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Beneath the anger and the fear, I am sure my thoughts and feelings, resound in the minds and hearts of most others.
The current political weather in India seems to demand from a certain section of its population to feel alienated, cheated, scared…
And I belong to that section of India’s diversity.
I do not wear the Hijab and I do not ban alcohol. But being a Muslim is as much me, as being a Gujarati, as being an Indian.
And with all the insecurity that being a Muslim should make me feel, it does nothing to what being a Muslim from India has given me.
It has given me an individuality which no one can take away from me. We come from households where Dhoklas and Jalebis are relished as much as Butter Chicken is.
Bollywood has given us enough exposure to Punjabi over the years, that using Balle Balle and Chak de Phatte in conversations is normal, is me.
A decade of my life was spent in Maharashtra. I have lived in a hostel with friends, who woke up with me when I was doing the ‘rozas’, to accompany me in making my breakfast at 5 am in the morning.
I learnt Marathi from them, fluent enough to hold a basic conversation in Marathi.
With Balle Balle, Kai Zala and Ikede ye and a lot of other such usages became a part of my regular vocabulary.
Having lived outside India for close to a decade now, my sphere of diversity grew; only for me to learn that being an Indian gives me an amazing perspective on differences.
Everywhere I go, I find common ground. A group of people speaking Arabic, feel like my own, as I read the Quran in Arabic. My love for Yoga, has connected me with people, who do not belong to my country or speak my language, or eat the same food as I do.
At the risk of losing some modesty here, my ability to accept differences and feel absolutely comfortable in its midst, is enormous.
The moment I find myself in an environment I know nothing about, I accept it as my own.
And when I wonder how come it all comes so easy to me, without doubt I trace it to my roots, and only to my roots.
What India has given me, being born anywhere else in the world, could never have given me.
Beneath the anger and the fear, I am sure my thoughts and feelings, resound in the minds and hearts of most others. And it is this voice, which will get us through.
Image via Pexels
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We need to stop stereotyping women's bodies, and also be more sensitive towards our children who are growing up with terrible self-confidence leading to loneliness and depression.
When Kate Winslet said, “Young women should enjoy their life instead of worrying about how they look,” it stuck a cord with me. I am one of those women who struggle with body image issues in a society heavily influenced by unrealistic beauty standards and societal expectations, and Kate’s statement was empowering.
I grew up listening to unsolicited advice about wearing clothes a size bigger than what I wear; everyone took a free ride to comment about my bra and how big it was. I have spent most of my life loathing how I look—my size, weight, clothes, appearance, skin tone, and hair. This isn’t because I’m not too fond of how I appear, but rather because I’ve been told repeatedly by most trusted people around me that I have one or more flaws.
It is imperative that, as a society, we shed our stereotypical thought not just to support women but also our children who are growing up with terrible self-confidence leading to loneliness and depression. We can significantly impact our mental health and well-being by fostering a culture of compassion, understanding, and empowerment.
Here are some online tools for startups to use for their tech needs for organising work, mind mapping, ideation, etc.
Most startups are bootstrapped, the budget is low, there is no funding, startups need some support and excellent tools to run the show. The team may be working at one place or the team is spread across the globe, but the team needs to brainstorm. Brainstorming can be fun. Listing few resources which a startup or entrepreneurs can use for brainstorming.
Bubbl.us is an interesting tool which is useful to take notes, brainstorm and organize new ideas, collaborate, and capture thoughts. It allows you to avoid distraction by focusing on task, to collaborate and share with friends, families, team and social media. Essentially no hassle of downloading any app, works on mobile and desktop. You can use the basic plan to explore and later subscribe for at $4.91/month, $59 billed annually.
Miro offers the quickest, easiest way for teams to capture, organize and visualize thoughts, solutions, ideas across the team. Other than brainstorming, it can be used for project planning, creating organizational charts and sales strategies. It runs on all devices: mobile, tablet, desktop or interactive display.
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