Just Musings

Two Minutes of Fame Another controversy has blown up on our faces, this last week. An icon of the film industry decides the physical stress of preparing for his latest flick leaves him “feeling like a raped woman” and the news media and social networks go berserk. To give credit where it is due, the star, immediately knew he had put his foot in his mouth and  apologized . He even requested the journalist interviewing him not to use it. And the journalist responds with a chuckle. But of course they are going to use it. If they don’t then what happens to the TRPs? So the interview is strategically made public and the media circus starts, as the man behind it quietly boards a plane out of the country to perform at an awards ceremony. So we have everyone, from politicians and women groups to self-proclaimed political activists baying for his blood; demanding an apology. News channels go through their usual prime time news with screaming headlines and discussions. Experts...

“Mirror…Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” The witch asks her magical mirror and the magical mirror shows her Snow White, the beautiful princess said to have fair skin. We have all heard this fairy tale through our childhood and retell this to our girls, somehow ingraining in them that a fair skin is equivalent to beauty. Dusky or dark skin equals ugly. Sometimes our obsession with fair skin goes beyond sanity; driving girls to use products that may not necessarily lighten your tan but lead to serious health issues. Cosmetic giants cash in on this madness and advertise their products, promising lighter, fairer skin and young girls in their quest to look more beautiful fall for it. Celebrities are only too happy to be paid huge sums to be the face of these products. It matters little to them that they can influence so many and that they may be misleading them.  A recent advertisement for one such product shows a young girl so obsessed with not getting...