There are certain things we all say at some points of time about women, brimming with pride, joy and appreciation. Women are naturally caring, they are born to be mothers. Don’t dismiss housewives, alright, ask the men to handle the home for a week and they’ll flounder! And of course, can you ever find a better cook than your wife or your mother – God just made women that way! Have we ever thought about how we end up unknowingly stereotyping all women in these ways because we see a few such women? Three women tackle these stereotypes in their own ways while not dismissing the joys of motherhood, the pressures and demands of housework or the aroma of tadka sizzling on hot, hot food.
We praise housewives – we even call them ‘homemakers’ – because we know it’s no easy task to run a home. But have we ever thought of how leaving homemaking to women might be problematic and unfair – and not just for women? Suchitra Ramachandran explains.
Do women achieve ultimate fulfilment only by bearing a child? Is motherhood only about bearing a child? In fact, is motherhood only about a woman and can a man not experience it, asks Srividhya Radhakrishnan.
Do women love to cook and excel at it simply by virtue of, well, being born women? Divya Natarajan shares her thoughts.
Married for a decade and more, a wife-and-a-mother mulls over the lack of romance in her life these days. Annoyed with the hype surrounding Valentine’s Day, she is not so enthused about what the month of February has to offer, until she takes a trip down the memory lane. The lady in question could be anybody, it could be me, it could be you, says Gauri Trivedi. Picture by Gauri Trivedi.
Trains are an integral part of any image of Mumbai, and being able to efficiently navigate this convoluted system is a mark that you now ‘truly belong’ and are a ‘Bombay girl.’ Vani Viswanathan describes her journey to truly belonging to the city of dreams.
Anupama Krishnakumar shares the elation of Spark’s third anniversary with her five-year-old, who in his own way, makes her value the little milestone even more.
Eminent Telugu author Nandula Suseela Devi discusses the many interesting trends that currently hold sway in Telugu literature. This has been translated from Telugu by Pushpa Achanta.
The internet has pervaded our lives like never before and as things stand, today, it is unimaginable for an urbanite to live a day without the internet. Ironically, though, the internet has made tough things simpler and simple things tougher, points out Gauri Trivedi.