Saturdays With Shivani For the past two weekends, I have been writing about self-love and jolie lade and from there my mind meandered towards compliments; something that we often find difficult to accept when they come our way. Most of us crave for appreciation but flinch when it’s directed at us. “You are looking good today.” “Oh, is it? This is an old dress; just something I grabbed in a hurry.” Every time we receive a compliment, how often do

Saturdays With Shivani I have always felt that what you seek, finds it’s way to you. Between the Universe and Google algorithms that’s taken care of. Last Saturday’s thoughts were centred around self-love and apart from chancing on similar write ups through the weekend, courtesy Google and Facebook, some other signs came my way too. My daughter’s online art class teacher introduced them to Cubism. I’ve added a wiki link for those who may be curious but to briefly describe

by, Avinash Gujral  How many names a person can be given? We, Indians, especially North Indians, are generally given two names each. One is the official name, which like a silken dress, is used very sparingly. It may be used only on official documents like testimonials, passports or Aadhaar cards, etc. The second one, the nickname or the pet name, given endearingly to everyone in childhood sticks to him/her all through life. Thus an old wrinkled lady past eighty may

Saturdays With Shivani       Just the other day I was having a conversation with friends about self-love and our need for external validation. Though our talk veered in other directions, as such conversations are wont to, this thought stayed with me. For someone who has struggled with self-love and still do, I think I am the perfect person to talk about it. What is self-love? Though the term is self-explanatory, comprehending and imbibing in real life is a daily struggle. I

Saturdays with Shivani My productivity in terms of writing has been low and to be honest restricted to the 500 odd words that I manage to write for this Saturday weekly. The past one year has been a testing one for all of us and though I have tried to stay afloat by learning new skills (art) and upgrading existing ones (cooking), writing has been on the backburner. I miss medicine and teaching, now more than ever, and often find

Saturdays With Shivani Having lived in Mumbai for almost 14 years, I had come to notice a pattern. Whenever disaster struck, and it did on a regular basis, it was Mumbaikars who would make rag tag disaster mitigation teams and reach out to each other. What is popularly called Mumbai spirit is actually the belief that if it is to be, it’s up to me. That is the mantra which sees them through the annual monsoon floods, the bomb blasts,

Saturdays With Shivani I am so angry right now that I am unable to think or talk coherently so I am trying to write instead; in the hope that my emotions will find a release. In February, India was close to the 10k mark of COVID cases per day and with a vaccine on the horizon things just seemed to be on the upswing. Barely two months later, the only upswing we can see is in the COVID numbers that

Saturdays With Shivani Early this week when the beaches opened in Hong Kong, we packed our stuff and headed there. While my daughter chased the waves and husband gazed at her from a distance, the postprandial haze took over me and I grabbed a snooze on the mat nearby. It was a small nap and a very refreshing one; my first on a crowded beach. Last year before the pandemic, I had done a similar thing in a public park.

Disclaimer – the views expressed are those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Wonder Women World. This article is not meant to be taken as medical advice – to each, her own. Ultimately, it is a personal choice and up to your discretion. Saturdays with Shivani I am getting my second jab tomorrow and I can’t wait for it. It isn’t like I would be magically set free and I can visit my family

“The toughest challenge for me was finding somewhere to be safe, to be myself,” says Nayana Udupi, my Wonder Transwoman. We take safety, dignity and respect for granted, but not Nayana, a marketing associate at ThoughtWorks, who made her transition, a few years ago. Talking to her made me realize that we’ve come a long way, yes, but have miles to go before our society is more accepting of the choices we make.   Nayana travelled far from home because she