Women's Web

Ameesha Joshi and Anna Sarkissian shine the spotlight on the members of the Indian Women’s National Boxing team in With This Ring.

Interview by Anne John

Ameesha Joshi and Anna Sarkissian met while completing their Bachelors of Fine Arts at Concordia University. Fascinated by the lives of Indian women boxers, they joined forces to create a documentary film on them, With This Ring. Here they talk about their journey, challenges and the relationships that they have nurtured with India’s under-appreciated sportswomen.

Anne John (AJ): Tell us a little about how it all started. Despite being from Canada what made you two choose a subject which is often overlooked by Indians themselves?

We asked the parenting community at Women’s Web to recommend some great parenting books. Here are the top six favourites!

By Anne John

A few days back, we asked the parents among our readers to fill in a short survey on their experiences with parenting books. 25 people decided to help us and took up the survey – thanks to all of you dear parents!

Given that the sample size was small, this isn’t by any means statistically significant, but there are still some interesting picks to look at.

Sagarika Chakraborty’s A Calendar Too Crowded has its ups and downs; nevertheless it stands by womanhood and speaks out unflinchingly.

Review by Anne John

A Calendar Too Crowded has an interesting and unique theme. It is a collection of short stories and poems around notable days of the calendar that are dedicated to women or women’s issues. Thus we have a poem on gender selection for the Anti-Selective-Abortion Day which falls on October 25th, a story about oppression against widows for the International Widows Day on February 2nd and so on.

You know, the people whom I work with, have come up with this fantastic contest called ‘Celebrating Myself’ for International Women’s Day 2012. Yep, you’re right! I am talking about the Women’s Web’s contest right here and since yours truly is the Content Manager around these parts, I am not eligible to compete – which means no gift vouchers from Zivame for me either.

Not that I hope to win amongst all the great entries that we get, but this time every single participant gets a prize! Sigh!

Dear parents, we need your help! Please participate in a short survey by clicking on the link below and let us know your thoughts on parenting books. We intend to come up with a list of top parenting books based on your recommendations.

I might be writing this quite late – which actually I think is for the better. Afterall I am going to mention one incident which most of us got somewhat tired of hearing about; the Bachchan Baby. Okay okay! I can hear your groans and moans of “Oh no! Not again!”, but please bear with me. I am not so much concerned if the baby has Aishwarya’s eyes or Abhishek’s whatever.

Rather, what I would like to talk about is a comment which I came across from some random person on Facebook (Note to Editor: I know I talk too much about Facebook – but I work too. Promise!). So when anybody and everybody were putting up updates of the baby news, there were many equally going ga-ga over it and commenting away. While most comments where something around congratulations and best wishes, a few were not. One person had asked, [...]

With the explosion of interest in novel cuisines and healthy eating, has food writing as a career come of age in India?

Interview by Anne John

Monica Geller of the TV show Friends is famously known for her interest in food and cooking. Here we have her namesake, who eats, cooks, writes as well as teaches about food! Meet the other food-enthusiast-Monica; Monica Bhide!

Anne John (AJ): Hi Monica! Your story of discovering cooking as a way to connect with people is touching. Over the years, how have you and your cooking evolved?

A few years back, I had recently joined a leading software company in Chennai. Trainees from all over India were undergoing training together. I distinctly remember one particular lady from Kolkata. She was not in my training class and I have never spoken to her; in fact I don’t even remember her name. Yet she was highly popular. For what, you ask? Well she was well known by her nickname, “Dum akka” – which in Tamil slang translates to a lady who smokes. During coffee breaks, she used to confidently light up amidst a gang of guys, even though she was the only lady to do so. It was a strange sight for the rest of us, to watch a lone woman happily puffing away, unselfconsciously, unmindful of the numerous stares that she was being rewarded with.

Taking witty digs at the Indian psyche, Cyrus Broacha’s The Average Indian Male makes for a fun and entertaining read.

Review by Anne John

When you pick up a book by Cyrus Broacha, you already have an idea of what to expect; non-stop chatter loaded with sarcastic humour, at times making sense, at times making no sense whatsoever – and at other times making it difficult to distinguish between the two! The Average Indian Male, is no different – it is quintessential Cyrus.

The book is divided into two parts, with the first part in the form of letters from people aggrieved for some reason or the other, by the average Indian male. Delving into the many ‘unique’ qualities of the average Indian man, be it a cloying devotion to his mother or his disgusting bathroom habits, Cyrus analyzes several aspects that make men typically men, and provides some ‘enlightening’ answers to them. [...]

With 2011 drawing to a close, here is our look at 10 Indian women achievers – who have some interesting ‘firsts’ to their credit.

By Anne John

Education, Administration, Arts, Science, Law, Sports, Defence, Politics – the list of fields in which Indian women have excelled this year seems like an endless one indeed! Here are some path-breaking women who we noticed for their pioneering achievements. Did you come across any such inspiring women this year? Do leave a comment and tell us!