Thoughts

The plot line of Lipstick Under My Burkha (directed by Alankrita Shrivastava) revolves around 4 women, each from a different age group and each leading very different lives. A mother of 3 children, left alone to fend for herself; a widowed woman who attends Satsangs; a 20 something year old ambitious woman finding her place in society; and a college girl trying to find her own identity in an oppressed environment. Each one of these characters are first introduced as very “desi” women, from different backgrounds living in a small town, full of dreams. However, through the course of the movie, we...

Have you ever looked at a weight loss advert which says “love yourself #bodypositivity” and thought to yourself “of course it’s easy to love yourself when you fit into an ideal, how does this help me accept my weight? Should I also start exercising so I can look good and feel good?”Mainstream body positivity argues that we must rebel against unrealistic beauty standards and objectification by loving our bodies. Although widely popular and even beneficial to many, this approach fails to create a pathway from seeing certain body shapes as flaws to absolutely loving them. This might lead to a...

Let’s say it out loud already, 2020 was hard! Our phones kept pinging with anxiety inducing news, it would not end and it just seemed to go downhill from there on. We were always on high alert, our bodies always in a fight, flight or freeze response. And what’s worse? We still cannot say with certainty what comes in 2021. Does it get better or worse?But while we might keep going down that road that stresses us out and makes us anxious repeatedly – let’s look at another winding road, with lots of ups and downs but an important road...

“The relationship ended before it could start” seems to be the common thread among the locked down love stories in therapy. The pandemic has sent a lot of hopeful romantics finding love on the internet, while some have been lucky – the others are still in search of their “other half”. Even though we are confined to our homes we have all tried to connect with others using technology. The need for connection and forming relationships is testimony that man cannot, rather, not want to live on an island by themselves. Forming healthy relationships are crucial because they give us a...

It was 6 months, 2 weeks and 3 days and it still hurt. For her, the pain felt deeper. Falling asleep felt like a curse, he plagued her mind even in her dreams. The conversations, messages, and eventually the break-up were memories she relived every day. She wanted a pill, like in Homecoming (the Netflix show), that would help her forget everything! In therapy, she would often ask for such a pill.Clients often ask for quick fixes to “get rid of the pain” of a break-up. It is unbearable and often leaves us with a sense of hollowness. Some of...