At some point shortly before the pandemic I discovered that my phone kept track of my steps. I had had fun with pedometers before but never carried them consistently. Or they stopped working. In their heyday they were even among the give-aways at trade conferences, something that a vendor might put their logo on, like a pen or pen drive. Later when things got fancy with Fitbits and smart watches, I went digital in the sense of counting as I walked and noting every 100 on my fingers. Only I’d do paces as that was easier to keep count. Home to vegetable market – 300 paces. Deonar depot to home – 600 paces. If I recall correctly the young cousins in the family even started a spreadsheet to keep a daily tally and compare notes. Heady times!
Read the rest of this entry »Posts Tagged ‘society’
Lady Like: Mackenzi Lee enthralls again
In Books on 12 June 2025 at 8:00 pmWhen Khiyali introduced me to Mackenzi Lee via The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, I was shall we say, not quite ready for the Age of Enlightenment. If the title had not already raised my eyebrow, the first page made me almost fall backwards in the bookstore. But it quickly became one of my favorite novels to recommend especially to young people. So my excitement by the announcement of her latest work of historical fiction, Lady Like, was eclipsed only by Khiyali’s. Her review follows. As luck would have it, I got the chance to tag along on a visit to Shibden Hall, the home of Anne Lister, and to walk around the hills of Halifax and see the view from Beacon Hill. A quote from Anne Lister’s famous, voluminous diaries, appears in the front
Back to the book. Over to Khiyali:
I’ve long been a fan of Mackenzi Lee’s Gentleman’s Guide series. So when my mother revealed that she had acquired an advance copy of Lee’s latest, Lady Like, I jumped at the chance to take a look. The book begins promisingly with a quote from renowned lesbian diarist Anne Lister, and it delivers.
From sapphic Shakespeare to burgeoning self-determination, the novel is at once cozy, exciting, and cathartic. It retains elements from the Guide series – delicious queer romance, delightful sentence structure, and exciting dialogue – and it felt significantly more lighthearted. This is not to say the stakes are low – far from it. Our heroines encounter terrifying, heartwrenching, but ultimately adventurous challenges on their way to the future. In brief, Lady Like serves up all the feels. Snuggle up with it and a sweet treat this fall, and let me know what you think.
Read the rest of this entry »Seen in Taloda …Hirkani Kaksha (Breastfeeding Room)
In Field Notes on 25 June 2022 at 10:51 pmA friend sent me a poster seen in a bus stop in Taloda. Indicating the location of the”Hirkani Kaksha” or “Breastfeeding Room” was a colorful poster with a picture of none other than yours truly. At first I was worried that it was some kind of advertisement. When I learned that this was a room at a bus stop to allow mothers a private place for breastfeeding I worried that breastfeeding was being pushed out of the public space. I have always defended the right of babies to breastfeed wherever they are allowed to be. As long as breastfeeding in public is still welcome, however, I can see the value of also having the option to get out of the crowd, esp if baby is easily distracted. And I am particularly pleased with the choice of the photo, showing a mother who is calmly looking ahead while baby – toddler, in fact – nurses.
Read the rest of this entry »It takes a village
In Field Notes on 21 November 2021 at 8:00 pmYesterday while walking back from the library, I just happened to call a friend of mine. Let’s call her Zora. One of those friends with whom I used to have more idle time but now only interact with on tasks at hand when we are in the same meeting together. Since all meetings are virtual now there is no chit chat before or after, just abrupt starting and stopping of business. She herself has a full time job apart from this, barely makes it to the meetings and is often muted because she is holding her baby at the same time. So noticing that it was 1pm in her time zone I took a chance and called her hoping she might be on lunch break.
Even as I was dialing I thought, I know we are supposed to text first or something like that but I am just going to play the old age card and just call her. Texting first to ask when I should call makes the call sound like something more hefty than what it is, as if I expect her to allot time for it. She picked up the phone and I tentatively explained, “Hi I just thought I’d take a chance and call ….” She replied that I’d hear her baby talk a lot and I took that as I sign that the call was on. I asked if she was having lunch. She noted that the baby was having lunch.
Read the rest of this entry »Run Me Down
In Field Notes, Real Talk on 9 February 2019 at 12:38 pmGuest post by Hema Gopinathan in a new series called REAL TALK where Ask Amma explores issues we face when engaging with womanhood.
I look wistfully at the cute pair of neon running shorts with its matching tank top that I picked up from a big fitness brand store. An expensive waste, when I am fully aware, having been told over and over, that if you want to run you can even do it in a salwar kameez or a saree. The critical point to remember is to never call attention to oneself. Because that’s very bad, calling attention and any consequence would entirely be my fault. So I put on a pair of leggings long past their lycral prime and a XXL t-shirt in a colour that can be only described as puke-sia. The hair is bound tightly as are the breasts, so as to not swing and you know, call attention.
Neha Chopra: “Women need their voice in childbirth”
In Call to Action on 17 September 2018 at 8:01 pmAravinda of Ask Amma sat down with filmmaker Neha Chopra at the Human Rights in Childbirth Conference that took place at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai in February 2017.
Conversations Born from Stories
In Books on 2 June 2017 at 1:56 pmYou, Me, and a Story
Suresh Ediga
46 pages
The wheels on the bus go round and round! goes a popular children’s ditty. But what if the wheels stop turning? What if people stop breathing? Such are the questions that Suresh Ediga explored with his children when talking with them about such issues as the disaster in Bhopal, in which a pesticide factory exploded, leaking tons of toxic fumes, killing thousands instantly and poisoning the ground and water for decades. This makes the first story in his collection, You, Me & a Story.
The family that reads together! From left, Sireesha, Suresh, Surina, Suhash each holding a copy of You, Me & a Story.
The Bully is Awake: How my Daughter Lifted me out of the Abyss
In Call to Action on 10 November 2016 at 12:00 pmWe know we have to get out of the abyss and onto the streets. But how?
My daughter was as involved as I was in campaigning for Hillary Clinton this year. Election Day morning, at her suggestion, a dozen of us held signs on a corner on Main Street, and many passersby cheered for us. Since we live in a red county (in a blue state), we had hope that there were more people like that, even in other states. Every time someone gave us a thumbs up or a supportive honk, we felt we were giving hope to people. We rallied again in the evening, and then anticipated the results, sure that we would be celebrating. When things looked bleak, we went to bed hoping for a turnaround by morning. I woke to the nightmare.
Bathrooms Accessible in Every Situation (BABIES) Act
In News & Notes on 7 October 2016 at 8:00 pmBathrooms Accessible in Every Situation (BABIES) Act
It is crazy that we need an Act to ensure that bathrooms are accessible in every situation but let it not be said that Obama just ignored the need as so many presidents before him. Just in the nick of time too. Thanks to his timely action, the men save face and can be satisfied that it did not need to wait for a woman president to make sure that they had a place to change babies diapers in public restrooms.
Situation? Obama and Baby aren’t seeing eye to eye …or maybe one of them’s gotta GO.
Ask Amma 