Many years ago, in a faraway land- called Maryland- a girl ‘Minty’ was born to enslaved parents. Three of her sisters were sold to distant farms causing a serious distress in her family. When a merchant approached her father to buy her brother, he resisted resulting in serious violence. But this incident had a great impact on Minty’s life as she learned to resist when … Continue reading A lady in the dark and cold winter night
Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam- the classic based on a novel by acclaimed Bengali writer Bimal Mitra- must be finest Hindi cinema of the century that highlights the decline of wealthy aristocracy and the rise of working class in colonial Bengal. Released in 1962, the movie shows the contrast in two social classes through the character of Bhootnath- a young lower middle class servant in the … Continue reading Revisiting the Classic: Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam
There is something about Sunny Leone that is disturbing to many of us entangled in the so-called notion of morality. A woman should be like Sita- pure, innocent, harmless and devoted to her man. Sunny Leone is anything but Sita. As an adult, she made her own choice getting into the porn industry and she did quite well. Life as a porn star is limited … Continue reading Sunny Leone in Sita’s World
Happy New Year, friends! Are we not excited about the beginning of the year and our New Year resolutions to lead a healthy lifestyle? How about giving ourselves the permission to truly relax in our own backyard this year? We have read about Yogis discussing about their truly transformative experiences and benefits from a Yoga Retreat. But let me be honest. Yoga Retreats are expensive. … Continue reading Design Your Special Day Behind Your Door
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spellbound, Dumbfounded and Shocked That is my expression right now after watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If Star Wars Part IV, V and VI were about Luke Skywalker and his quest to reach his father Darth Vader; and Star Wars Part I, II and III were about Anakin Skywalker and his journey from being a noble Jedi to … Continue reading Let the Force be with the Fans
No other day is a better day for me to tell the world that I am a proud sister of my brother who is an anthropologist, a poet, a painter, a writer, a film editor, a political scientist, a sociologist, a PhD student, and the ONLY child prodigy possibly born in our extended family. Not a single person can deny the fact that no one … Continue reading Happy Bhai Tika, my brother! My gay brother!
I am one of those Bollywood fans who gets proud witnessing the success of our actresses. Not all are born with a Kapoor, a Bachchan or a Khan surname, yet some actresses have made it on their own. Deepika, Priyanka, Kangana- they all started somewhere, faced failures, yet managed to rule Bollywood due to their continuous hard work. Bollywood is also a Kingdom of three … Continue reading Thank God Kareena Kapoor Khan does not Represent Bollywood Queens
Let me be blunt, mean, angry and honest. As I am looking at a kid, who cannot be more than 4 years old, eating chips after chips, I am counting and almost 300 bad calories later, I am thinking what his parents are doing to this kid is tantamount to child abuse. He is obese and sorry Mama, he is not cute like you think … Continue reading An open letter to a fat kid’s parents
South Asian, on top of that, from a typical middle class family- we deal with parental interference throughout our life. In general, South Asian parents are not good at expressing emotions but they are quite good at providing instructions on what their children should do in life. “Be an engineer, a doctor or a banker”, “Get a job in one of those big companies”, “Get … Continue reading Art of dealing with Parents’ Emotional Drama
You have heard about Yoga, you want to try but too scared seeing those extraordinary poses! You think you cannot do Yoga! I explain why Yoga is just for you. How shall I start? Listen to this 10 minute “visualization” exercise offered by Esther Ekhart. Two years ago, when I first came across this video, I was in a bad phase of my life. During this exercise, … Continue reading Yoga 101: For those who think they cannot do Yoga!
vidamanejo.wordpress.com 