WOMEN

It's very difficult being a non judgemental mom. Turns out, being judgemental comes wired into your system, the moment you become a mom. Not about yourself of course. We are judgemental about other mothers, the one who bottle-feeds her infant; the one who sends her kid to Karate ALL ALONE despite the fact that he has to cross a busy road; the one who thinks nothing of serving her kid Pepsi. In other words, the mother, who in our eyes is "wrong" while we ourselves are obviously doing it right or at least hoping that we are. Pic: Wikimedia commons…

Bengaluru was about to have its first Slut Walk - rechristened 'Gejje Hejje' - on Sunday, December 4. The walk was to protest against victim blaming in cases of sexual assault, wherein women are held responsible for inviting assault by "dressing provocatively", travelling at night etc.But not only were they not allowed to hold the walk, a few who had dared to assemble at the venue were arrested by the Bengaluru police. Police had given permission for the walk earlier, but cancelled it on short notice - on Saturday night, bowing to threats from right wing groups. Pic: Navya P…

   Around mid August this year, 21 volunteers from 14 countries arrived in southern India to work and learn from marginalized communities about their challenges pertinent to health and sanitation. They were part of "Health on Stage", a six week project where they learnt to use forum theatre to initiate simultaneous dialogues on public health in low income areas of Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. And on 30th September, the 3 groups of participants, their trainers and faciliators gathered in Bangalore to share their experiences with healthcare professionals, media persons and theatre artists.It is well known that water related illnesses are…

Kannada Actor Darshan's act of domestic violence has been in the news for the past few days. Yes it has not been proven, yes his wife has taken back the case. But the fact is his wife is in a bad shape and is attending court cases with her hand in a cast. The case is pending before the Magistrate. Initial Police inquiry suggests that he attacked her in a moving car. The driver said he didn't see or hear anything because the partition is sound proof. What would you have done had you witnessed this happening while you drove…

Citizen Matters did an article in March on the challenges of working mothers from the middle and upper middle class families. But what are the challenges faced by working mothers from the lower income group? Though on the face of it the challenges appear to be the same, these women have issues unique to their social setup. With husbands' incomes often not enough meet the expenses , women in low-income groups are compelled to work to support families. They juggle between managing work, home and motherhood, braving through social inequalities, chauvinism and glass ceilings to earn meager wages. Lost motherhood…

A childhood's memories Of looking and waiting For something exciting From the grove of coconut trees A busy woodpecker An agile tree climber Two young boys Who made little noise If we missed these We simply counted the trees What rekindled these memories Was Visthar's coconut trees! Situated in an eco-friendly campus in Dodda Gubbi off the Hennur Road in east Bangalore, Visthar is a treasure trove of nature's bounty that drives one to reflect inwards while celebrating life. A veritable hub of socio-cultural and environmental consciousness this organization turned twenty one recently. Famous for hosting annual festivals and events that…

 After mindlessly surfing the networking world, I finally thought I'll write something. What then shall I write about? The current hot topics are Women's Reservation Bill & IPL.Forget IPL, everyone wants to write about it - whether it concerns cricket or not. The women's reservation bill - well, I don't like reservation of any kind. But that's another story altogether.So what do I want to write about? Well, there's the BBMP election. An election that has been postponed so much that I'm not too sure it'll happen until the D-day. The ward I live in has a SC, W category.…

The monthly first Saturday meeting of Manjari Ladies Association (a registered  non-profit social service organisation) which is based in JP Nagar was a special one to ring in the New Year on a joyous note.  All serious discussions were put aside and it was fun and gaiety all afternoon. Ladies dressed in their colourful best enjoyed and participated in the jokes, music, games, skits and so on. The icing on the cake was the humorous Kannada skit  "Sanmaana Sukha", enacted by some of the committee members and very ably directed by Savithri Chayapathi, the secretary of the association. Parimala Rao…

People running for a cause is quite common in Bangalore. But, this event was a little different. Sunday October 25th saw a misty, breezy morning. It was 7.30 AM, when most Bengaloreans were sleeping there were almost 80 women of all ages, assembled at the start of the run trail in Bellandur, in the outskirts of Bengaluru. This was the first "Girls on the Run" event in Bangalore, organised by RunnerGirlsIndia (RGI), a group dedicated to empowering women toward a healthy lifestyle, promoting personal fitness, increasing physical activity and emotional health. The run, as the organisers said, was meant to…

Noticed a group of energetic, charming ladies with warm smiles and welcoming voices convening in East End Circle (Jayanagar, 9th block) on Saturday afternoons? If yes, they may be the empowered women from Stree Jagruti Samiti (SJS), a collective of domestic workers in Bengaluru. Around since the late 1980's due to the tireless efforts of Geeta Menon (one of its co-founders along with social worker Rita Roy) and various supporters/associates like APSA and SICHREM, SJS has campaigned for labour rights, dignified treatment, benefits, etc. With 1200 members and a part of the Domestic Workers' Rights Union (DWRU), it has spread…