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Radha Sawana believes that all problems reside within us, and their solutions too. Her writing is mostly about her day-to-day experience, that's exactly what connects well with the readers.
Radha Sawana believes that all problems reside within us, and their solutions too. Her writing is mostly about her day-to-day experience, that’s exactly what connects well with the readers.
The Women’s Web team every month identifies three contributors whose work has really resonated with readers, who have brought something new and impactful to our community. This September 2018, Radha Sawana is one of our featured Authors of the Month.
Radha feels that women expect too much from themselves and they should learn to say no to everything. You can read Radha Sawana’s articles here at Women’s Web.
Authors are often asked this question, but everyone has their own reasons, very personal to them. So, why do you write?
I write because I cannot help it! There are stories that I cannot not tell and I write for their sakes.
What do you enjoy reading? Does any of it help your writing?
I can read almost anything, but I am partial to fantasy, sci-fi, and mythology.
When it comes to writing on/for/about women, what questions and issues drive you the most?
I believe that most of the women problems stem from and survive because of women, not men. Women tend to expect too much from themselves and from other women, which is how we end up under-performing in our own eyes. That’s a crushing feeling. We need to draw out our priorities very clearly and learn to say no to being everything and everyone.
Could you narrate an issue or incident in your life which you think was gender-related, and you handled it in a way that has made you proud.
I had a ‘manly’ female boss in my very first work stint. She believed she had all the manly and superior qualities a woman – she was single, she hated asking for help from any man, she had physical strength, she loved traveling, she was ‘fussfree’ and ‘bindaas’, she didn’t use moisturizer, she didn’t approve of anything ‘delicate’. I suffered because she always thought of me as the embodiment of everythng female – I was ‘delicate’, I was in a committed relationship with a guy I adored, and so on. She favoured the male teammates and often bitched about me in my absence. I had lost all respect for her as a result, and for the most part, I ignored her.
Fast forward 2 years, she was going through a bad time at work because of performance issues. During the bad stretch, she decided to marry her longtime friend and roommate (a guy). It took a lot of my maturity, but I congratulated her and told her that marriage didn’t necessarily mean a loss of independence. She gave a terse smile, but after that, she stopped judging me for being a girly girl.
What are the things you would like to write about in the future for Women’s Web?
I would like to share my travelogues, some fiction written by me and any other issues that I feel like writing about.
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What I loved was how there is so much in the movie of the SRK we have known, and also a totally new star. The gestures, the smile, the wit and the charisma are all too familiar, but you also witness a rawness, an edginess.
When a movie that got the entire nation in a twist – for the right and wrong reasons – hits the theatres, there is bound to be noise. From ‘I am going to watch it – first day first show’ to ‘Boycott the movie and make it a flop’, social media has been a furore of posts.
Let me get one thing straight here – I did not watch Pathaan to make a statement or to simply rebel as people would put it. I went to watch it for the sheer pleasure of witnessing my favourite superstar in all his glory being what he is best at being – his magnificent self. Because when it comes to screen presence, he burns it, melts it and then resurrects it as well like no other. Because when it comes to style and passion, he owns it like a boss. Because SRK is, in a way, my last connecting point to the girl that I once was. Though I have evolved into so many more things over the years, I don’t think I am ready to let go of that girl fully yet.
There is no elephant in the room really here because it’s a fact that Bollywood has a lot of cleaning up to do. Calling out on all the problematic aspects of the industry is important and in doing that, maintaining objectivity is also equally imperative. I went for Pathaan for entertainment and got more than I had hoped for. It is a clever, slick, witty, brilliantly packaged action movie that delivers what it promises to. Logic definitely goes flying out of the window at times and some scenes will make you go ‘kuch bhi’ , but the screenplay clearly reminds you that you knew all along what you were in for. The action sequences are lavish and someone like me who is not exactly a fan of this genre was also mind blown.
When Jaya Bachchan speaks her mind in public she is often accused of being brusque and even abrasive. Can we think of her prodigious talent and all the bitter pills she has had to swallow over the years?
A couple of days ago, a short clip of a 1998 interview of Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan resurfaced on social media. In this episode of the Simi Grewal chat show, at about the 23-minute mark, Jaya lists her husband’s priorities: one, parents, two kids, then wife. Then she corrects herself: his profession – and perhaps someone else – ranks above her as a wife.
Amitabh looks visibly uncomfortable at this unstated but unambiguous reference to his rather well-publicised affair with co-star Rekha back in the day.
Watching the classic film Abhimaan some years ago, one scene really stayed with me. It was something Brajeshwarlal (David’s character) says in troubled tones during the song tere mere milan ki yeh raina. He says something to the effect that Uma (Jaya Bhaduri’s character) is more talented than Subir (Amitabh Bachchan’s character) and that this was a problem since society teaches us that men are superior to women.
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