There was a time, not long ago, when the biggest FMCG, Hindustan Lever/Unilever did not think twice on selling the “fairness” cream in India, as it would help girls in marriage. Our matrimonials were a sign of the times – they still are – they all wanted a convented, smart, gori girl. Sometimes, when they advertised for a working girl, they did not forget to add ‘homely’. There was a growing criticism of promoting fairness as the only idea of beauty. The company was operating all over the world, and they were quick to admit their mistake. Later, with the spread of education, and girls entering job markets, ‘Fair & Lovely’ cream was renamed as ‘Glow & Lovely’ cream.
The narrative and the video changed to a smart, confident girl walking in an interview board with confidence in a western formal dress, who impresses all, not because of her fair looks, but her confident presentation. Recently some conversation was going on about the way women’s body is presented in South Indian films. Some important actor and film-makers admitted that perhaps they had gone overboard, and they needed to show some responsibility. Some of the women presented in this manner were A-listers, who were not subject to exploitation. Greed could be the only reason for their willingness to appear in such scenes.READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Old Bollywood was our nursery for Urdu. Where else could you get Tamaam gawaahon ke bayanat and memberaan-e-jury ki sifaarish ke maddenazar? There were always fasadat, khayalat in our films. In between there were some exceptions like Khayalon mein kisi ke is tarah aaya nahin karte. But soon it was back to Ye meri khwahish ye khayalat kise pesh karun.
I have been forced into temporary inactivity. During such periods I can do nothing but contemplate on some issues. I find thinking about Iran-US-Israel War, the Middle East crisis quite mind boggling, so I reflect on simple things like the Hindi film songs. Of late, my mind has been reflecting on the pairs, Aaiye & Chale aaiye; Jaaiye & Chale jaaiye. Is there a difference or are they the same? It seems there is indeed a difference in the connotation of Aaiye and Chale aaiye and Jaaiye and Chale jaiye. It appears to me that the addition of the adverb adds an extra degree of pleading. Look at these pairs:
DP Rangan has set romance in the air with his “Love is Bliss”. This is the season when the dullest person starts feeling desirous. I remember a folk proverb, “Phagun mein budhwa devar laage”. In the context of Hindi films, it generally refers to the romance for a person. I have explored romances for various types: Romancing the pardesi balma; Romancing the stranger, Romancing the beimaan balma, Romancing the anaadi balma. and so on. But the romance can be for inanimate objects also. The news and social media are full of pictures of hordes of tourists descending upon Japan to watch its cherry blossoms. Northern Lights are eternal favourites. There are people crazy for Stonehenge and Machu Picchu. Apart from resources and time, one has to have a wanderlust. Some may feel, it is quite discordant to talk about romance in the midst of the raging Epic Fury in the Middle East, और भी ग़म हैं ज़माने में मोहब्बत के सिवा, but the life has to move on.
My last post was also on alankars; that was the jewellery women wear on different parts of their body. The language also needs alankars to beautify it. Without figures of speech a language would be quite bland. A British writer Nate White’s article, “Why do some British people not like Trump” went viral sometime back. It was not because of his xenophobic, bigoted, racist policies, nor his incoherent rantings, it was because he was crass in language, he didn’t show any wit, any wry humour, never said anything amusing or remotely funny – in short he was devoid of any figure of speech. They are integral to our everyday usage and we use many figures of speech without any conscious effort. In fact the two meanings of ‘alankar’ themselves constitute a figure of speech called ‘Yamak’ – that is, the same word is mentioned more than once in a text, each having a different meaning.
Last year around the time I wrote about the subtleties of female bonding on the International Women’s Day, a momentous event called “Pre-Wedding” was taking place at Jamnagar. It filled me with pride, as I am sure it would have many Indians, that at the bash hosted by an Indian tycoon the world’s top multi-billionaires and celebrities were landing up in their private jets at the Jamnagar ‘International’ Airport and dancing to his tunes, dressing up for multifarious events as per the given chart, and serving food to the guests with beaming smiles displacing the liveried waiters. Mark Zuckerberg for the first time in his life gave up his trademark T – the style statement of a Silicon Valley nerd – and ‘dressed up’ for the occasion. We also knew that some ladies were wearing on their person the GDP of some middle-sized countries.
In my series of articles on 
Thanks to several TV serials, Amar Chitra Katha mythology comics, and other sources everyone knows Lord Krishna story by heart. The cruel King Kans marries off his dear sister Devki to his close friend Vasudev (वसुदेव), and decides to drive them in his chariot himself to her marital home, when he hears a prophecy from the sky, You fool! The eighth child of this couple would be the cause of your death. An enraged Kans takes out his sword to slay them when his sister Devki pleads with him, Brother! you need fear only the eighth child. Pregnancy cannot be hidden, just take away the eighth child, and please spare our lives. A worried Kans puts them in prison anyway under his guards. And not taking any chance that the eighth child may decide to be born randomly, kills each newborn by smashing its head on stone block.