate new growth engine.
C = the capabilities link. Fight unfairly by taking advantage of difficult-to-replicate assets without succumbing to the sucking sound of the core.’
For in-depth knowledge about the theory of Dual Transformation, click here .
This is an excerpt from Scott D. Anthony, Clark Gilbert and Mark Johnson’s Dual Transformation.
Credit: Abhishek Singh
6 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Pakistan
Meena Menon was The Hindu’s correspondent in Islamabad September 2013 to May 2014. During her time in the neighbouring country, despite the restrictions placed on her movements, Menon managed to write on a range of subjects covering swathes of life in Pakistan. Her book, Reporting Pakistan is a nuanced and wide-ranging account of a difficult yet exciting assignment which uncovers some of the hidden yet marvelous facets of the fabled “enemy”.
Here are six things you probably didn’t know about Pakistan:
Contrary to popular opinion, people in Pakistan are very welcoming of Indians
The salesman, according to Menon, was very solicitous and promised to record any film she wanted which he didn’t have on his list.
After her deployment, one of the first assignments undertaken by Meena Menon was interviewing a journalist named Ali Chishti. Chishti, a journalist with Friday Times, was forced to leave his home in Karachi.
Chishti was kidnapped and tormented for his writings on national and security issues along with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Although majority of the population in Pakistan is Muslim, there are many other communities that live in the country, making it an extremely diverse society. During her time, Menon spoke to the members of the persecuted Ahmadi community. Constitutionally, the Ahmadis or Ahmadiyya or Qadianis had no right to be called Muslims. They could do nothing other Muslims could. They were heretics, according to the law, and could pray only in ‘a place of worship’ which could not be called a mosque.
In the same interview, X added, religious persecution started with the Ahmadis and when that was successful, with the government doing all it could to declare them non-Muslims, other communities were targeted, like the Hindus, Christians and Sikhs.
Rimsha Masih, a mentally challenged teenager, was accused of burning pages of Quran.
Though she was acquitted in November 2012 of all charges after it was found that the cleric who filed the case against her had planted evidence, the residents of her former neighbourhood were terrorized and forced to leave. That isolated tent camp in many ways, according to Menon spoke of hate and discrimination.
Mohammad Ali Asghar, a resident of Edinburgh, was accused of printing visiting cards in the name of Prophet Mohammad.
Menon however, found out that the real story was different. Asghar, who came to Rawalpindi in 2010, was shocked to find one of the two properties he owned there occupied by a notorious land grabber. He filed a complaint against him before leaving for the Haj pilgrimage, but it was Asghar who was arrested on his return. Predictably, all the evidence, including the letters, was handed over to the police by the complainant, who had many anti-corruption cases against him.
A gardener in Islamabad is the VIP of the city
Meena Menon, while staying in Islamabad, also observed that her neighbours obsessively cut and pruned their hedges to resemble flowers or animals—topiary.
Tell us which side of Pakistan astonished you the most?
The Ups and Downs of Narendra Modi’s Governance
Uday Mahurkar in his latest book Marching with a Billion takes stock of Narendra Modi’s three years in power. Focusing on key areas of governance like infrastructure, foreign affairs, finance, digital technology, etc. Mahurkar showcases the work of the present government and the monumental changes the prime minister has brought about.
Here are ten highlights of Narendra Modi’s tenure:
Nearly 27 crore poor people opened their bank accounts under Narendra Modi’s Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana.
Uday Mahurkar points out that India has emerged as the number one global destination for FDI because of these two factors.
There have been disputes going on between investors and shipping ministry on account of the retrospective regulations slapped by the A.B. Vajpayee government fifteen years ago.
Uday Mahurkar notes that the relationship Modi is forging with the US, cutting across that country’s web of diplomatic calculations, is also new in the history of India’s diplomacy. The way Modi capitalized on India’s strength during his June 2016 US visit, which took the US Congress by storm and instilled the fear of isolation in the heart of Pakistan, and even China, left the world powers impressed.
Modi’s government is probably the first since Independence that has made a real attempt to involve the people in the process and, that too, quite successfully.
Modi, who has always been ahead of his times in adopting the latest technology, told the officials that he wanted to link people to digital technology like nowhere else in the world.
One big criticism of the government on reforms is what many people call its failure to disinvest big PSUs like Air India, SAIL and CIL. There is a view that taxation and banking reforms could have been faster. Mahurkar quotes a senior BJP leader with sound knowledge of the Indian economy who says: ‘What was needed was a transformational approach on reforms, but many steps indicate the government’s approach has been selectively incremental.’
Mahurkar observes that Modi’s China diplomacy signals a great change in India’s attitude towards that nation—from a defensive posture maintained over several decades to that of equal, controlled aggression. Modi gave another sign of India’s new stance soon after the G20 summit in the way he chose to react to the China–Philippines dispute in the South China Sea at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at Laos.
According to Uday Mahurkar, the prime minister believes that the country has to overcome the urban–rural digital divide if it is to move forward.
Uday Mahurkar points out that there have been projects under Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India in Modi government, which have not taken-off yet.
Tell us what you think of Narendra Modi’s governance in the past three years.
Demystifying Faiz Ahmed Faiz- 6 Things You Didn’t Know About the Poet
Faiz Ahmed Faiz is one of the greatest Urdu poets of the twentieth century. He is loved and remembered for his revolutionary verses, his delicate subtlety, and his soulful poems of love.
The Colours of My Heart, translated by Baran Farooqi, celebrates some of Faiz’s greatest works. It also includes an illuminating introduction to Faiz’s enchanting life and legacy.
Here are 6 little known things about the poet who continues to inspire us:
He studied philosophy and English literature in Lahore and finished an M.A. in Arabic.
Naqsh-e-Fariyaadi (The supplicant’s portrait), his first collection of poems, was published in 1941. All his collections are small, and even they contain some unfinished poems.
He was even deprived of writing material during the period of his imprisonment. His poems were smuggled out of prison or sent out with his letters and circulated widely.
The poem expresses disappointment on two levels: The Partition and the carnage that accompanied it.
Faiz was also active in the trade union movement. In 1951, he also became the vice president of the Trade Union Congress, the labour wing of the Communist Party of Pakistan.
Faiz marked this recognition as a humbling experience.
So, which is your favourite Faiz poem?
The Rise and Fall of the Mighty Kingdom of Ranjit Singh
Stories of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s heroics continue to mesmerize generations, even after 178 years of his death.
Khushwant Singh in his two books The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab and Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab draws a fascinating portrait of one of the most powerful ruler of India, the brilliance of his kingdom, and the unfortunate downfall of the Kohinoor that was Punjab.
Here are six instances which capture the rise and fall of the kingdom of Punjab.
After his accession in 1801, Maharajah Ranjit Singh invited talented Muslims and Hindus to join his service and paid assiduous respect to their religious institutions by participating in their festivities.
Besides its riches, Amritsar had sanctity in the eyes of the Sikhs. It was founded by the fourth Guru, Ram Das, and it was here that the fifth Guru, Arjun, had compiled their scripture, the ‘Adi Granth’, and built the temple in the centre of the sacred pool.
Ranjit Singh built his kingdom like a fortress that could not ever be breached.
The English made no secret of their intentions to annex Punjab. Even in his old age, Ranjit Singh tried with all his might to foil the English’s plans.
Ranjit Singh’s choice of successor, Kharak Singh was the least suited of the brothers, having inherited nothing from his illustrious father except his plain looks and bad habits—particularly the love for laudanum and hard liquor.
After the accession of Punjab by the British empire and the subsequent surrender, a veteran soldier remarked ‘Aj Ranjit Singh mar gaya (Today Ranjit Singh has died).’
For more amazing facts of the remarkable Maharajah Ranjit Singh and his empire, read Khushwant Singh’s The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab and Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab.
Five significant contributions of Islam’s advent in India
The relationship between Hindu and Islamic traditions has existed in the subcontinent since the Persians set foot in Asia. The relationship has seen a lot turns and turmoil ever since. In the light of recent political climate, the alliance has become more relevant.
Historian Raziuddin Aquil, in his book The Muslim Question: Understanding Islam and Indian History has given a poignant and detailed account of the evolution of Islam from its prime to its transformation in India due to colonialism.
Here are five instances which capture the legacy of Islam in India.
India’s integration of Islam also opened a transfer of fresh political ideas which had evolved over the centuries in Iran and Greece. In many ways, this was a re-emergence of political ideas in a new garb.
There was also an emergence of ‘syncretic’ traditions in different regions which did not conform to any particular religion.
Although the main undertaking of Sufi traditions was to restrict any deviations from the Muslim rule, their belief in unity within multiplicity contributed to religious synthesis and cultural amalgamation.
Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar due to his inclusive religious and administrative policies is regarded as one of the greatest rulers of India.
Under Akbar’s rule, man’s reason (aql), not tradition (naql), was acknowledged as the only basis of religion.
Read more about Islam’s journey in Raziuddin Aquil, in his book The Muslim Question: Understanding Islam and Indian History. Get your copy here.
The Unbearable Embarrassment of Being a Romance Writer
By Sakshama Puri Dhariwal
‘Did you know Dadi loved reading Mills and Boons?’ Nidhi asked. When he shook his head, she continued, ‘She used to wrap the books in old newspaper and when I asked her why, she said it was because of the “sex scenes” on the cover. The year I turned thirteen, I couldn’t resist any more, so I stole one of her books and peeled back the newspaper. The cover had an illustration of a bare-chested man and a well-endowed woman. And do you know what they were doing?’
Enamoured by her infectious enthusiasm, Vikram gave her a curious smile. ‘What?’
‘The man was kissing the woman’s neck. So, for the longest time, I thought necking is how babies are born,’ she admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
This scene from Man of Her Match was inspired by real life. My grandmother did conceal her love for romance novels behind old newspapers. My mother loved them too, but conditionally – Barbara Cartland and Nora Roberts always found a surreptitious spot behind Erich Segal and Arthur Hailey. A voracious reader, her love for books transcends genre – she enjoys the classics and literary fiction just as much as her monthly copy of Filmfare and Vogue. So, while I inherited her love of reading, I unfortunately also imbibed the belief that romance was ‘less than’ science fiction or adventure, or even, sadly, recipe books.
In Delhi University, a classmate told me that she loved Judith McNaught. Instead of admitting to my own collection of the bestselling author’s books, I feigned disinterest and promptly turned away to join a different conversation about Murakami. In business school, while my batch mates were devouring biographies of Jack Welch and Warren Buffet, I was skipping lunch to finish the latest Sophie Kinsella novel.
When I discovered digital readers, I started reading a few books a week. And while I left alone the ‘acceptable’ books in my reading history, I deleted the romance novels – lest someone pick up the device and judge. It was, I realize now, the digital equivalent of covering books in newspaper. Because admitting to enjoying such books made you less of an intellectual and worse, less of a feminist. How strange these self-imposed rules are: reading Jane Austen is okay because her books are classics, but a historical romance – even one featuring a suffragette or scientist – is automatically dismissed as ‘trash’ or sometimes euphemistically, ‘guilty pleasure’.
When I tell people I’m a writer of romantic comedies, most of them express admiration. But every once in a while, someone will scoff, “Chick lit, you mean!” or wiggle their eyebrows and ask if there are any good sex scenes in the book. Laughing off such comments would make me a traitor to my profession. And to my gender.
Though people can deride the genre all they want, they cannot dispute the reading revolution that romance authors have brought about. In India, a bestselling book would need to sell 7,000 copies in the first few months, whereas the New York Times bestseller list features books that have sold 9,000 copies in the first week. And yet the first print run for many Indian romance writers is in lakhs. In a country where English is the second language for many people (and a foreign language for most), writers of this genre have done what others failed at: encouraging the reading habit in a land of non-readers. Ironically, the very first English novel read by young people is romantic fiction and instead of hiding these books behind newspaper, readers are flaunting them on their Facebook profiles.
What is it about these books (and movies) that makes them palatable to the Indian reader? Surely the relatively uncomplicated plots and simple language play a role. But another very important element is the persistent presence of the HEA (happily ever after) phenomenon. Historically speaking, HEAs sell. And the reason these feel-good stories sell is just that: they feel good. But while the last century saw several romantic films win Best Picture Oscars (It Happened One Night, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, The Apartment, West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Annie Hall), the most recent film to receive that honour was Shakespeare in Love – almost 20 years ago!
Clearly, a large proportion of content consumers today prefers more realistic storytelling and more relatable characters. Take the Netflix show Black Mirror: it is a bleak but believable British science fiction series that warns the viewer about the degree of human perversion and decrepitude in light of changing technology. Or the Hulu show Casual: a dark comedy that navigates the world of casual dating, teenage angst, and the modern definition of sex and sexuality. Both shows are very successful even though both don’t walk the HEA line.
But in a world like the one we live in today, are readers and viewers truly ready to forgo HEAs? Breaking Bad may be touted as the best TV show ever made, but does that stop us from watching reruns of Friends? You could be counting the minutes to the new Game of Thrones season, but can you honestly say that you don’t hold your breath during the DDLJ climax even today, hoping that Bauji will let Simran go to Raj? On a rainy day, with chai and pakoras, the book I like to re-read isn’t 1984, it’s Pride and Prejudice.
Happy endings are much like comfort food – on a bad day, it’s the only thing that can make you feel better. Happiness, even vicarious happiness, offers us an escape from these troubled times. Which is why, even though I grew up embarrassed of reading romance novels, I am proud to write them.
Sakshama Puri Dhariwal is the author of the bestselling novel The Wedding Photographer. Man of her Match is her second novel.
