The virtual lifestyle has spared none and crippled all! While it has made life simpler for most of us, there is also an increasing rate of side effects that they bring along with them. And one such harsh truth is that of going through virtual peer pressure. While peer pressure among the youth and specifically the teenage children, in the physical surroundings is always a cause of concern, parents have another reason to worry with the virtual peer pressure building around their kids.

Have you ever felt a pang of anger or a twinge of jealousy on hearing about the achievements of a girl in your social circle, or about an acquaintance’s happy married life and a beautiful family?

It is not difficult to hate someone who seems to have it all! It starts with Mean Girls-esque episodes in school, “Who wore it best” contests in college, and becomes a part of our psyche, especially in an Indian setup where everything is compared to the bajuwale Sharmaji!

I don’t know where to begin my story from. I am battling depression and I’m a wreck. I don’t think my life can be back on track anymore and I have no hopes left. Like it is said in our Bollywood movies, your head bows in front of three most important women in your life. Well, in my case, the three most important women ruined my life and now, I can’t even feel happiness at this point.

Indians are raised with some ideas ingrained in them, which although seem very trivial, the given free-rein to some cancerous ideologies, poses very much as a catalyst in moulding the sexist psyche. In fact, sexism is so internalised and ubiquitous that we mostly overlook it or give in to it. Everyday sexism begins from classroom seating arrangements to billboards and TV ads. We’re inherently a society that is taught not to question anything, from traditions and practices to career choices. And that has made it enormously hard for us to question the existing patriarchal norms. Sexism is so deeply associated with so many spheres of our lives and the society that most of the sexist notions go, if not unnoticed, ignored.

Time and again, we have spoken, read and discussed a zillion times about menstruation. Right from knowing about the menstrual cycle to menstruation hygiene tips, we have discussed it all. Moreover, we have also learnt about the using of the new revolutionary menstruation sanitary pads and how the women from our rural areas still use cloth during their periods.

Women Planet got a very special opportunity to heart to heart interview the graceful and beautiful woman who introduced “Belly Dance”, Meher Mallik. She talks about her journey, the barriers she faced and also how important it is to do what you love and what your heart says.

Everyone wants their children to be all-rounders, gifted orators, sensitive and intelligent human beings and do or become everything that can be possibly achieved! And to be fair to parents, the assumption is that a lot of sacrifices have been made, support given and/or facilities provided to make sure the expectations are fulfilled.

In India, women are considered as magicians but without a WAND! They should be perfect in every sense! Smart enough to be married off to a Man! Good looking to match an average looking Spouse! Educated and Working to be able to teach the Future kids and also earn money for the family. A good Cook to be able to feed the family and an expert in housekeeping! Pardon me if I have missed out on some of the other responsibilities a woman is entrusted on with.

The horrifying truth that our society is showing us each day, is something I had never imagined. Unnao, Kathua, Surat, Karimgunj, name any place, Rape and Dowry are the two truths that women and little girls have to deal with today.

Yes, we live in a gender biased country where people hail about gender equality in open letters, facebook statuses, articles and what not! But deep within, no one really cares about gender discrimination! No one really gives a damn about the discrimination done to you at work, because they have to continue getting their hefty pay slips each month. Well, that’s what I learnt from my bitter experience at work!

I want to ask you all, social media is a beautiful platform created to bring people closer, and since when did we reach to the lowest of derogatory, barbaric and insensitive behavior to exploit this platform?

In order to make a child strong, we try to deprive them of fancy and luxurious things so that they are prepared for the worst in their future. But depriving a child from a normal childhood is ever going to make them strong? Is normal childhood really a luxury now?

What are the things that you look for in your life partner? Openness, emotional dependency, sensitivity? I think these all things are basic. Understanding and actually believing in your partner’s dream when they themselves can’t stand by, is what truly makes my partner, my husband! He never stopped believing even when I lost all my hopes and faith in my own dreams.

You know how first loves are. Absorbing, consuming and love struck! The time when you think that this is it, you are going to get married to your first love and have a fascinating fairy tale ending that we generally read about. But now when I look back, I just realize how stupid I was.

Born in a family that tries to afford basic livelihood out of my mother’s daily wage, my mother tries to provide everything that she can. As my father passed away a few years ago, my mother is the sole bread earner for our family of three (mom, me and my little sister). As much as I respect her for that, I feel neglected.

A lot of people believe in ‘New Year, New Me’ but according to the statistics, more than 90% of people fail to fit in their ‘New Me’. New Year Resolutions are quite tricky to choose and very hard to follow. Thus, people don’t wisely choose a resolution and end up falling out of it in just a few days. Due to this people end up feeling like a failure.

What Swasthya Sevika strives to do is to look out for adolescent girls who have dropped out of schools for various reasons. It gives economic opportunities to such girls apart from helping the scarcity of manual power required in the current health system. This they do by training a staff which is called nursing assistants. It is an eight months long course which is supported by the Tech Mahindra Foundation. This helps the girls get trained and be a part of various hospitals and maternity homes.

Can you imagine Sati system still prevailing in our society? With many movements around the world, people have successfully changed many norms and customs that used to act as an instrument to oppress women. The transition of the societies have been gradual and rocky. Right from winning the voting rights to asking for a same gender marriage, societies around the world are paving their ways to a better road. But there are still a few cultures who follow their same old traditions and some of them might definitely leave you in horror and chills.