Book Review: The Girls of Atomic City

I picked up this book quite by accident; was browsing through Goodreads and came across this title. The book highlights the role women played in helping to end World War II; it is a story of a township set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, where the workers did not know the true nature of their tasks till the end of the war. The name of the book is a giveaway and I would not want to include any spoilers in this review.

The premise of the book is quite interesting; while most men were away at war (World War II), the book brings forth the untold story of the women – most of them working as chemists, laboratory assistants, administration executives, secretaries, etc. who played quite an important role. These women were recruited from all across USA, made to work in a new town which was supposed to be a temporary arrangement but which ended up becoming permanent, and basically sworn to secrecy about the work they were doing there.

Most of these women were quite young and fresh out of college who were quite excited at this prospect since the pay was good and they were hoping that the war would end since most of them had family members aware at war. This motivation was quite essential for them since the living conditions at Oak Ridge were not exactly ideal. They still made the best of their situation and many of them went to marry on their colleagues and settled down with their families there.

The author Denise Kiernan has done a lot of research for writing this book, including interviews with some of the women, who are in their 80s and 90s currently, who worked on the project. She is able to bring out the detailed lives of the women at Oak Ridge, including their work schedules, their homes, their socializing and the lack of avenues for doing that, the tribulations that they had to undergo owing to the secrecy, etc. It is quite shocking to read some of the things that we take for granted at our workplace – exchanging gossip about work, for instance – was absolutely not an option for these women. They could also never know whether or not to trust somebody for they never knew what would get reported back to the authorities.

The book also intersperses the chemical details of the project in between the personal lives of the women including the contribution of German scientists, primary of who were women as well. This was a real eye-opener for me to read about how the women’s role was sidelined and the men took the credit for all of it.

Some parts of the book do feel like repetition which could have been avoided by better editing. And there are some grammatical errors as well. However, all in all, I enjoyed reading the book and going behind the scenes of that one huge, secretive project that changed the world, as it existed before then, forever.

Happy Mother's Day: Famous Mothers in Bollywood

As most of the world celebrates Mother's Day tomorrow, it is perhaps opportune that I pen down some of my favourite mothers from Bollywood :) When I think of Bollywood mothers, I think of 'aloo ke paranthe' & 'gajar ka halwa'. And the most famous line ever to have been uttered mentioning a mother - 'Mere paas maa hain'.

Reema Lagoo:
Reema Lagoo for our generation is probably what Nirupa Roy was for the previous generation :) I mean, she has been playing mother since forever; she probably played mother for the first time to Juhi Chawla in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and has never looked back since then. From Aashiqui to Vaastav and from Hum Saath Saath Hain to Kal Ho Naa Ho. She has played Salman Khan's mother the maximum number of times. The only thing probably remaining for her now is to play Aamir Khan's mother as well :) My favourite role of hers is in Maine Pyaar Kiya & Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.

Farida Jalal:
Farida Jalal is to Shah Rukh Khan what Reema Lagoo is to Salman Khan; it's as if she has to play a mother in SRK's movies be it Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hain or Kuch Kuch Hota Hain (in which she played SRK's mother while Reema played Kajol's who is engaged to Salman - gotta love Bollywood :)) My favourite role of hers is, of course, in KKHH where she laments that since she doesn't have a daughter-in-law, she cannot exchange gossip with her other friends and accompanies her grand-daughter on a summer camp to ensure her son gets married a second time.

Jaya Bachchan:
True, Jaya Bachchan has not played a mother in as many movies as the first two but I especially enjoyed her role in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham where she played mother to SRK & Hrithik. She also played mother to Preity Zinta in Kal Ho Naa Ho (in which Reema played SRK's mother - told you Reema is the omnipotent mother :))

Dina Pathak, Ratna Pathak Shah & Supriya Pathak:

This mother-daughters trio may not have played mothers in many movies but they appear in my list solely based on that one movie which has struck a chord with me:

Dina - Golmaal (1979) - As Mrs. Srivastava who played Amol Palekar's fake mother & her twin sister as well, she was hilarious in the movie. The way she matched Utpal Dutt's acting prowess in the movie is worth appreciating. Her contribution to Golmaal's popularity cannot be under-estimated.

Ratna - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008) - As the mother who wanted to protect her only son from his fate as determined by her in-laws' family, Ratna Pathak Shah really stood out in this movie. She was as mad as the role demanded her to be and friendly with her son at the same time.

Supriya - Wake Up Sid (2009) - As the mother of a spoiled brat who didn't respect his parents or want to spend any time with them, I felt Supriya Pathak did a fabulous role. She wanted to learn English so that she could be friends with her only son & was willing to let her son remain with a strange woman so that he could remain happy.

Happy Mother's Day: Famous Mothers In Literature

As most of the world celebrates Mother's Day tomorrow (second Sunday in May), I thought it worthwhile to pen down some of the famous mothers from my favourite novels  :)

Mrs. Bennet - Pride & Prejudice (1813)
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen remains one of my favourite novels till date. And, I would like to believe that, in addition to Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Bennet (Elizabeth's mother) is partially responsible for the popularity. She is like any other mother, more specifically, Indian mother, whose sole aim in life is to get her daughters married off to wealthy men. She does not like the jokes/witty comments her husband Mr. Bennet makes especially when it comes to pairing off her daughters with suitable men.

Mrs. Rupa Mehra - A Suitable Boy (1993)
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth remains one of the longest novels ever published at ~ 1,400 pages. Mrs. Rupa Mehra is portrayed to be a typical Indian mother interested in marrying off her youngest daughter to 'a suitable boy'. Mrs. Mehra is often nagging & resorts to emotional blackmail throughout the novel to get people to do what she wants them to. At heart, however, she only wants the best for everybody.

In that respect, both Mrs. Bennet & Mrs. Mehra seem to be similar - both wanting the best for their children and nagging them towards it. I wonder sometimes if Vikram Seth modeled the latter on the former but in an Indian context :)

Mrs. Margaret March - Little Women (1868)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott remains another of my favourite novels. And the mother Mrs. March is an epitome of goodness - always wanting to help out others in need, sometimes at the cost of her own family; trusting her daughters' sense over that which society demands; being a good moral example to all those at home.

Which are your favourite mothers in literature? Leave a comment and let me know.

I would like to end with this quote by Erma Bombeck (which is so apt and so very true): When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.

Book Review: Legacy - Letters from eminent parents to their daughters by Sudha Menon

 
This is one of the most unique books I have ever read. Why? Because it is a compilation of letters written by eminent [read: businessmen & industrialists primarily] parents to their daughters. The book was released in 2013; at an opportune time perhaps for India which is currently grappling with how to protect its daughters. And it is fascinating to realize that, in this day and age of e-mails and watsapp messages, these individuals have actually taken time out of their busy schedule to write these letters.

The book's blurb reads: "They say a daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. In Legacy, noted journalist and author Sudha Menon brings forth a rare collection of personal and evocative letters from parents to their daughters. Through their fearless approach to life, love, and overcoming obstacles, these icons from the world of business, arts, films, food, and sports share with us their experience and wisdom as they pass them on to their daughters. Deeply moving and thought provoking, Legacy is a remarkable collection of life lessons that will delight and inspire at the same time."

The book features letters written by 18 persons - Ajay Piramal, Amit Chandra, Capt. Gopinath, Chanda Kochhar, Deep Anand, Ganesh Natarajan, Jatin Das, Kishore Biyani, K.V. Kamath, Mallika Sarabhai, Narayana Murthy, Pradeep Bhargava, Prakash Padukone, P.P. Chhabria, Renuka Ramnath, Sanjeev Kapoor, Shaheen Mistri and Zia Mody.

Most of the letters have common themes running through them - the virtues of following certain values such as compassion and gratitude, the belief in a higher force, the willingness to give back to society and to live one's life only by one's passion.

I enjoyed reading the letters written by the mothers more, maybe because they did not expect their daughters to take a backseat in their careers for the sake of the family or to sacrifice for the family. That was the most disappointing part for me. These men who are leaders in their individual capacities and head such big organizations have such limited and traditional thinking even in these times! And if they expect their daughters to take a backseat, how can we ever expect them to be empathetic to the problems of women employees in their companies?

Sample Ajay Piramal's advice to his daughter Nandini: "But let me caution you that if a marriage has to succeed, you will have to sacrifice more than your husband." K.V. Kamath's letter is confusing. At one place he says, "Often in the world, women who are homemakers are not given the same place in society that a working woman is given." At another, however, "Your mother has a strong mind of her own but she has chosen to take on a supportive role in our family." Narayana Murthy tells his daughter: "The world admires a woman who brings a sense of balance to all the three responsibilities - being a loving wife, a caring mother and a competent career woman."

In contrast, the letters written by Renuka and Zia stood out. Renuka tells her daughter Ramya that it is important for her not to forget and give up her identity and to never stop living short of her own full potential. Zia exhorts her three daughters to live their lives with dignity and self-respect; she also highlights why it is important for women to have careers of their own - both to fulfill their intellectual needs and to keep them financially independent.

Almost all these leaders have had humble beginnings which led them to appreciate the value of hard work and money. Most of them are grateful to their parents for imbibing in them values and traits which have helped them become what they are today.

The book also has interesting little tidbits which are revealed through the individual letters. For instance, when Renuka joined VJTI in 1978, she was only the 4th girl in the institute's 99-year-old history. Nandita Das' father Jatin owns over 6,500 pankhas (fans) and is on the way to setting up a dedicated fan museum in Delhi.

The unseen and candid photographs of some of the parents with their daughters at the end of the book is a nice touch.

Trivia: Of the 25 daughters referred to in the book, the names of 13 (50%) being with 'A' :)

I enjoyed reading the book because it gave me a deeper understanding of the background of each individual and made me appreciate them more. Often what we read in the media is only the surface; through this book, Sudha has been able to scratch beneath the surface. There were so many things which I did not know about most of the parents; these came out in the letters they wrote.

Maybe, Sudha could have ended with a letter to her daughter Nayantara :) And, I hope, she's planning Part II because I already have a wishlist of people whom I want to see writing to their daughters - Anand Mahindra, Adi Godrej, Manmohan Shetty, Shiv Nadar, Nandan Nilekani, Gulzar, Amitabh Bachchan, Aditya Puri, Anu Aga, Pritish Nandy, Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla - to name a few!!!

Go read Legacy - it is one of those books which will give you a glimpse into the personal lives of these leaders in their own words - what drives them on a daily basis and what are their hopes and aspirations for their daughters. It is a no-holds barred account for which Sudha must definitely be applauded.

Book Review: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

This is a very unique book in the sense that most of its contents were already known to the world much before its publication. The protagonist and author of the book – Malala – was shot by the Taliban in Oct-2012. Barely a year later, Malala was speaking at the UN and was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize at the tender age of 16.

The book’s blurb reads: “I come from a country which was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday. When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, she was not expected to survive. Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, and of Malala parents’ fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons. It will make you believe in the power of one person’s voice to inspire change in the world. ‘Who is Malala’? the gunman demanded. I am Malala and this is my story.”

The book is a very brave and uninhibited narrative of Malala’s fight for education and why she was targeted by the Taliban. In it, Malala paints a very vivid picture of the Swat Valley; its lakes and mountains; its lovely orchards. Though Pakistan has always been troubled by terrorism in one form or the other, the Swat Valley was largely peaceful.

She had a very normal life growing up like any other youngster. Malala reveals that she is fond of Justin Bieber and watching the Twilight movies with her friends. She likes reading books of Leo Tolstoy and Jane Austen. She loved going on school picnics and enjoying the delicious picnic lunch.

However, her routine life changed when the Taliban entered the valley. Malala takes us through a terrifying account of how slowly and gradually their life took a turn the worse. They could no longer go shopping at the bazaars as they used to; women could not be seen out in the open without a male relative accompanying them; sources of entertainment such as DVDs and TV channels were destroyed.

Amidst all this, Malala had always been a vocal and active supporter of girls’ education. She never missed a chance at any public forum to drive home the importance of educating girls and the folly of discontinuing the same. Naturally, this enraged the Taliban who had by then also started destroying schools.

The book has a very Anne Frank-like feel to it; Anne, too, was caught in the crossfire of war and had to discontinue her routine life. Throughout the book, Malala’s courage and sheer determination shine through. And credit should also be given to her parents – her dad who was the founder of several schools and a strong believer in girls’ education and her mother, who though uneducated herself, never barred Malala from going to school or speaking her mind.

After she was shot, while the whole world thought she would die, Malala fought back bravely at a hospital in UK, without her family [who joined her later] to recover fully. Once recovered, she continues to fight for the cause of education, this time, on a much larger and global scale.

What affected me the most while reading the book was Malala’s response to the whole thing. Once threatened, she could easily have been cowed down and decided to toe the line. She was, after all, a normal teenager like any of us. Nothing in her past suggested her future would turn out the way it did. But, she chose to retaliate; she chose to question and she chose to refuse. While doing so, she inspired millions around the world. While reminding us that she still is a teenager. Recuperating in the hospital, she thinks, on seeing Angelina Jolie’s message to her, how she must inform her friends about it.

Malala’s story is a story of courage; it is a story of hope; and it is a story of how the willpower of a single girl living in a remote village can have global and far-reaching consequences. Read the book to get inspired; read it to get depressed and saddened. But, above all, read it to realize how each one of us has an innate power to rebel against the evil forces. It is only when we decide to tap into that power that we can work wonders.

Festivals & Street Harassment

My September-2013 post for the Stop Street Harassment Blog is now up at:

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/2013/09/india-festivals/

It speaks about the harassment faced by women during various festivals celebrated in Mumbai.

Public Transport, Private Harassment

My August-2013 blogpost for Stop Street Harassment is now online at http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/2013/08/mumbaitransport/.

I have written about the various forms of street harassment women face while travelling by the different modes of public transport.

Arunachalam Muruganantham's Search For Meaning

Listening to Arunachalam Muruganantham narrate his story on how he set about to produce sanitary napkins at a cheaper cost (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1iWhljEbTE) made me realize what a great man he is. He effectively killed two birds with one stone – he found a solution for women to better deal with menstruation at a cheaper cost and also provided them gainful employment in the process. In India, as in some nations across the world, menstruation continues to be a taboo topic; women do not discuss it openly and men blissfully turn a deaf ear to it. While only 5% of the women in India use sanitary napkins, the rest resort to rags, saw dust and even ashes. Needless to say, the latter bring with it a host of health problems.

My thoughts on the ‘Big Issue’ have been presented using each letter of Arunachalam’s name:

Awareness:

Arunachalam came across this idea when he saw his wife gather rags one day. When asked why she did not use sanitary napkins, the wife put forth the cost angle. This led Arunachalam to ponder over the problem faced by hundreds of women which have to deal with this in such a fashion.

Responsiveness:

Once he became aware, Arunachalam did not sit quiet like most men would have. Instead, he decided to go to the root cause of the problem and decide what could be done about it. He knew fully well that he was entering into a taboo territory.

Unusual:

What Arunachalam thought next was quite unusual. He decided to manufacture low-cost sanitary napkins himself. This would ensure that women start using the napkins and eliminate the health problems faced by them.

Need-based:

The solution designed by Arunachalam to the problem was need-based. He would develop a low-cost napkin which women would be willing to use as against the high-cost one which they did not.

Abandoned:

Needless to say, considering Arunachalam was openly discussing a taboo topic, his family and friends abandoned him. He was ostracized from his village for his endeavours. People thought that he has gone mad or spirits have entered his body.

Challenges:

Arunachalam also had to face challenges in the form of volunteers needed to test the product. Women were unwilling to discuss their menstruation problems with a complete stranger. But he did not let these deter him.

Hard-working:

When he realised that he could not find volunteers, he decided to test the product himself using animal blood and a football bladder.

Acceptability:

His efforts finally paid off when he was able to develop a sanitary napkin on a machine he built himself.

Low-cost:

The best part about these napkins was that these were manufactured at less than a third of those sold by MNCs. Also, these were being manufactured at local level by women who gained employment resulting in a win-win situation.

Awards:

Arunachalam’s efforts bore fruit and he received the 2009 Best Innovation Award from the Indian President Smt. Pratibha Patil. Earlier, in 2006, his machine also won the award for the best innovation for the betterment of society from IIT, Chennai.

Meaningful:

Thus designing a solution to an all-pervasive problem led to Arunachalam’s life becoming more meaningful. As he states at the end of his talk, “What do you need to make your life meaningful? You need a problem.”

His story needs to be shared far and wide for many reasons. Firstly, he is an entrepreneur with a difference. He saw an opportunity to innovate in a field as taboo as menstruation. Secondly, when he started, he knew he would be competing against the big MNCs such as P&G and Johnson & Johnson. That, however, did not deter him. Thirdly, even when his wife and his mother left him and he had to leave his village, he did not let go of his passion and continued to put in efforts. Fourthly, he has no qualms about admitting that he is not so well educated nor fluent in English. In fact, he uses his ability to make jokes on himself brilliantly to put across his views.

I have personally experienced the anecdote narrated by Arunachalam: of a chemist wrapping the packet of sanitary napkins in a newspaper. It is indeed sad to think that while India continues to make great progress in almost every other field with women contributing an equal share, a natural thing like menstruation continues to be taboo. I hope the innovation by Arunachalam, in addition to enabling rural and other women to start using sanitary napkins, also encourages discussions on menstruation amongst all sections of society in a healthy fashion.

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.