Ritika Ruminates

Image Source- The Business Standard A few days ago, post the boxing game in Paris Olympics 2024, Imane Khelif was on the receiving side of ugly misogyny and transphobia over her masculine looks and testosterone levels in her body. After her opponent, Angela Carini abandoned the bout 46 secs into the fight, claiming she never has been hit so hard before by a female boxer. This led netizens across the globe to be divided in opinions, where the one half mercilessly trolled her and baselessly accused her of being a man. Imane Khelif has been raised as a woman in a country which is not supportive of LGBTQ+ community (unfortunately). Algeria do not allow sex change surgery, so no ways she is a man and would have been sent by Algeria in the Olympics.  Now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA) cited she has high testosterone level and that she has XY chromosomes (science went into the dustbin), in non-specified and non-transparent eligibility tests. There has been a rift between IO...

Image Source- BookMyShow Last week, I watched the movie Maidaan in theatre. No doubt, it was entertaining, with heartbeat fluctutaing every few seconds during match scenes (much like a good game of football). Unfortunately, the movie tanked at box office as of now, despite its good content and overall acting.  Afterwards, while ruminating on it, I realized the right timing when the movie got launched in theatres. Initial part of the movie had the Indian football team struggling badly, and even in midst of the movie, where people did not have any faith in the team to win. This is the exact scenario currently with our Indian football team as well, where we are mostly on a losing streak and suffering badly. This one year is not going really well for our country. The team, coach and AIFF is facing backlash for losing against Afghanistan as well, a country that is under the rule of Taliban and isn't doing well in socio-political realm. Some of the football fans are demanding resignation...

Image Source - Medium Recently, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director of the 'Animal,' gave a statement that if one can't slap, kiss or use cuss words towards their partner whenever one wants to, it is not love, that is he "doesn't see emotions there." It is uncertain whether it was his personal beliefs or he said it for negative publicity, but going by his past movies, I'd say he really means it. This brings us to the question - is love supposed to be unconditional? Does there not exist boundaries in love, especially for people with a mindset similar to this director? I don't believe that love can be unconditional, surely not between friends or a couple. Some say a mother's love for her child is unconditional, maybe. But don't these mothers (let us include fathers too) expect respectful behaviour from their kids once they are old enough to understand mannerisms? Respect is the foundation of love of any kind. If you don't respect them, you can'...

Image Source - dr. tc north Recently, N. R. Narayana Murthy requested/suggested that youngsters should work for 70hrs a week. Undoubtedly, this las led to debate among the citizens who favours the statement and also contending against it. Hustle culture is already on rise and this adds fuel to the fire, glorifying burn-out. Viewing this statement in respect to working professionally for a company, especially a job, has a lot of side effects. New lifestyle in urban areas and top-tier cities has already disposed younger population to various health concerns, and working for so long would only accelerate the possibilities of it. No doubt why people in their 30s and 40s are suffering cardiac arrest and pass away at such a young age. Diabetes, PCOS, stroke and other cardiac problems are on the rise too. Burn out is a badge of honour and taking rest is looked down upon in workaholic culture. This leads to extreme exhaustion and fatigue. Many won't be left to replenish themselves with hea...

Disclaimer- This post is a product of random thoughts and my opinion and not backed by any research. The books and movies/series are mentioned only for examples and I have no intention of condemning them. Image Source - IMDb With the humongous collection of books and movies & series, it's evident that similar narratives will be observed and followed in many books, especially contemporary works. While some may be looked down upon, many other tropes are even admired and recommended.  Tropes here refers to elements in a story or relationship dyamics which is similar in many works of fiction across different authors and screenwriters. Example of tropes include grumpy × sunshine , fake dating,   enemies to lovers,   friends to lovers , marriage of convenience , ex-lovers runiting after long time etc. As a reader & viwer of mostly comedy and romantic genre, I can only mention similar narratives found in these genres. Here are examples of other tropes from various genr...

Image source - India Map With the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) President BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh being accused of sexual harassment and how protesting wrestlers were treated, it raises the question of how politicians being the Presidents and higher authority can lead to sporting disasters in our country. Not only was it heartbreaking, but it was an international humiliation of how our wrestlers were treated. The same goes for many other sports governing bodies. Either players and staff are not treated properly or there is corruption and no growth in the sport at any level. Though Presidents and higher administrative of a few other governing bodies like the All India Football Federation (AIFF), BCCI, and Hockey India are former national level players, WFI's President had no sporting history.  With pure political background, with as many as 38 criminal cases filed against him, it's questioning why he was even put in the head administrative position? Though p...

  Image source- India Weekly This picture is all over the internet, as a cartoon depicting India's population overtaking China's. Receiving a severe backlash from Indian citizens and politicians, it has been termed 'racist'. Compared to China, it may be racist but it depicts the reality too. India is still a developing country, and many of its population fail to get access to basic resources for survival. Many still struggle for shelter, food, clothing and a hygienic environment (washrooms and menstrual products for women). Resources in India fall short to satisfy the basic needs of the country's population.  Of course, a part of the Chinese population also lives in poverty and cannot access basic resources for survival. But being developed, and what is feared, a soon-to-be superpower, the majority of its population gets access to the basic resources. Even though they cannot speak anything against their government. Their earlier one-child policy had reduced the youn...

Image Source - ispr Solutions Ltd “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education”. Martin Luther King Jr. Education is one of the basic rights of an individual. It helps an individual gain information, which they can use to critically think about, form their opinions and apply what they are taught. But the Indian education system has been relentlessly criticized for failing to do so.  In the present professional world where skills sell, the Indian education system had failed to equip its students with the skills required in a professional field. So when students pass out from their college with degrees in their hands, they still find themselves unemployable. This has led to individuals trying to gain as many skills as possible from additional courses and workshops provided by various credible sources, both in real life and online. All this led to the introduction of the Nation...

Image Source- ArtStation We all want our lives to be immortal. The idea of forever interests us. Though human life itself is not immortal, the memories and legacy we live behind have the potential to be  immortal and remembered by upcoming generations. The elixir of life, as per the dictionary, means a preparation  supposedly able to prolong life indefinitely. Though I would like  to describe the elixir of life in the ways we can live a fulfilled  life, or one’s dream life, and leave a bundle of happy memories  behind for the people to remember us by. Basic life needs, like food, water, shelter and clothing are necessary to sustain life. Though human lives are mortal,  we are bound to die. But our work and how we treat people  have the potential to be immortal.  Staying healthy is important so that your daily life activities are  not affected by any health concerns. To do anything great in  life, you first need to be healthy,...

Image source- HR Katha Being apolitical seems to have become a trend. To not care about politics is seen as cool. Youths, though highly opinionated, kind of refrain from politics. This apolitical nature is even more observed among the youth of Mumbai. Though politics and political affairs affect people directly or indirectly, how can Mumbai youth afford to be more apolitical than youths from other parts of India? Disclaimer- This is based upon my observations, and hearing/being part of conversations between youths in Mumbai. The Mumbai youth referred to in this blog post are educated and mostly from middle-class or affluent families, which would not be drastically affected by politics and not are heavily influenced by others (privileged). This blog post does not target any politician or political party in particular and is referred to in general political scenario of India. These are just my observations and shouldn't be taken as gospel truth😅. In India, a lot of politics works on...

Image source- Olympics India recently hosted FIFA U7 Women's World Cup, which Spain won defeating Columbia and Nigeria being placed third. Unfortunately, Team India lost all 3 scheduled matches in the tournament. Though the players represent all of India, we cannot blame them. In India, cricket is treated like God while other sports and players are often neglected. Most of the money, promotions and sponsorships still go to cricket tournaments and players, be it from government or private firms. People got to know about Neeraj Chopra only after he won a medal for India at the Olympics (including me). Due to no promotions or media interviews before his win at the Olympics, hardly a few people knew.  Coming back to football, what we could have done to improve our games and chances of winning some matches? Or as the past cannot be changed, what changes we can bring for improving the games in future tournaments, for all gender, ages and physically challenged teams at the national and cl...

Image source - India Today  With what recently took place in Iran- beating a woman named Mahsa Amini to death for "inappropriately wearing the hijab", it yet again brings the grave issue of inability to practice basic freedoms and the morality police into picture. This incident was followed by the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi refusing to get interviewed (outside Iran) at the last minute because the journalist/interviewer declined his condition for her wearing a hijab/headscraf, which his aide described as "matter of respect" and as it was the holy month of Muharram and Safar.  This enforces the morality police that people often impose on others, women often being the primary victims. "Dress like this..", "Sit like this..." and "Don't laugh loud.." is xxxjust some of the examples of moral policing women face in daily life. Unlike Mahsa's case, morality police may not take someone's life, but it is often subtle...

Image Source - Vox Cancel culture, a term thats getting quite frequently implemented upon this days.  Be it a new book or authors, blogs, movie/series or part of it, stand-up comedy or anything form of art or expression, cancel culture always comes to show its ugly face to boycott or censor something. Even if the art or content piece is not offensive or spreading any kind of hate in any way, people get offended at slightest of things and ask for boycotts. This makes me wonder- if this continues, will this bring a end to creative careers? No professional in creative careers will want to be threatened of their or their family's safety, abuses, or threats of boycott over something that doesn't even spread hate. In season 3 of Amazon Prime's Comicstaan, during the topical comedy round, Kusha Kapila had asked standup comedian Sapan Verma that can you perform a topical comedy set without getting an FIR (filed against you) to which Sapan Verma awkwardly laughed, indicating a big n...

Image source - IG account of girl_respect_  A little ago, Ranveer Singh had shared nude pics on his Instagram, which very soon created a stir on social media. People on social media had 2 polar views- while some supported him, some went out of proportion to even file a case for this. We do not know whether Ranveer posted the nude pics to attract controversy or not, someone who is already a meme material for his unconventional clothing. Keeping the intention of creating controversy or not, this has surfaced already existing double standards when it comes to gender. Though he received support by people, which I didn't really bothered about, it exposes the hypocrisy when a girl or a woman posts half-nude or "too revealing" photos. When a women posts photos or is physically at a place like beach, in bikini or similar clothing, she is subjected to slut-shaming comments, creepy/judgemental looks, unasked advices to get changed into "more appropriate" clothing, to even...

Image source- dreamstime.com I often come across wedding videos, photos and reel where the bride and groom meet before the wedding ceremony, having fun or of posts where they say that the couple has decided to let go of certain rituals, like kanyadaan. Or changing some things like putting vermilion on men. Though the posts and reels are sweet, the comments underneath are often disheartening. Some of the comments are like -   "why don't they just have a court marriage?" "Seems like getting married only for Instagram" "Why can't they follow all the rituals when they plan to have a traditional wedding ceremony?" This cultural shifts aren't just only in traditional weddings of any religion, but even outside the religion and weddings. Like acceptance of LGBTQIA+ community and live-in relationships, even if its slow and in tier-1 cities as of now. The thing is- change is inevitable. And this inevitable changes also affects culture, be it ...

Image Source- Prega News Recently, there has been an video advertisement of Prega News going around, giving the message that the women can handle both her kid and her career at the same time. To watch that advertisement (in Hindi), click  here . Though it is true for many women out there, it is also somewhere disregarding the choice of those who do not wish to have kids or those who aren't able to manage both her kid and her career. The ad seemed to be gloryfying motherhood and guilt tripping those who don't want to go down that path for whatever reason. Ofcourse motherhood can be great, but only when you want it. If you do not want to become a mother for some time or never ever wanna become one, or if you are not sure if you would be able to manage your child and professional life together, that's just as fine. One need to be very sure if they want to become a parent or not. And especially when it comes to biological child, then there is whole another pregnancy...