Make-up for kids... Like, really?

It’s wedding season and there’s a thought that has been going on in my head. My sister got married just over a year ago. It was one of the biggest occasions we had in our family in the recent past and the biggest that my daughter, now thirteen years old, has had in her living memory as she was too young to remember my other sister’s wedding. Our preparations as far as she was concerned went only to the extent of deciding dresses and footwear (flats and although she bought her first kitten heels for the D-day, she couldn’t wear it for over half an hour and shifted to flats). There was nothing else that we had to discuss or arrange for her. Our own preparations were more elaborate. It additionally included arranging a make-up artist (MUA) for us. 

Now, that was because it was my own sister’s wedding. Otherwise, I am the kind of woman who never opts for professional make-up or hairstyling on any other occasion – be it any close wedding or any random party. Money factor is not even a consideration because I simply do not have the time, energy and inclination to go to a professional to get ready. Similarly, the only time my daughter had her hair done by a professional was during my sister’s wedding and that too only braids (due to the fact that I myself am totally pathetic with those) sans any spray or serum. I just wouldn’t let the MUA use any chemicals on her hair. That is all the exposure my daughter has had to professional make-up till date. 

But when I go to weddings nowadays, I am surprised to note that my daughter is usually the odd one out in kids. Kids as young as 2 or 3 year olds there are running around with hairstyles made by professional MUAs and often with make-ups like eye-shadows and lip-colours. My niece got married about 10 days back and I couldn’t see a single child on her own feet, no matter how old, not made-up. And I kind of find it sad because all said and done, these cosmetics not only harm their gentle skins but otherwise as well we are tuning the minds of our girls to fake standards of beauty as well as vanity. This in my eyes is a bigger sin than even ruining their complexions. 

This had been on my mind for a few days until yesterday when I was just whiling away my time by surfing through flash news from Entertainment Industry. I came across Vogue Magazine articles sharing pics of all celebrities who attended Armaan Jain - Anissa Malhotra wedding – the “who wore what” kind of news articles. I was mindlessly just skimming through without even focussing on any celebrity or least of all on the names of all the famous designers whose clothes they wore. That was until I came across pics of Karisma Kapoor with her daughter. What caught my eye was Samiera Kapoor, aged 14, a young girl belonging to one of the most fashion-conscious families in India was totally sans any make-up and hadn’t even got her hair done. A teenager belonging to a family of actors, who herself is most likely to become an actor someday, was wearing designer dresses but no cosmetics. I was like “Wow! This is so unexpected.” Indeed, this was a surprisingly unanticipated but still a refreshing change for me. The same was the case with Aaradhya Bachchan, the daughter of Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan, but then the argument in her favour is that she is only 8 years old. But even in her case, she is an example to be emulated by the parents of the 2 year olds with fancy buns and red lips running around wearing diapers under their lehengas at sundry weddings. 

I hope parents of little girls make note and follow suit. We are in an age where we want to teach our girls (and even boys) that their physical attributes should not determine their worth and that they are beautiful just as they are. But then we cannot preach what we don’t practice.

Image courtesy: Google search

Kabir Singh is no hero!

I find it appalling that in today's times and era, movies like Kabir Singh / Arjun Reddy are being made and appreciated. After all the signs of progress the movie industry shows with movies like Pink, Piku, Queen, etc., movies like Kabir Singh push the carousel eons backwards.

Image source: Google search

To be honest, I haven't seen the movie. The trailer itself was repulsive. Let's be clear, Kabir Singh is no hero and shouldn't exist in real life. He is sexist, patriarchal and misogynistic. The movie glorifies eve-teasing, stalking, abusing women, and let me add, it promotes toxic masculinity and the portrayal of psychopathic manliness. This is so not acceptable!

They say that the movie is about a "flawed character" and Shahid Kapoor has played it to perfection. Now, Shahid has played flawed characters before - Kaminey, Haider, Udta Punjab - but they were essentially that, flawed characters. Unlike Kabir Singh, their flaws were not glorified in the name of "intense love". Do we realize how many teenagers and youngsters are fooled by the idea of "intense love" as depicted in the movies? Do we realize how many "flawed characters" with "intense love" are in the making right now inspired by the movie knowing that it is a big hit with youngsters? Shouldn't it worry us about the safety and sanity of the girls and other people in general who might be around such people right now?

It's time these movies suffer failure so that lessons are taught to people who promote hazardous patriarchy in the name of cinematic liberty. The movie reviews are raving about Shahid and his performance and women are drooling over him just as the movie is inching towards various box office milestones. And I am irritated with the reactions, especially those of women. How can they go all ga-ga over something that degrades their very existence?

The Fascinating Sculptures of Prague

Every time I visit Prague, I end up visiting the same old places like Old Town Square, the Castle District etc. This time I had just one day to spend and I decided to do it differently. I went about seeking and reading about some of the peculiar and interesting sculptures the city is famous for: 

1. Dancing head statue or Statue of Franz Kafka by David Černý - The 42 mobile tiers of this eleven-metre-tall sculpture align to form the face of the famous Czech writer Franz Kafka. This 39-ton bust by artist David Černý is one of his recent works. 

2. Man hanging out by David Černý - This sculpture, found in Prague’s Old Town, is easily missed if you’re not looking up. It depicts the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud hanging by one hand on the top of a building, seemingly pondering whether to hold on or to let go. It is said that during his life, he suffered from a number of phobias, including the fear of his own death. 

3. Statue of Franz Kafka by Jaroslav Róna - This surrealistic sculpture depicts a mini Kafka riding on the shoulders of a giant, empty suit. The image was inspired by the writer’s short story ‘Description of a Struggle’ (1912), in which the narrator explores a fantasy landscape from the shoulders of “an acquaintance”. 

4. Iron Man by Ladislav Šaloun - This statue has a story. This faceless knight is said to have killed his lover in a fit of rage. The knight was turned to stone as punishment. He can be freed by the love of a pure-hearted woman but only once every 100 years on the anniversary of the murder. The exact date, alas, has been lost to history. 

5. Memorial to victims of communism by Olbram Zoubek - This harrowing series of bronze statues portrays seven broken, decaying men descending a flight of stairs commemorate the victims of Communism in the Czech Republic. 

6. Crawling babies by David Černý - You can spot these larger-than-life babies in two locations around Prague: at the Zizkov Tower and in Kampa Park. These creepy-looking babies are a symbol of the Communist era and how the totalitarian rule stifled their ability to reach adulthood. 

7. Piss statue by David Černý - Just in front of the Kafka Museum is situated a fountain titled Piss. The basin of the fountain is made out of bronze, and it is formed in the shape of the Czech Republic. Two men are standing on opposite ends, and they appear to be peeing onto the country. Visitors can even send an SMS to the fountain, and the men will write the message into the water. 

8. Statue of St John of Nepomuk - This statue is one of the 30 sculptures mounted to the balustrade of the Charles Bridge. The statue represents the court priest of King Wenceslas IV, who supposedly died after being thrown off the bridge in 1383. Legend has it that the king had him killed because St John refused to reveal the secret confessions of the queen. Touching the statue is supposed to bring good luck and ensure that visitors return to Prague soon. 

9. Il Commendatore by Anna Chromý - Outside the Estates Theater, where Mozart conducted the 1787 premiere of his opera Don Giovanni, there is a heavy shroud around an empty space. This figure represents the opera’s character Il Commendatore, who appears as a ghost. 

10. Czech Musicians by Anna Chromý - This is by far my favourite. It has four bronze figures dancing around a fountain. All are blindfolded, and each plays a different instrument. They represent four major rivers of the world: the Ganges, the Amazon, the Danube and the Mississippi. The dancers are so expertly captured that it is hard to not be enchanted by their fluidity and expression – it’s almost as if you can hear their music being played. 

 

And then I include some bonus sculptures which may not be as relevant as the above mentioned, but which I stumbled upon and found very fascinating as well. 

11. This lady stood at the back side of the Church of Our Lady before Týn 

12. This statue I found perched on the corner of a random building 

13. Statue of King Charles IV at the entrance to the Charles Bridge

© Nishtha Khurana, 2019. All rights reserved. The text as well as the pictures are both subject to copyright and are the property of the author. Please do not copy or reproduce without permission.

Re-invention is all about intention!

Just few days back I was in a training where we were discussing about reinventing yourself. The speaker was the CEO of a Russian Bank and he was discussing how thrice over the company had seen political and financial crisis in their country and how every time they had re-invented themselves according to the situation and emerged stronger.

One of the questions he was asked was "What if it is not possible to re-invent yourself?" He smiled and said, "It is always possible if you want to. It's not a question about possibility but about intention. If you have the intention, you will find a way." And then he gave a perfect example of re-invention where very few people would think possible - Cirque du Soliel. The example of Cirque du Soliel really caught me and it has since been spinning in my head.

After all, how much can a circus hope to re-invent itself? What's the scope? And yet they did it... Not a single animal is there any more in any of their shows. But, it's still a beautiful display of skills... And it's grand and bigger then ever before; almost equivalent to a Broadway show. With the ticket prices touching the sky, they barely do a show that's not sold out. Now that is re-invention. It really is a question of intent.

Image source: Google search

Women's Day

Some thoughts on Pulwama

I was in Prague when Pulwama happened. I was in whole day long workshops and was generally cut-off from all contacts except during short coffee breaks between sessions when I would get to check my phone. It was a sudden spurge of WhatsApp messages on our soldiers that actually made me sit up; with my heart beating faster wondering what had happened in India. In the middle of one of the sessions, totally unable to pay any attention, I did a frantic google search on the day's news when I read about the dastardly attack and the 42 brave lives lost. The news felt like someone had punched me in the gut and I couldn't share it with anyone as all my colleagues in the workshops were Europeans, Russians, Americans and South-East Asians. Nobody would understand.

Brave lives lost (Image source: Google image search)

I mentioned it to my team while on dinner table and they just looked somberly at me and asked, "Oh, someone related to you was also involved?" How do I tell them that they were all related to me... Maybe not by blood or even by acquaintance; but by their love and their sacrifice for our country. They did not understand the weight of being obliged by care and security shown by a stranger. Because then they are not strangers anymore. They are related to you. Yeah, they did not understand. All of the people involved were related to me. Their families were related to me.

Another thing that dawned on me was that the citizens of these countries will never understand the pride of devoting one's life to their motherland. None of their countries had a "voluntary army" i.e. being in army was not a profession. Everyone had to mandatorily serve in the army for 1 or 2 years. That was what their army was comprised of. It was comprised of people fulfilling their compulsion. It was not comprised of people driven by passion and "jazba" to serve their motherland. It was not comprised of people who choose army as a way of life because they love their country. These people will never understand.

They discussed about the futility of war. It was a normal dinner table discussion for them. They told me that they were aware how "India and Pakistan were at war". They wondered why people chose war. But then they don't understand that we did not choose this war. And I hope we never choose a war, no matter how much anger we see around in people. I hope we choose to understand that war and terrorism are two different things and war is no solution to the problem of terrorism.

I do stand in solidarity with the soldiers and their families and I participate in the grief. I am also angry like most Indians but I do not support the call for going to war. Let's leave it to the people who know best and who are impacted the most too.

The 90s songs

Image source: Google search

Two days ago, I made my second playlist on Amazon music. This one mostly consists of all those 90s English songs that I so used to love during my teenage. I have been listening to them since then and I have mixed thoughts about them.

• Some I wonder now how I could be so stupid to love something as bad as that. Bad and sometimes dumb!! I can’t stand a few of those songs any more. An example could be Britney Spears suddenly sounding hoarse and her voice so harsh now. The songs simply seem to be missing any melody.
• Most songs are still enjoyable though more of bubblegum pop and if I wouldn’t be driving while listening, I probably would even groove a bit to them. All the Backstreet Boys and Westlife they remind me of the sweet moments and how they used to be all pure fun. All of us girls in school were just all into it.
• Some are pure rock and party songs and remind me of our school Christmas Parties. They take me back to how we would tire ourselves out that one day in school dancing to these songs. If it’s “We will rock you”, we will all shout and scream and move to the beat. But dare the DJ play something that wasn’t welcome. Boos and shaking hands telling him that this is not acceptable is all he would get.
• Some songs were our school assembly favourites and are just pretty big on reminding me of those days when we would skip studies and practice all day for the assembly. The fights, the non-stop chatters and the friendships. And then we would all croon “Heal the world”, “We are the world” and “Seasons in the Sun”.
• Last but not least, some are still pure romance and just simply touch my heart even today. How does one even get over Celine Dion’s “Because you loved me”, Bryan Adam’s “Everything I do” and Ronan Keating’s “Words”.

I have been away from English music for years… Even decades. And now I sometimes listen to (actually more like forced to listen to) the songs chosen by my daughter. Some are nice but most don’t stand a chance in front of these melodies.