Let’s be honest — we’ve all been in a position where we have ghosted someone. Either because we wanted to avoid an unpleasant conversation or because we just couldn’t be bothered. For the uninitiated, ghosting is the act of suspending all communication with a person without any explanation.
This week on Re:Set, we explored how memes tackling mental health challenges can help you cope with your everyday struggles and remind you that you’re not alone.
Human beings have a way of holding onto stories. Be it “Romeo and Juliet” in Victorian England, or “Laila Majnu” in 7th century Arabia, or “Heer Ranjha” in pre-partition Punjab — the essence of the story remains the same, revamped and retold to suit the needs and times of each age. This tradition continues to this day, with new mediums such as novellas, films and TV shows keeping alive our beloved tales of the past.
What would you do if your parents chanced upon your sex toy?
The internet never forgets, especially when it comes to women.
No matter how progressive we may be, we still tend to drop our voices when we discuss sex in India or use metaphors to indirectly indicate body parts or sexual acts. It’s because we’re taught that sex is taboo from a young age.
Director Laxman Utekar’s latest release “Mimi” checks all the boxes for a successful small-town dramedy — Kriti Sanon’s confident protagonist, her loyal best friend (played by Sai Tamhankar), whimsical side characters (portrayed by the excellent Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Pathak) and a perfect semi-urban setting in Rajasthan. An aspiring actor, Sanon’s character in the movie decides to be a surrogate for an American couple in a bid to earn money and move to Mumbai. However, midway through the pregnancy, the couple is told that the child might be born with Down syndrome, causing them to panic and leave, abandoning Mimi with their unborn child.
‘Husband Having Sex With Wife Against Her Wishes Not Illegal, Says Bombay High Court’ read a recent headline.
“Yes, but does the workplace actually encourage women?”
Sex’s portrayal in pop culture is limited: it’s either a pleasurable activity that is equated to ecstasy or one where the woman is nervous and feels pain, but eventually enjoys it and then of course, there’s the trope of the man turning away in shame after he can’t “perform” and a woman feebly comforts him. But sex is a lot more complicated than those four-minute scenes in movies.
In 2019, a young Bollywood actress — Sara Ali Khan — made her magazine cover debut with Filmfare in a shoot that took place in the picturesque Masai Mara National Reserve. In the photo spread inside, the actor is seen donning a yellow dress and in the background, as props, are the natives of this reserve, the Masai tribesmen. Dressed in their traditional attire, the Shuka, and beaded jewelry, the tribesmen flank the actress in the images.
Like most millennials, Julia Mathieson looks to her phone for most things, including dates. Swipe left, pause, swipe right. The pause is for her to read through a potential match’s bio, looking for things that can catch her interest, and one very important factor — whether they’re vaccinated or not.
When the Indian subcontinent split into India and Pakistan in 1947, for millions the loss of land and wealth were second only to the loss of a home and community. “The division of a major South Asian nation state into two separate ones on August 15, 1947 was as much a partitioning of minds as that of geography,” Dr. Alok Sarin and Dr. Sanjeev Jain write in their book “The Psychological Impact of the Partition of India.”
“Don’t shout and cry about it,” the mother of a 9-year-old Dalit girl was reportedly told by a crematorium priest, after she found out her daughter was allegedly gang raped and murdered.
Would you work for a company that stands for different and opposing political beliefs than yours?
“When I was younger, I asked my grandpa a lot of questions. So he called me his ‘Little Osho,” Amrita Thakkar, a copywriter based in the United States, said. After her grandfather passed away in May this year — during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India — she knew she would never hear the term of endearment again. “These little things hit the hardest.”
“Ended a friendship of over 10 years because the person turned out to be against everything I believed in. Couldn’t justify supporting such vile ideas,” read a recent tweet.
In 2019, two comedians came to Srishty Ranjan’s college, a part of Delhi University for a performance. Their set was filled with jokes on reservation — affirmative action provided for people from oppressed castes by the Indian constitution. Ranjan took to social media to call out these comedians. Despite her post being shared widely, there was radio silence from the comics.
With the easing of lockdown and travel restrictions across the world, it seemingly appears that the worst of the second wave of COVID-19 is over. Reports of tourists thronging hill stations and the reemergence of vacation posts on social media are a reminder of how terribly short public memory can be. But unlike what people’s Instagram stories would have us believe, the trauma of the second wave has permanently impacted many Indians, leaving them to deal with the grief and heartbreak of losing loved ones and recovering from their own severe illnesses as the world rapidly moves on. Re:Set spoke to Himani Kulkarni, therapist and co-founder of Chaubara x Instrength, a mental health organization, on how people can cope with feelings of anger, grief and helplessness as they venture back out again.
Recently, researchers in New Zealand and the U.K. have come up with a terrifying solution to the “obesity epidemic” — a magnetic contraption installed in the mouth that locks people’s jaws shut and restricts them to a liquid-only diet. Experts studying nutrition and eating disorders have expressed their horror at this “barbaric” device but the researchers from University of Otago, New Zealand, are convinced that their latest invention will help people.
