Ritika Ruminates

Image source- GQ India Today, many teenagers and young adults prefer not to get married in the future, more common among girls. This includes me as well. Be it patriarchy, inequality, failing relationships, media's portrayal of an irrealistic 'perfect' relationship, rising divorce cases, etc. Or if they decide to get married, they prefer to choose their spouse themselves rather than depending much on arranged marriage system and neighbourhood Seema aunties. Though media does depict impossibly 'perfect' relationship, many relationship coaches have come up too and ideal couples who have had (and still having) a successful relationship/marriage and has been giving advice and tips.  Some novels do give us lessons on ideal relationships which can be followed in real life. This also sets our standards up so that we do not settle for anything less than we deserve. Some basic expectations, some advises and some tips to make a relationship work. But often, we would be teased...

Image source- Beerbiceps The reading habit in people is slowly going away. They miss out on so much. Either they were into reading and stopped due to some reason, or never into it. 1-1½-year-old babies nowadays have their hands on smartphones and games first rather than books.  Either you want to start reading or resume your reading habit, and maybe you have a kid and make them read as well, here are some suggestions. Many people rather would plunk into a sofa, binge watch movies/series all day (no judgements) and say they don't have time to read.  Unasked pro tip (if you don't wanna get a look of disgust, annoyance and judgement)- Never ever say that book's movie adaptation is better than the book in front of a book lover. Just never. Period. Image source- thebookoholics For yourself:- Start small - Start slowly. Maybe just read a chapter a day (if it is not too long). Maybe start with around 15-20 pages a day. Or set aside 20mins for reading daily....

Image source: Revel and Riot While I was talking to my family, Ayushmann and Jitendra's 'Shubh Mangal Zyaada Savdhaan' topic came up and one of my parents called it (the film as well as homosexuality) baseless. The film made to educate the public about homosexuality itself was called baseless. This is the unfortunate truth of the majority of the Indian population. It is unfortunate that its 2021 and we still have homophobia and biphobia in our country. Though these phobias exist all around the world, it exists more in India and countries like India where there is no sex education that isn't inclusive of LGBTQ+. The Bollywood movies (except SNMZ) stereotype gays as someone who wears 'girly' clothes, apply make-up, and all. It might be true for some, but not all. The character of Karan Mehra from Made In Heaven has also depicted character of a gay without the general stereotypes. Phobias like this stem from a lack of knowledge about unknown things. Homosexuality...

Image source- Times Of India Woman. A ever-strong species. A homo sapien who is complete by herself. Words fall short to describe it. On this woman's day, here is my message to all the girls and ladies. Be yourself. Live your life your way. Take your own decisions which makes you happy and take responsibility of it too. Be carefree of the society's judgements. The person who will be with you always is you. So give yourself loads of self-love.  Do not take any decision under force. Wear (or not) whatever you wish to, be financially independent or a home-maker (just let the groom know before getting married, if you CHOOSE to marry), with make-up or without make-up, being a virgin till marriage or not, to choose to be a mother or not, carrying the pregnancy till term or aborting it (as long as it isn't gender biased), travelling the world or cozing out at home, and so many other things! Do not let societal and familial expectations rule your life. You have the powe...

Place: Nagaon beach Clicked by: Ritz (myself) Online classes have turned out to be boring. Though having our own 'pawri ho rahi hai' moment by turning off the camera and mic and sleeping, I (and all of us) needed a real break. So for the beach bum I am, Alibaug seemed the right option. So here I was, along with my cousins (family get-together), for a vacation. The morning ferry ride from Gateway of India to Mandwa jetty promises to give you Insta worthy photos (as long as you have good photography skills😅). Place: On the ferry ride near Mumbai Clicked by: Ritz (myself) Place: On the ferry ride Clicked by: Aastha Jakhotiya (my sister) If you are a bird lover, you can also give chips and biscuits to the birds near the Gateway of India on your ferry ride.  Touching down at Alibaug after the 1-1½hr ferry ride, you can either check-in into your hotel/rented villa or head straight for the beach. We opted for a magic ride (vehicle in Alibaug that looks like au...