Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Mid-Week Reads: Work, Education, Appearance

Appearance


Loved this post (hat tip: Aishwarya) because it's kind of along the lines of my own outlook towards clothes. I love clothes, don't get me wrong, but unbrushed hair, frayed shorts and faded t-shirts are my uniform, especially as I work from home as much or more than from office. But I do have a beautiful purple top.  

Work

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Reactions to the Tata Sky Ad Campaign

No, Agency FAQs, the Tata Sky ad doesn't encourage people to "ask questions", it encourages customers to ask for offers. And no, it's not quite the same thing. Encourage customers to ask for details is another thing; implying that you might not know what discounts or offers are on the product without asking for them is just sloppy marketing. It doesn't please me as a consumer to think that your salespeople might sell to me at a higher price by not telling me about an available discount. You're not making me feel special by saying the onus is on me to get a better offer. The salespeople is supposed to sell the offers without my prompting.
"Today, I saw an old man carrying a Tata Sky package in a taxi with an LED TV on the taxi roof; he must have asked the right questions!" Das responds with candour.
That's not candour: that's cleverness. But that's the problem with afaqs: a lot of admiration and not enough analysis.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Mid-Week Reads: Bad Bosses

Eight questions on managing your boss, answered.

How to tell if you have (are) a bad boss.

What we should have been taught in high school.

I don't miss my childhood either, and this rang very true for me: "I didn’t like kids even when I was a kid. I didn’t like being a kid."

Gift engine predicts what your Facebook friends want. This is cool, but if you want to get me something for my birthday (coming soon! and it's a landmark one! Boo-hoo I'm growing old), let me know and I'll share my Flipkart wishlist with you

Maya Bizarre and Ganesh.

That's it. What, too short? Why don't you tell us what you've been reading.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Why I Am A Feminist - III

(An old draft that I'd never completed)

Or, Unmana ko gussa kyon aata hai, as a friend once put it.

I get angry easily. I am impatient. I lose my temper, I lash out, I shake, I cry. Here are some of the things that make me angry.

Men who make sexist statements while pretending to be only logical. Who pretend to be allies. Who think women should be equal only if it's convenient to men. Who think women should be barred certain jobs because, oh, men might harass them. Funnily, none of these men ever suggest marriage should be banned: though aren't so many women abused by their husbands and in-laws? Oh no, but that might inconvenience men. (I'm not saying women don't make sexist statements, but it's when men do it that I'm angrier. Because the oppressors have no right to tell the oppressed what kind and measure of equality they should ask for.)

Men who refuse to consider me as a person because I am a woman. Back when I was in Gurgaon and used to take the office cab to work, the cabwallah would ask me for directions until a man got into the car, and often ask the man for directions to my house. And which woman hasn't had repairmen, or salesmen or other such men ignore her while he talks to the man beside her, assuming that he knows more or he's in charge?

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Mid-Week Reads: HR, Fashion and Feminist Blog Awards

A shorter post than usual, because I’m struggling to catch up with work this week.

I completely agree with Gautam Ghosh on HR. HR is a very underrated function, at least in the organizations I’ve seen: HR is supposed to perform administrative activities and rarely performs their real purpose of improving productivity and culture.


If you blog about feminism, do participate in the Indian Homemaker’s blog awards: it’s a terrific initiative.

Dear Fashion Industry: this is from 2005, but oh, so true still. (Especially true in India, I guess. I'd add: please stop making clothes that come apart after I wash them once? The Guy's clothes get machine-washed and shoved into the dryer for years and they get faded and thin but the buttons and seams don't come off. Some clothes I buy get buttons and seams off after the first wash. Max, I'm looking at you--and I'm never buying from you again.)