Magazine on the theme of imperfection by samiksha.gupta5

VOLUME 1

DECEMBER, 2017

SHIFT

THE IMPERFECT ISSUE

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21. Transgenders are the new hetrosexuals 25. Big is beautiful 37. Perfectly imperfect 44. Joy of unisex

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FE LI ART 79. Art of improvisation 85. Stretch the marks 89. Period shaming 91. Flawed 101. Behind the scenes with Pranav Kalra 105. Upside down

WELCOME The Imperfect Issue Because, deep down, we all really are. LET’S GET THE OBVIOUS OUT OF THE WAY: WHY THE IMPERFECT ISSUE?

EDITORIAL SAMIKSHA GUPTA Editor

Because we've taken it upon ourselves to curate socially relevant ideas that affect our lives. The imperfect issue was born of the idea that the world needs another dash of bold and fresh thinking. The issue is dedicated in content and spirit to the idea that imperfection is perfection. It’s about recognising that imperfection is more about going with the flaw, doing a few things the old fashioned way and equally important, getting some fun back in your life. To that end, our sections features Rudrani Devi, who started her own modelling agency for transgenders, flawed beauty, imperfection in our lifestyle which we barely get to notice and how art is improvising when it comes to deformity. As you progress, the central theme of “imperfection” will become more apparent. Of course, in keeping with the save-the-best-for-last concept, we have our editorial shoot, the translucent musings. It’s all about being honest, authentic and transparent in different aspects of life, making transparency the new objectivity. All around these articles are great ideas, sensible advice and more. So make mistakes. Make a mess. What have you got to lose? We hope this issue is as good for you to read as it has been for us to create.

NATASHA CHOPRA Associate Editor

CONTRIBUTORS ESHAN KHANNA ANUSHREE BANERJEE

SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIBE ONLINE www.shift.com/ subscribe

Samiksha Gupta Editor

TRANSGENDES ARE THE NEW HETROSEXUALS Words by: Anushree Banerjee

Tell me to my face that I'm Not Worthy.

Since birth a transgender child insists, from the time when he starts speaking, that they don’t share the same gender which is indicated by their biological sex. In simpler words they feel that their body and brain are both different from each other. Female and male brain on an average, are slightly different in structure. Although there is a lot more difference in the variability of an individual, several researches have proved and signifies that transgender people have brains more similar to their experienced gender. “Trans people have brains that are different from males and females, a unique kind of brain,” Guillamon says. It is easier to say that a male-to-female transgender person is a male trapped in a female’s body. It’s not because they have a brain of woman but a trans sexual brain. So it is impossible to say if these subtle differences are inborn or not. Overall the weight and length of these studies and others points strongly directs us towards a biological basis for gender dysphoria, as mentioned above, which happens when the body and the brain differs. But given the variety of transgender people and the variation in the brains of men and women, there's still time when a doctor can do a brain scan on a child and say, 'Yes, this child is trans.'

Straight Lesbian

Gay

Bisexual

Transgender

Human

Anjali Lama, also belonges to a trans community who was born in Nuwakot district in rural Nepal. She is fifth of the seven siblings. School was difficult for Lama as she struggled to understand as to why she used to feel and behave like a girl. Her epicene manner was mocked by all her classmates and teachers, including her father and brothers. After finishing her schooling, she shifted to Kathmandu. At the age of 18, she met a group of transgender women. They were wearing make-up and heading towards a club. She approached them. “When you ask most transgender people, they refuse instantaneously and assert their identity. So, when I spoke to them, they were like, ‘ Look how valiant this girl is,' ” Lama revives. They headed her towards Blue Diamond Society, a Nepal group that advocates for sexual minorities. And soon, she had her sex reassignment surgery. She also started working at the outreach centre. In 2015, Nepal became one of the few countries to issue passport including the third gender category. Unfortunately, despite this progressive step, the reality is far from ideals. “Acceptance of the transgenders is still not a hundred per cent,” says Lama. RUNWAY FANTASIES: Lama says, “My friend motivated me towards modelling because of my height.” At the age of 25, she gave it a try. Although she got some assignments in Nepal, but sadly was rejected most of the times because of her gender. She had auditioned for Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) twice, last year in Mumbai and was rejected both the times. “I thought modelling wasn’t for me. But I just couldn’t let it go.” Nevertheless, she went in through YouTube audition clips which were put up by LFW and examined her own walk, as well as of those who were selected by LFW and analysed her problem areas. “I had very low self confidence, and it showed,” she says. Apart form walks, she also focused on other nuances of modelling like costume and make-up by researching online.. Eventually, it worked. And she was picked for the Summer/Resort 2017 show. Initially, she faced considerable nervousness because she couldn’t understand English. She said, “I felt a bit confused because all the instructions were made in English. Then I befriended Deepti Gujral and Alesia Raut who were my fellow models, who helped me understand the language.” Being a part of Lakme Fashion Week has changed her life forever. Apart from getting her global fame and boosting up her career, it has also helped her family to understand her and treat her well, like she deserved. “I’ve never been this much busy in my entire life,” she states. Despite every other thing, she does worry a little about being old for her field. “Mostly people start modelling at age of 25," she exclaims. She added that is she not worrying or thinking about her future at this point. Lama now lives with a friend from Nepal in Santacruz. And she likes Mumbai for the work it has offered her. She misses the nature and the natural beauty of her home town. “I like greenery, nature and the hills. I wish there was some

"I WAS NOT BORN A BOY, I WAS ASSIGNED BOY AT BIRTH." - RUDRANI DEVI

place that is a mixture of Mumbai and Nepal," she says. When I had a word with some more people sharing the same community of transgenders, I got to know about all the problems this community goes through. After the deep breath there was a heavy voice whispering, “We have no family. Our community is our family. We never go out to have fun like you people because of the constant eve teasing. If we try to complain, nobody takes us seriously because we don't have any rights,” said Tona, who is model at Mitr trust modelling agency. Mrs. Rudrani Devi is a Ray of hope in all their lives. She is the founder of Mitr trust – a modeling agency for transgenders. She was also awarded in the hijra summit. It got so viral that they started receiving calls from the industry and were also being approached by the directors for the same. When asked from the award winning woman, Mrs. Rudrani Devi who is a transgender herself , that what was the noble cause behind this great step towards humanity, she confidently replied, “trans community has always been involved in beauty and fashion. So I thought of making fashion and beauty as out career.” If we look at it, the hijra modeling is gaining a great response. Industry wants these people to just love themselves the way they are. They just need to feel comfortable in their own skin. In earlier times there were no job opportunities and human rights for the transgenders. They had to spend half of their lives in finding themselves, who are they and what do they want. You must have also thought that somewhere or the other, the hijra’s who are standing at the red light are fake. But they actually are not. No boy would ever want to wear a saree and beg for money where the windows of the car only rolls up. The Mitr trust modeling agency have given a chance to prove every myth wrong. The problem was not to get registered for modeling. The actual problem was, even if they got beautiful models, who will give them work. The more they tried, the more they faced rejections. Until one morning, 8 to 9 people showed up including the finalist “Rajesh Khureshi”. Some people finally agreed to finance their planning and happily took their auditions with judges like Sushmita and the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines. Currently, opportunities are being given to these transgenders. People have actually started to understand the term 'trans.' Workshops are being conducted to make people aware and to give them a reality check. Now they have earned a great amount of appreciation not only from the people of their own community, but also from big and renounced people from the industry. Today looking at their great success these people are getting signed up for films and television advertising. They have shown that hard work and will power can make anything happen. So be determined, be confident and never be afraid to raise your voice against the wrong even if you are alone.

they come out as the shining stars, new they are to the fashion industry, but their ‘plus size’ shines bright. Words by: Eshan Khanna

LUFITUAEB

Even in the abyss of hatred,

Fashion in today’s world is of utmost importance to everyone. Like one basic thing to be added in the list of most important things required to sustain a life’. Fashion is indeed everywhere. Brands have revolutionised the aspect of fashion and models do the work for them by looking extremely gorgeous in the clothes that they are draped in. But to add a tag of ‘zero figure’ to a perfect model is like pushing the society towards doom.

SI GIB

Fashion is for all and not exclusively for the size zero. With changing mindsets of people, it is a great thing to witness plus size models and plus size fashion gradually taking its hold on the fashion industry. It isn’t like the earlier times where only a slim girl would be called as apt for modelling, we are slowly moving into the ideology of beauty comes in all sizes’. And if to be a model you need the ‘curves’, then the plus sized girls have no less of them. We must understand that parameters like size, to judge beauty are irrelevant and temporary and it is nowhere said that fat is ugly. Every person is just perfect. Models like Ashley Graham, Olivia Campbell, Bishamber Das, etc are no less than anyone. They have left their mark in the industry. Growth is a forever phenomenon when it comes to fashion industry and now there are special fashion shows organised for the big girls as well. The famous clothing brands have now given room to their large sized fashion lines. Brands like Forever 21 have brought into the market Forever 21+. Other brands include H&M+, ASOS Curve etc. Brands are now slowly realising that it is important to

CURVES ARE BEAUTIFUL, EMBRACE THEM.

clothes for every body size. The ideology of 36’, 24’, 36’ is now on its way out from the fashion industry. To understand the struggle that people face due to their their body shape, we spoke to Mayank kalra, a 24-year-old, college student. While interviewing him, we came to know about his personal journey in which he explained, “If you ask me about the impact, then the first impact it left on me was devastating. You know, it was awful to be the only one who was always commented upon. I could not concentrate on my studies because I had been a mere joke to everyone till eleventh standard. I had no friends because I trusted no one, my own parents used to always let me down. I used to always stay in my own room and think as to how to look perfect. But twelfth standard changed me completely. The first day I entered class, they started with their usual routine of irritating me and yes that day I got upset. Since that day I have never seen back. That mocking had filled up so much hatred in me that I deciced to prove my worth and to do the same I studied in a frenzy because I had to show it to everyone that I was no less in spite of being thin and here I am today sitting in front of you in my final year of college with a job offer already in hand. So the complete impact the of whole incident on me was indeed positive.” To understand a female perspective we interviewed Seema, a mother and a homemaker. For 15 years, Seema

found the kilos adding up and her unhappiness growing,, but she couldn't find the spark she needed to overhaul her life. "Many things happened through those years that you would think would be a trigger to lose weight. From getting constantly mocked by my children’s friends and their parents because I couldn't fit in the normal car seat to getting a seat belt extender on an airplane. But one day I just thought, I want to live a long life and see my daughter grow up and that's when I decided to do something," says Seema. In January 2016, she joined a gym and through healthier food choices and a new commitment to jogging, she lost all the extra weight. "Now I am running 5 kms and my family is leading a healthier life,” she says. She has lost 22 kgs. This past year has flown by and she is enjoying her life more and more. She says “Time needs to slow down so I can soak it all in.” Also, it is well-known that less than near half of the world's population would actually not fit into the perfect size chart. So, it is better here to leave that ‘perfect’ and move towards the ideal. It is a well-known saying that ‘beauty lies in the eye of the beholder’ and understanding that is the need of the hour. Beauty cannot be kept in a closet, it is meant to make the world beautiful by its charm as it is away from the parameters of colour, race, religion or size. The world needs to accommodate fashion in all its sizes and realise that plus size has an edge over the normal ones because it has that ‘Plus’ in it!

TRANSLUCENT MUSINGS

Translucent Musings

TRANSLUCENT MUSINGS Transparent musings would be home to those who aren't afraid to be open, authentic and transparent. Supermodels and Shift debutantes Omisha Dhatwali and Aksh Wadhwa, help us navigate through a world where transparency is the new objectivity.

On Omisha: Black coat by Zara, Pants and mules by H&M,Â On Aksh: Leather jacket by Zara, Boots by Aldo, Jeans by Jabong.

On Omisha: Black coat byÂ Mango, Top by Forever 21, Bellies by Dorothy Perkins.

On Omisha: Black jacket by Zara, Mesh top by Koovs, Boots by Carlton London. On Aksh: Blazer by Amador, White shirt by Mufti, Black sweater by Allen Solly

On Omisha: Black leather jacket by Promod, Check coat by Amador, Shoes by Vans. On Aksh: Snood muffler by RVLT, Grey coat by Amador, Shoes by Louis Philippe.

On Omisha: Black dress by Forever 21, Heels by Carlton London, Jacket by Only.

PERFECTLY imperfect Words by: Samiksha Gupta 37

Is the world of blogging really as perfect as it seems to be? Deeksha Khurana, a 19-year-old, fashion and a beauty blogger from the blog 'Deeksha Khurana' unfolds the falsely true reality of blogging. eople mostly conceive that blogging is no big deal. It's all about pretty pictures, artsy posts, never ending free products and short write ups on trendy fashion. If you've achieved this, then your job for the day, as a blogger is done. But the reality is completely opposite. In actuality, blogging is not just about the pretty parts, it's a real job which takes a great deal of hard work and perseverance. Deeksha Khurana is a 19-year-old, fashion, beauty and a travel blogger from New Delhi from the blog 'Deeksha Khurana'. Blogging is something she's really passionate about and has been pursuing it since three years. She has always looked up to her elder sister, Kritika Khurana, who is also into fashion blogging. Bloggers are always competing against each other. And mind you it's not at all a healthy competition," said Deeksha. She starts telling the reality of this perfectly portrayed world based on her own experiences. She stated, that all the bloggers are rivaling against each other for more followers, likes, views and collaborations. "I mean there are many of them who are blogging because they have a strong passion for it, but at the end of the day all of them want to be heard or seen more than anyone else," she said. With all this competition and comparison, the green monster of jealousy comes out. She says that, this constant comparison leads to jealousy and then all these bloggers tend to keep an eye on fellow bloggers who are doing better than them. "And it's not like we don't want others to attain more. But when that jealousy takes over, we start doubting ourselves. There's a loss of originality as a result. We stop doing what makes us unique and start following the crowd. Thus, imitation is everywhere. It's like, she did it, I will too," she says. It really breaks down the confidence levels and the motivational spirits of these bloggers. The reality is much more harder than what it seems to be. One major problem that this community faces, is to meet the high expectations of perfection. Viewers want everything to be perfect and pretty. From photoshoots to styling, the Instagram handles should be bright and visually appealing, blogs must portray the perfect aesthetics and the list goes on, told Deeksha. "What these people don't understand is, that just like them we're normal human beings too. And it's nearly impossible to showcase that perfect imagery at all times. The pressure of coming out to be perfect, from minute details to major ones is really difficult to handle," she said. Also, there goes a lot of work behind these pretty pictures. They don't just tend to happen on their own. From resourcing all the things required for a photoshoot to

finding a photographer. It takes a lot of time and effort. "One needs to make a settlement with the photographer, like instead of money, they can use our pictures in their portfolio. And the work does not end there, you then have to edit your pictures perfectly, which is the biggest task," she said. As much appreciation that these bloggers receive for their hard work, they have to deal with the same amount of criticism as well. According to her, criticism is good, it brings improvement in work. But then there's negative criticism, very close to hatred. A lot of times people post really derogatory comments. And not just the viewers but also the fellow bloggers are often seemed to be bashing each other out there on social media. Khurana states, "That all of this really creates a huge impact on us mentally. It's not at all easy to deal with stuff like this." And then there comes the problem of fighting the stereotypes. People think, that bloggers should not get money for what they are doing. What they don't understand is, that these bloggers invest in a lot of money to buy things and make everything look amazing for their followers. "At the end of the day, we need to survive too. I mean if we're investing so much, then obviously we deserve all that money in return. It's a real job, for god's sake! If a blogger is being honest with his/her content that they are providing, then it's totally okay to get free branded products or do product reviews and earn out of it," she stated. She said, "One thing I would like to change about this community, is the strong and a constant urge to be perfect." The concept of perfection is always forced upon us. From glossy magazines to Instagram, from Pinterest to blogs, there's no escape from it. Nobody's perfect and can never be, then why not stop trying right away? Perfection is way too mainstream and it makes everything seem boring. Imperfection, on the other hand creates individuality. Something out-of-the box and super creative, which this industry is craving for, desperately. There should not be a filter on everything, not everything needs to edited. "I think, the imperfections that we are trying to hide constantly, to create a imagery of a world without flaws and imperfections is false and hollow. We the bloggers have that power, to create a world where each and every one of us should able to embrace their flaws and flaunt them. I mean, we're no barbies made out of plastic, where you can doll us up in the perfect way you want to. We're all humans, with freckles, moles, pale skin, stretch marks or maybe imperfect teeth. If you have the power to bring a change, you might as well want to use it," said Deeksha. Despite all the backstage work that happens in this community, which is not at all perfect like it seems to be, she still loves to do her work. Blogging is not just about sharing pictures of fashion and travel, it is much more than that. For her, it's a platform where one can share their beliefs, opinions, designs and ideas. "You grow as a person, you learn to communicate well and meet a lot of interesting people and share their experiences and this is something I will never stop doing, no matter what," she proclaimed.

I'm a blogger what's your SUPERPOWER?

UN GE ND ER ED

Joy of unisex Words by: Anushree Banerjee

GENDERLESS FASHION: Clothes stop being clothes for women and men and they simply become clothes.

reaking fashion stereotypes and debunking myths about how the ‘blameless’ body has always been unique to everyone. The big idea is to mix the models and styles of the two genres making a line that matches both wardrobes. ‘Identifying types and body types are more flowing that fashion has ever discussed. Plastic Surgeon Dr. Narendra Kaushik states, “the concept of gender is something which belongs to the modern era, or in other words something belonging to modernity. He further adds, the gender distinction is a mark in society and this can be clearly learned through fashion." But who ever thinks that genre is synonymous with unisex is a mistake. And gender-free fashion proposes throwing the labels and using whatever you are feeling to wear. Basically, clothes stop being clothes for women and men and they become simply clothes. In fact, fashion has a rich past or history. Over the last few years, gender has also picked up a good pace in the industry, where they like to think that they are not in background, rather that think they’re on the forefront of these things. Transgender models like Andreja Pejic and Lea T both had faced many barriers and helped in blazing the woods of gender fluidity. It’s an ongoing conversation. However, point of views are changing and the sale is rising. As a result, many popular, profit making brands have opted to let-off their own lines of gender neutral clothing. 'Un-gendered' is the line started by Zara, featuring shirts, jeans and jumpers. Besides, H&M

has started their unisex denim line named 'Denim United.' Shockingly, Mothercare as well is soon launching a gender neutral clothing range for young children and babies. These items features pandas, T-shirts with slogans, romper suits and are designed to be worn by both boys and girls. This mainly has black, grey and yellow shades – avoiding those typical pinks or blues. “No pink or blue for you!” Is the range designed by Myleene Klass. These broadcasts are a big deal for the market. Nowadays even the high street fashion with worldwide more than 6000 stores have gender fluid clothing. Moreover it is actually reaching the masses. Gucci has nailed against separate shows for women and men, as they compose both the collections to form one gender neutral clothing. Likewise, Marc Jacobs have also opted for some similar campaign. With the high fashion, the world is now putting its arms on gender neutrality. As far now, the trend is expected to have a good hold on the industry soon enough. Of course, fashion trends have always come from those who fill our social media timelines and television screens. When celebrities put something on, the average consumer usually isn’t lacking that behind. They basically forecast for gender neutral fashion. Some supper stars around are opting gender neutral clothing and that doesn’t conform to gender norms. Kanye West, himself doesn’t hesitate to wear a skirt in public. Culturally, gender-neutral dressing is all about changing the existing notions of what is feminine and masculine. Going by the general reaction on social and digital media, it might take a little more brainwashing before men start pulling on summer dresses and winter gowns. But remember – once women wearing trousers and men wearing pink was once questionable.

FLAWSOME Ever felt like something just doesn't belong? The world can occasionally make us feel out of place in our own lives, but sometimes being the odd one out brings more joy than you may think. Words by: Natasha Chopra Your freckled face. Your plumpy nose. Your small boobs. Your huge boobs. Your big ass. Your flat ass. Your big lips, your thin lips, your pencil thin legs, your big feet. Your stretch marks. Your cellulites. We all have them i.e flaws. We all see them as a damage just like an abnormality, trying to secrete behind them, concealing them over with makeup and high collars. We do criticise them, wishing they would go away, believing that if we didn’t have them anymore, we'd be flawless, and then we could be elated. But what really flaws are? An easy response to that is, anything that is different from other’s perspective is a flaw to you. But that’s not how it is. We all are living in a world where we care what others think about us and have completely forgotten, how to love ourselves. We all see models possibly everywhere. Why don’t we see normal people showcasing or advertising anything? Because it has been accepted since ages that only a beautiful face and beautiful body can sell products but not the normal people? Then in this case who do we call abnormal. We all get attracted towards pretty models and their so called perfect bodies. But who really models are? They are nothing but more than impaired humans experiencing evolution for a magazine to make you believe there’s some merits of beauty but trust me, they have flaws, too. You all must be wondering that how am I aware of it? Because it’s the flaws that make you so pretty and the most prominent ones always have something which makes them look different. What society considers is delightful characteristics and remarkable highlights are simply imperfections that models chose not to cover up, or all the more vitally, what some picture taker really comprehended as the most excellent piece of them and savored it. Those famous models are prominent for an objective, and I know that not because I follow them but I still know their names because they have done possibly something really remarkable. I remember them because I see that charm In the bizarre displays of photos upon photos thrown into the masses.

I can see what the photographer who took a risk on them saw: their flaws and how they made them wonderful. It’s the moment that we stop obstructing behind our flaws, wrapping our joy in them, expecting that if we didn’t have them that would improve us and make us look more quintessential. If you didn’t have those imperfections, who would you be. Only an artificially glamourised show who isn't even genuine. A hoax person with nothing interesting, nothing endearing, nothing that’s just you. Your imperfections are your identity, and the more you conceal them away, the more you shroud yourself against the world. Your blemishes are what makes you the individual you are. The sooner you begin understanding that your blemishes are what makes you wonderful, the sooner we can quit calling them imperfections. Life isn’t great. It never has been and it never will be. In any case it can be an uplifting news. It implies we can stop chasing the mystical, consummate life. It means we can stop tracing idol skin, an idol job, an idol house, or an idol spouse. It implies we can discover flexibility to live inside our blemishes. Even though if we girls wants to contour our cheeks or if we want to conceal our dark circles there’s nothing wrong in that.

IMPERFECTION TO A BEAUTIFUL PERSPECTIVE We aren’t doing it for anyone but for ourselves. Much the same as garments, cosmetics enables us to outwardly express our identity and temperaments. When we are feeling romantic we will swipe on pink eye-shadow and gleam! Happy? Insane shaded eyeshadow or brilliant fuchsia lips. Proficient? No cosmetic look. What's more, we feel like every one of these things in a single day, we can change my look in like manner. Cosmetics has the ability to change a face, and let the entire world know your identity. How stunning is that! There's no supernatural lipstick that can instantly turn you from an uncertain young lady into a confident lady. 50

Talking about makeup and models life, we hereby brought you one of India's top bridal makeup artist, Meenakshi Dutt. She is an ex model who started modeling at the age of 7 and has worked in possibly every advertisement and modeling assignment in the early 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. She emerged herself into the modeling and started accepting it as her baby until her father got transferred to New Delhi and she had to say goodbye to career. But shifting to Delhi didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop her from achieving her dreams. Her passion for makeup and glam world has made her what she is known for. To know more about her we interviewed her.

Q &A When did you know a career in beauty was for you? I didn’t know a career in beauty was for me . You know when I was very young, I had done a modeling assignment in Cochin and my dad’s in the navy so we kept on travelling. Talking about my assignment I was dressed, we were supposed to go to a fashion show kind of a thing and that’s when I was taken to a salon. You know living in a small town, living in Cochin where there’s no TV, no exposure. I’m talking about early 80’s and there was just nothing, I was nearly 13-year-old and they took me there, It was probably the best salon there and I cant tell you when I saw makeup I was like oh my god this is heaven. It’s not that I haven’t seen makeup earlier, I used to do it because I was a trained dancer in Bharatnatiyam but that was all that gaudy heavy makeup but even that was fascinating for me. In return that salon gave us an eye-shadow and I remember every night I used to keep applying that eye-shadow on myself. You know it’s all those girly things, bright colours, makeup and beautifying ourselves.

What has been the biggest challenge of your career? See, the challenge is everyday because we are all the time dealing with people and we are working on their faces and hair which is a very touchy subject, I mean face is something which everybody wants perfect. They aspire to become so and so actress or so and so model, Of course not everybody can look like that and they expect that the makeup artist to do some kind of surgery on them which is just not possible, we try to tell them. It’s a challenge everyday and it’s also a challenge to keep up with the latest trends because there are artist all over the world specially now with the social media and net which is so active in our life, When I started this wasn’t even there, I'm talking about twenty years back, so we had to do our own bit and there was no way to learn new trends. Because I had a modeling background, so I had these dada’s and makeup artists in Mumbai who used to do makeup on me and I used to get lot of tips from them.

Does everyone look better with makeup? Or is it all about hiding your imperfections? I don’t suggest doing make-up on a regular basis. You know at your age I really didn’t do makeup. When I see very young girls doing it on a regular basis I do not appreciate it, because they already have young skin, your innocence, why do you need to have a base, eye-show, liner. Ya, once you’re going out that’s fine, you want to look glamorous, you want to flaunt yourself. When I see my daughter she looks like a tired duck whole day but when she goes out she looks like a diva, like one ugly duckling turning into a swan, definitely makeup does have a glamour factor which really kinds of attract people.

Which famous artists have influenced you and how? I really wasn’t influenced by any artist initially because there was nobody I could really follow because there was nothing like following at my time but we had artists like Mickey contractor, Bharat Gudambe in Mumbai. So they were the ones who were doing pretty magic on the faces but there wasn’t any artist who used to make me feel that I want to be like him and I never copied anyone because that’s how I developed my own style. What make-up items should no woman leave home without?

BB cream, Mascara and lipstick, for me these three items must be there with you at all times.

What are the common beauty mistakes we all do?

First is matching the right foundation with your skin, you will be surprised to know that I try new combination of foundations every week because I feel if I try then only I can use it on my clients. Secondly, that we are always trying to imitate someone which comes from within all of us then we really don’t create any individual style of our own, it is important to have your signature style. I remember when I started bridal make-up 20 years back, from last 7-8 years a lot of people has started saying 'she is a Meenakshi Dutt bride.' Today I have changed my style according to trends but still I was able to have my signature style.

Why does wearing a lot of makeup still isn’t appreciated in the society and our imperfections are being blamed for that? What is your perpective? What is a make up artist? Light makeup you can do on your own, a makeup artist has to create some sort of aura or glamour on your face that has to stand out. A lot of make-up artists these days do say let’s be minimilastic but I personally feel its not about doing less, it’s about doing different. Even if you see J’Lo's makeup, she does a lot of makeup. It's just that she uses nude colours and even to create a neutral look you would need a lot of makeup specially in photoshoot, ramp walk , brides taking pictures in 3D HD camera, if your skin and features are not enhanced properly everything will look blur, its important to understand the whole theory of makeup before commenting on it. Would you like to share your imperfections in the sense of beauty like any dark circles or any skin problem that you have but it still doesn’t stop you?

A lot of people ask me why don’t you put your before makeup picture and I did it in my Snapchat a few days back and people start commenting on me that you look so different. I just woke up and my dark circles were touching my cheek line because I woke up quite early to reach my salon and my skin looked so dead and tired so I took a selfie and put it on my snapchat because there’s nothing I’m afraid of, we all have flaws and I have mine and I will flaunt them in my way. Nobody wakes up looking glamorous. One day somebody commented on my picture “you’re not looking good today” and I said yes of course because I’m a human and I can’t look my best everyday.

Does makeup hurt self esteem? I would always say look good, a red lipstick never hurts, it peps up your mood, it does wonders to your face, we put so many neutrals to our face but what red lipstick does is miraculous. It just brighten ups your mood and face. When you want to do nothing and you are sad, wear red lipstick. Like every other girl did you always question your appearance? Like why does my belly crease? Why do my arms jiggle? Why am I not fair? Do stretch marks ever go away?

Stretch marks don’t go, I have hundred of them on my bodies after my kids so I have tried every possible treatment except for surgery, it doesn’t go because I’m really not into cutting my body. Trying laser that’s something I'm not for. I am little old school though but its okay, it's my body. I mean I am a mother and a middle aged women, it’s fine I am still beautiful. How does that even matter? I am good at my work, I am a good mother, I take care of my clients what else do you need in your life.

Unfair and lovely A letter from a dark skinned girl

I am 13-years-old. I am at my grandmother's place in Ludhiana. It is a summer afternoon, the women of the house after feeding everyone and completing the household work as part of their daily routine, finally go to a room to rest. All of them sit together on the bed and now they can finally unveil their dupattas. My mom for the very first time, asks me to come and sit with them. A few days back, I got my first period. Which means I have finally made my first step into adulthood. Which means, now I have to learn and start performing all the household work. Which also means, I now need to be more careful while making guy friends. This is the reason that day, I was asked to join them. While I was sitting in between all the ladies, suddenly my grandmother points out how fair my legs were. According to her, I was really very lucky to be fair skinned and this was the trait I got from my mother. My mother is very fair, just like a white lily. But my aunt said, that the colour of my face differs from the rest of my body parts. From applying multani mitti, coconut oil, milk and cream to kesar water, she listed all the home remedies that I must perform for a fairer face. My aunts says, "Scrub your face properly and take bath from milk everyday." My mom instantly said, "this is not her original skin colour, it's all because of the sun exposure. I have told her so many times to apply something on her face but she never listens." My mom had to defend my skin tone because being labelled as dark skinned was like an abuse to her daughter. At that very moment, my grandmother takes out a whitening cream and applies it on my face. There was a huge difference in my skin colour, I was suddenly lighter. Everybody started praising and complementing me. But I didn't like my colour. I mean ya I was definitely fairer but in a very uncanny way. 55

My dad has a dark skin tone. So when I was about to be born, everybody prayed for me. They wanted the mother's traits so that the baby was not born dark. My mom told me, when I was born, the first thing my grandmother asked my mom was, "what is her skin colour like?" I never really understood the significance of skin colour when I was young. When I grew older, I learnt in my history and sociology classes that in earlier times, the white people, usually the British had a lot of wealth and power. And the coloured people were always subjugated. This is the reason why people today want to meet the high standards of beauty, specially based on colour, to position themselves higher and acceptable in society. I went to Australia for a month, to spend vacations at my cousins place. This place is the hottest in the months of June and July. And I deliberately used to sunbath myself. In those two months, I burnt myself completely. Part of my skin was peeling and some parts were turning brown, even red. I thought people are going to hate me for my skin colour now. But it didn't happen. Rather, they wanted to be like me. They liked it. Yes, the fairest skin people wanted to be brown, they wanted my tan. My happiness was uncontrollable because for the very first time, I was appreciated for being coloured. My colour was no longer something I was ashamed of because I realised, there's much more to me than what you proclaim of. I decided that I will manifest my beauty through my acts, your judgments won't become a hurdle in my path. From- a dark skinned girl 56

STOP THE BEAUTY MADNESS STOP THE BEAUTY MADNESS STOP THE BEAUTY MADNESS STOP THE BEAUTY MADNESS 59

Super smart and sort ofÂ cute. Yeah, I get that a lot. 60

What do you want to be when you grow up? Pretty.

Old isn't ugly. It's invisible.

Smart enough. Talented enough. Not white enough.

Objects in the mirror may be smaller than they appear.Â

Of course, I have a relationship. With my scale.Â 65

That awkward moment when you try to decide if I'm pretty.Â

Because I'm damn hungry.Â

Pretty is my prison.

BOY E A U T Y Words by: Samiksha Gupta

Slowly but gradually, the paradoxical concept of boy beauty is groundbreaking and is conveying a nonchalant attitude towards the strictly laid down concepts of male imagery. Men, are often forced to follow certain rules when it comes to their frail masculinity. Thus, the term 'male beauty' is a contradiction in itself. Wearing dresses, putting makeup or painting your nails are things that completely go against the codes of masculinity. We are still living in a time, where if men are seen to be doing feminine things, it becomes controversial. However, there are numerous men out there, who have started this whole revolution of gender-less makeup and are smashing these stereotypes. There are people, who have finally started accepting that it's totally okay, if a man is using a BB cream or a concealer to enhance his beauty. Many popular male beauty vloggers and bloggers have created a unique identity for themselves and are giving great tips on how to blend, contour and highlight, to both men and women. Homosexuality plays a huge role in building up these stereotypes. There's a direct implication, that if you're a man whose wearing make-up, then you must be homosexual. Which of course is, not true. There are several homosexual men, who do not apply make-up. This misogynist society bluntly directs, that anything that is related to femininity is insulting for the male sex. Make-up artist and a successful YouTuber, Jake Jamie started a campaign which gained immense popularity named "makeup is genderless." Through his campaign he wanted people to change their notions about, who is allowed to wear what on their bodies and faces.

There are innumerable beauty bloggers who are slaying out there, with more than two million followers on their Instagram handles, proving that make-up doesn't have to gender specific. James Charles, a 17-year-old is a beauty vlogger from New York. He is the first male spokesmodel for CoverGirl, a popular cosmetic brand. Charles, is a self-taught make-up artist with more than million subscribers on YouTube and 1.5 million followers on Instagram. Then there's, Patrick Star, who has about two million subscribers on Youtube and and has worked with many Hollywood stars like Carmen Carrera and Shay Mitchel. Men would usually look for cosmetics in their sisters or girlfriends bags. But they can't share everything with them, every time. Thus, many brands are venturing into this growing industry of male makeup. L'Oreal is soon going to launch a whole new range of men's cosmetics. MMUK, the first ever makeup brand for men is in collaboration with the largest e-commerce business Asos, where from masculine tones of foundations to beard oils, you can find it all at one place. Men are expected to have perfect skin, toned and muscular bodies. If they deviate from what they are expected to do, it raises a ruckus. There is a need to break these stereotypes and preconceived notions about the ideal male imagery. Dresses, makeup, hairdos and nail paints do not matter. Anything, that makes us feel confident, beautiful and unique should not be labelled or judged.

COVER B O Y Words by: Samiksha Gupta

Yohan Lohia, an 18 year old, makeup vlogger from New Delhi, is setting up new standards in the domain of boy beauty despite all the stereotypes and preconceived notions that are smashed in his face throughout.

James Charles, Patrick Starrrs and Thomas Halbert are the few names that pop up in our minds instantly when there's any talk about male beauty. However, it's not just America which is slaying the arena of boy beauty. There are many male beauty vloggers in India as well and Yohan Lohia is one of them. He has a huge number of following on Instagram and YouTube and posts his beauty looks and tutorials quite frequently.

I read about Yohan on Times of India and immediately checked out his YouTube channel. I was fascinated by his makeup techniques and how he creates splendid looks with low key and affordable cosmetics. He is not a professional makeup artist, he had a passion for makeup and wanted to showcase his talent on a bigger platform, thanks to YouTube!

Wanting to know more about Yohan, I interviewed him through email. The 18-year-old, lives in New Delhi and started his YouTube channel in January, 2017, under the name of 'Yohan Lohia.' During the initial days of his vlogging, he used to post makeup looks created on his clients for weddings and other special occasions. When asked about what inspired him to create his own channel, he says, "I never had any inspiration. But I just wanted to make a YouTube channel because I thought it'll be great to do so and connect with people. And what I wanted was appreciation which I never got. So through YouTube I achieved that.

Lohia said that he was always interested in doing this kind of stuff. "I used to do these things. Growing up with acne at the age of 14-15 years, I discovered YouTube. Here I used to check some remedies to cure it. But one day, rather than curing, it showed me videos on 'how to cover your acne' and Boom! I was literally shook. I had never heard of this magical thing called foundation by which you can get flawless skin in just a few seconds. And after that I just got into make-up," he recalls. He thinks makeup helps in boosting up the confidence level of a person. "Make-up gives confidence to me. I mean, absolutely I love myself without the mask as well. But makeup is something which gives me next level confidence and also I love make-up because I just love it. So I'm gonna do it," he says. Yohan's daily makeup routine includes "roughly done brows and a tinted lip balm," he says. "To be honest I don't even put any compact on my face everyday. I mean I would love to do make-up everyday, but I live in a microwave so I can't. By that, I meant New Delhi. So I just put sun scream all over my face," says Yohan. He loves doing his brows precisely because according to him eye brows can transform the whole appearance of your face, if done properly and neatly. For Yohan, a good face wash, scrub and a moisturiser according to one's own skin type can do wonders for skin. When asked about his

favourite bloggers, he says,"There's none. Because each and everybody inspires me in their own way. Be it national or international, I really love watching all of them." Eager, I asked Lohia about the perception of men wearing make-up in India. "Being a boy I was always taught to do certain things in a certain way. And same for girls as well. So the problem here is that people were taught that make-up is only for girls and a boy has to always be a man, all that jazz, you know what I mean. So the situation is that people don't have a habit to see boys/men like me. So this creates a stereotype. And that's all what people are filled up with. But it doesn't matter until my family has no problem with it. Because at the end of the day people forget. And I won't stop due to people's norms of makeup," he replies. With all the love that Yohan receives through his channel, he faces a lot of criticism as well. As stated by him, there are still a huge number of people who do not get the concept of genderless makeup. As my parting question I asked if all this criticism ever had a impact on him, he answers, "It don't really. Because I'm not really losing anything. Why would I'll be getting angry or sad because of these people. I won't." So if there's a guy who is uncertain about applying makeup or the reactions towards it, tell him to check Yohan's blog acquire some guts!

HUE MAN

Each one of us is born with a similar body design and plan. No matter what we grow out to become, we all start as the same!. We, humans are believed to be the most intelligent on the planet Earth and this intelligence is irrespective of colour, caste, sex, religion or body shape. Humans have made advancements in every field but when it comes to having basic moral values, we see a worsened condition now with deteriorating ethics and increasing intolerance. It is well-known that no one chooses a body design for himself, it is what he is given. It doesn’t matter if a person is skinny or is fat, each one of them has the freedom of living a peaceful life, away from continuous mocking of society. It is nowhere inscribed that fat is ugly or skinny is un-graceful. Body shaming, is no less than a sin. Body shaming

Words by: Eshan Khanna

Different colours of our lives must be accepted on the palette of life

for people maybe just a way of their entertainment but for those, to whom it is said, it becomes a reason to crib, cry and lose all hope. It is around us everywhere, if we look carefully, body shaming is deep seated in the world around, from anywhere to everywhere we can gaze a look at. Knowingly or unknowingly we all would have shamed someone because of the ill mindset of the ‘perfect dimensions’ of the society! Social media has become a worldwide platform of body shaming or to be precise it is the biggest platform. Even celebrities like Selena Gomez, Emma Stone, Demi Lovato, Alyssa Milano, etc and the list is never ending have faced it but they were wise enough to respond back. Not everyone has that wit and courage to respond back. Body and weight shaming forces people to undergo strict 74

RIA SACHDEVA:

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF.

Being fat or skinny doesn’t say anything about their character but shaming them on this account says a lot about ours. No one gives you the freedom to call a thin person as a ‘ruler’ or ‘pencil’ or whatever else. Realise that if they don’t respond back then it doesn’t mean that they can’t. Body shaming is unacceptable at every level whether it’s at home or outside. To know the problems that people face after being repeatedly provoked and taunted for their body form, I interviewed Ms. Ria Sachdeva, a 23-year-old, strong and independent lady, living in my neighbourhood. After having a deep conversation with her I came to know that she tried to commit suicide when she was in college. I asked about her thought process which led her to take such a huge step and how did she overcome it to form such a strong character of hers. With tears in her eyes she said, “I still remember how they used to tease me for being fat. Everyone used to laugh at me. They used to call me by different names which I don’t want to remember. This all went on everyday till I was in the second year of my college. They used to act as if I was from a different place and their continuous mocking made me upset with myself and I started hating myself for being so fat. I started going to the gym and stopped eating in order to reduce weight but all went in vain.”

dieting schedules to avoid bullying. Students at school and college are the most vulnerable target which makes them patients of insomnia and depression. Giving vague names to a person on the basis of their body design shows our cowardliness to accommodate people who do not fit in our charts. We are no one to shame anyone else, if they are skinny or are fat. We must realise that it is not a flaw and it is not what they chose, it is what they inherited or acquired on account of some disease or any other reason. Making fun of anyone’s physical appearance shows the mindset with which we grew up. We must be kind enough to not speak about anyone if we don’t even know half of what they have faced.

She added, “Nothing worked out for me, I thought the best possible way to escape all this and punish myself for being fat was to end my life. I jumped from the terrace of my house but luckily didn’t die and I had just broken my bones. It took me three months to recover and walk again on my feet and those three months taught me the real meaning of life and I could realise that how precious this life was and after that day I started loving myself more each day and after that when those haters used to make fun of me, I used to sit with them and laugh on my own self which made them give up because I had stopped getting irritated. That suicide attempt changed my life forever and what I am today is the reason of that incident. And now I am perfect in my own skin.” It is inhuman on our part to force someone to give in to such an extent that the they feel easier to go away than to revert back, simply because they don’t want to fall to a level as low as yours. Although body shaming’s consequences can only be understood by people who have been victims to it but as people of the same civilisation and planet it is our prime duty to live and let live. In the dearth of pure souls on the planet, let us all try to remove our mental illness of body shaming and be the reason that someone believes in presence of broad mindsets in the world. Be the propagators of equality for all and not the ones who discriminate on the basis of someone’s appearance or weight. Be good and the good would come back to you!

'Universe of dreams' By: Gaurav Gupta

'Holding it together' By: Ashwin 79

'Home sweet home' By: Kriti Raj

'Ray on sunshine' By: Dev Popli

ART OF IMPROVISATION Words by: Natasha Chopra

Surveys reveal that people with disabilities consistently report a good quality of life. So why is it often assumed that they are unhappy? Differently-abled people's potential to work isn't about holding a pen or having the most sharpest brain. It’s all about your potential and your creativity towards your imagination. Most of the disabled workers want to work but there are some trammels which do stop them to enter into their own fantasy world and it’s not them who doesn’t promote themselves, it’s people like us who make them more weak, it’s our perspective towards them which forces them to think about there ailment, which is completely wrong. Just because we people are favoured with possibly everything perfect in our bodies doesn’t mean the one who are handicapped or poor aren’t part of this world. They are humans too, just like us or even better than us. Why better?

Because we all so called 'perfect' people are running in a race where we all trying to make something really interchangeable. We aren’t thinking anything futuristic. We aren’t encouraging our imagination and creativity because we all are bound in a same box and hence have become more like robots and probably have stopped thinking like humans. But these people whom we call 'handicapped' are actually thinking like humans, they aren’t aware of any word like 'competition,' all that matters to them is there happiness. They work for themselves, for there self satisfaction and this is why they look different from us. It's not their disability which makes them different but their creativity and innovative ideas which makes them different from us.

Talking about innovation and creativity in the imperfect world, here we will introduce you to one of the most influential non profit organisation, GOONJ. Goonj is an NGO that started in the year 1999 by founder Anshu Gupta in New Delhi. His only aim is to treat cloth as something more vigorous than just alms giving object. It aims at using underused cloth and other things as an influential mechanism for a social cause. Every year the organisation plans something fresh to help the disaster affected people this time. One of the most powerful initiative by the Goonj is 'not just a piece of cloth,' also known as NJPC. What was the concept behind NJPC? Well we had a word with one of the workers there namely, Mr. Dashrat vedi and he told us that, "it’s almost a decade when we came across this frightful story of a woman who died of tetanus due to a rusted hook in her blouse which she used during her periods. She wasn’t aware of it and the consequences. During that time we had no idea about the profound relationship between cloth and periods of a women and then this frightful story led us to go deeper into this issue. We strongly feel that the issue of menstrual hygiene is much more than a concern in India." Nearly 69% of rural Indian women are not accessible to sanitary pads and this is what made Goonj travel across the country to find that why aren’t they accessible to it.

"Goonj is a genesis of a parellel economy which is not 'Cash' based but 'Trash' based." -Anshu Gupta While doing the survey they found out that that these women usually use cloth during menstruation but when they don’t have clean cloth, in the absence of it , these women in villages and city slums use rags, sand, ash, dry leaves, dry cow dunk etc to deal with it which according to gynecologists causes infections and harmful diseases, leading to cancer. Knowing so many negative aspects to it, Goonj started NJPC. It’s approach is original in its capability. The recyclable cotton cloth material which people donate, they process it and then sort them into different categories, they then cut them into a sanitary napkin size and hence before proceeding towards the next step, they make sure to check if any harmful thing is not left over within the pad with a magnetic machine and then they convert it into sanitary napkins by packing them in a beautiful bag by the name 'MY PAD.' They also put an instruction form into it which tells the women as to how to reuse it and what to do and what not do and the most pleasing thing about that form is that it also tells them not to follow any myth during menstruation which these girls are taught. Not only NJPC, Goonj along has taken many other strong initiatves with it.

Other one is, 'Daan Utsav' in which they are creating a huge difference by contributing family kits, school kits, and women dignity kits for women. People who are effected in natural disasters and many other aspects whose needs are not wholly filled by government are being filled by them. Millions of donations are done at Goonj by people and out of those they have accomplished in making these kits. Materials like utensils, footwear, school material, office stationery, wedding clothes, grocery etc are being donated in a large number from cities as an influential expansion resource in the remote villages of India. Every year this organisation plans something inventive. These kits and other things are given to people as a parallel economy which is not cash but trash based. Every year more than 2,000 people take initiatives in developmental activities and receive family kits as a reward for there efforts, whereas students who are not able to continue there studies because of the financial crises, students kits are given to them as a motivational act which will bring a positive change towards their studies. Goonj deals with almost 3000 tons of material yearly. This material reaches these people as a source of income as these people take up large scale work like recharging water bodies, rebuilding local infrastructure, education. It has also conducted the organised changes in the disaster relief and rehabilitation work. Goonj has also opened up the most vital issue of menstrual hygiene and providing clean cotton cloth.There is comparatively easy alteration to the creative arts in order to make it approachable to students who are blind or visually impaired. India is a new home to the world’s largest number of visually impaired people. Every year 30.000 children are added to these special institutes in order to provide education and creativity learning. 'Andh Mahavidyalaya' is one of the leading government institutes in Delhi which offers free education to the students from primary to high school. The training includes writing and reading through braille and even mobility training for totally blind children. The school offers free shelter to these children. The school has an environment which provides positive and motivational aura to these people and boost them to work harder. The curriculum of the school focuses on the life skills like many extracurricular activities like yoga, music, dance, arts and crafts. The school has a computer training too equipped with screen reading software to assist and enable the visually impaired to work with computers.

It is so pleasing to see that these 18 children studying in the blind school are capable of doing possibly each and every thing without even realising the imperfection and it does reflect in their work. We can see that how proud these people are of there capabilities, from writing poems, learning abacus, solving math equations and working on computers and what not. One of the students there while playing his favourite song on the instrument, I asked him, what is your dream? To my question he said, “I am really fond of music, In my free time I usually listen to radios and I want to become a RJ because it will help me to get in touch with people through my voice and my taste towards of music.” With such motivation and confidence we are sure that these talented children will definitely mark themselves better than us. I asked another student of their class that how do you respond to negative reaction to your visual impairment? To that she said, “I believe that negative reaction is two way or the best part is to ignore it. I never feel ashamed of it, Probably all of us are imperfect and hence we could not stop ourselves from achieving our dreams. I am pretty much sure not many blind people really know how sighted people look at world, which then causes stereotyping both ways. I like to tell people about my blindness and to encourage them to explore my world. I try to be an independent girl as much as it's possible.” We all live in a same world, we all have the same bodies and same features. It's just our perspective towards it. When knowing these visually impaired people, the only difference I see between normal and disabled people is that the normal ones have not discovered themselves. The very first thing which comes to my mind when labeling someone disabled is the power itself, people aren’t and shouldn’t be marked with anything, be it poor or disabled. Its all about your vision towards a change, Just as Anshu Gupta gave a thought towards the change for all the less fortunate people and by how these blind schools are making this world feasible for them despite keeping their imperfections aside, we all can join the same race by encouraging it. Some imperfections are visible in the case of disabled people while some are not.

It’s all about your vision towards a better living. 83

D I F F E R E N T

BRAILLEÂ IS NOT A

LANGUAGE 84

Words by: Anushree Banerjee

My stretch marks, social beauty standards, and the irony of ‘FLAWS.’

The fleetness of my changeover from girlhood or womanhood was faithfully marked on my hips. The lines made their enduring residence there and they do not plan on leaving anytime soon. Nor do I want them to. Even as a teen, I always thought of my stretch marks as animal prints.. But I am not the only woman with a divine body. In fact, I am in a great community. When asked to a Skin care specialist, Dr. Sehar Sharma, she said, “more than seventy percent of women have stretch marks. These marks appear when the middle skin layer grows so fast that our collagen, a major protein component in our connective tissue. When it is in short supply, these marks start to grow and production is interrupted. I see this as a great thing.” But as I grew older, I suddenly understood that stretch marks, scars, and things of this sort are not meant to flaunt or being viewed from a positive perspective. They are meant to hide under our clothes, and must negatively seen as we stand in front of the mirrors. Taiye Selasi a writer by profession said in her article, "nothing here needs fixing that's why I stopped listening to the beauty industry." Dr. Sehar sharma continues by saying that “the cosmetics monopoly flourishes on fanning women’s

decruoS

STRETCH THE MARKS hesitancy, convincing us that there is always something to be fixed. Their branding strategy is as smart as it is sinful, making people believe that there are endless problems with the appearance of women’s bodies.” By happy chance, from the past few years, there has been a cut down to negative body image. Several campaigns have been floated, encouraging us to love our flaws. And the more that phrase has become a popular notion, the more I could not resist but take it as the irony in that statement. I mean think about it, if there is a flaw, there is some or the other standard attached. We simply can not call something flawed without the actuality of its standard. And when it comes to a women’s beauty, the standards are often set by the person shown in the media pitch which we consume. In virtual space, what our eyes behold to be a realistic standard does not actually survive. And if the standard doesn’t survive, then neither do my 'flaws.' This is why I refuse to call my stretch marks or even the small space in between my teeth 'flaws.' I refuse to glance these parts of my body as 'issues.' The human body is not the issue, the society is. Now I watch every mark, every freckle, every dot and every little feature on my body with the lights on.

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PERIOD SHAMING Words by: Anushree Banerjee

The strife to end period shamming is going mainstream. Let’s proceed with what is obvious: Every woman in the human history had or has gone through menstruation. Each month it returns to the origin. And this process is as usual as eating, drinking and sleeping. Plus nevertheless, it is beautiful too. There is no human race without it. Yet most of us feel disgusted while talking about it. When girls first start menstruating, that is the time when they hit puberty. It hurts. PERIODS! they really hurt. It gives cramps and backaches, emotional breakdowns and mood strokes and this goes on each month until 40 years. In public, people discuss periods as often as they discuss Epilepsy. When asked from young girls, they said quite a few things which somehow was related to period shamming. The things such as they hide pads or tampons down in their socks on their way to the bathroom, so no one gets to know that it’s their 'that time of the month.' Most of the girls get stains of blood on their clothes. They also stick clumps of tissues or toilet papers in their underwear when they are out of napkins. Meanwhile, ad campaigns sanitise this stupid mess with bytes of blue liquid gently falling onto the cotton pads while women trick in from-fitting white jeans. Have you ever thought, what would happen, if suddenly, men could menstruate and women could not. The answer is clear, menstruation would become a desirable, fortunate and masculine event. A world where “men-struation” justifies men’s place pretty much everywhere. So girls, embrace the beauty flowing within you and never hide it just because you are women. Let’s make the flaw flow hard.

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH PRANAV KALRA

101Â

Embracing imperfections through the lens of a young aspiring photographer, Pranav Kalra, a 21-year-old, communication student who has an immense passion for photography. All his photographs have a story to tell, which will make you walk away with a question or two in your minds.Â Interview by: Samiksha Gupta

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SG: Your photographs are always placed against an imperfect background. Like many other photographers, you don't do many indoor shoots with fancy backdrops. Why?

psychology you know? When you give someone very little information, they tend to seek more. That's where the curiosity arouses. That's what I like doing. There has to be an enigma.

PK: Studio shoots are way too mainstream. And besides that, everything inside a photo studio is very artificial. That is why I like clicking pictures with a natural background. The juxtaposition of nature with humans and the beauty that comes with it, is incomparable. When you place your object or even your model against an artificially fancy background, the essence of reality is lost and gone.

SG: Imperfections are clearly visible in all your photographs. Your pictures are raw and unedited. Any specific reason behind it?

house which is not used by anyone anymore, has in itself a story to communicate. Old walls, dried out plants, worn out and broken products are some of the things I like to shoot. The whole phenomenon of ageing really impresses me. It's like a certain thing has been there for years or maybe decades or even more than that. Something which once was valued and loved, but now nobody cares for it because it has lost it's charm. People don't understand the natural process of aging and start depreciating things and even humans.

Q&a SG: Even when you choose to click your photographs in nature itself, still your backgrounds aren't very scenic or showcase any kind of flora or fauna. The spirit of nature is still not there. Rather your backgrounds are really worn and torn. Why would you deliberately choose such scenery? PK: When it comes to nature, instantly the flashy images of flora and fauna, beautiful landscapes pop up in our minds. But the beauty of nature is not limited to just the newly grown flowers or huge fancy trees. I think people are always obsessed with new and fresh looking things. They want to see the beauty which is reflects on the outside. Nobody wants to dig deeper. This is the main reason why I deliberately run away from doing cliche photography. I want to show essence of wear and tear. There's beauty in worn out nature as well. They look depreciated and rugged and that's where the real beauty lies.

SG: The story that you want to narrate through your photographs is not at all explicit and obvious. Why so? PK: I am an artist. If I put everything out there which is direct and clear, things will get monotonous. It's human

PK: Well, the irony is that being a photographer, I hate using Photoshop. I don't like editing my photos and why should I? As I mentioned earlier, the essence of reality gets lost. Nowadays, people want to smooth and correct each and every physical imperfection on their bodies. But I am totally against it. We're humans and imperfections are a part of our lives, instead of hiding and running away from them, why not simply embrace them? I like my photographs with blemishes, it's earthling.

SG: Most your pictures have plain white walls behind them. Why do you use specifically white coloured walls? PK: I mean, I have used bright coloured walls like red, blue and yellow before in photographs. But then, there is something about white walls, that works well for me. A white wall is like a blank page. Or maybe like a canvas. Just like an artist, I feel like this my blank canvas and now I can create anything on it that I want. But with other colours, I don't get this kind of creative freedom.

SG: Besides human photography, you seem to be interested in object and product photography as well. And again the essence of imperfection is reflected in your still life photography. Would you like to comment something on this? PK: I feel just like humans, objects also have a story to tell. My still life works usually includes old, worn out and vintage items. Like an old vintage car, parked inside a

SG: Human emotions are depicted strongly in your photographs. And these are not candid shots, you usually tell your models to act those emotions. You respect originality so much, then why don't you shoot pictures where the emotions are real and natural? Why do you make them act?

PK: Yes, I respect everything that is original and natural. But here, it's not about originality. When I shoot, it's like a story that I am producing. So just like actors have to act everything and still make it look like it's a real story, that's the same thing which I try to do in my photographs. And as you know, I like everything that is human, whether it created, performed or naturally existing. Until and unless, it looks real and leaves an impact, the mode of creation doesn't matter. An artist has to take inspiration from the real world outside and then manifest it, in his own way. That's what I do.

SG: What inspired you to do this kind of photography? What were some of the influences? PK: These days people have a certain image in their minds, as to how they should look and they are trying to achieve that through editing. I felt I need to bring the acceptance of originality back and there was no better way to achieve that than through my medium of art.

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PSIDE DOW

Words by: Natasha Chopra

After food, the most crucial scrutiny while choosing a restaurant or cafe is its ambiance and interiors. Here are some of the most imperfect yet perfect restaurants from across the capital that score big on both.

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Restaurants today are going through an uninterrupted mutation. The new age of eatery goers is judicious yet refined and assesses your restaurant’s aura, along with the food quality before drifting into it. Not only are the interiors of a joint meant to give it a tidy and sophisticated look, the trend of theme based restaurants have also picked up. These days restaurants have started adapting more of a unique and offbeat look. Therefore, it’s not rigid coming across with Italian, Chinese or Arabic theme or cafes with the Rock ‘n’ Roll theme. The triumph of these restaurants is predominantly dependent on the customer service you provide. Although, what tempts your customers to your restaurants and keep them will rely not only towards the good food but the interior design as well. Delhi has a myriad culture, which is also manifested in its eating norms. People are now more open to traverse new experiences, and many of the restaurants has come up to nauseate Delhi's food lovers eagerness. It’s not just a new cookery that the customers are looking for, but also quirky and innovative ambiance, that gives them a unique and memorable dining experience. Imperfection is that one bizarre thing that’s really coming these days and this article will serve as an attendant to the top eccentric restaurants in Delhi. One of them is Echoes in Satya Niketan, which hybridise social cause with an amazing food. It’s a restaurant where all the helpers are unalike abled. Well, one eatery has a distinctive experience in a store for its diners. When you enter it, you see a smiling server giving you a board that

reads: 'Eat, engage, energise café,' managed by differently disabled staff. Echoes cafe opened in December 2015, it’s run by six deaf and mute impaired staff. It’s so pleasing to see the idea that on each table there are few cards that reads: Menu please, fork please, water please etc so that whatever the need is required by a customer, he can hold that placard to get quick service. It has a distinctive concept of bells and light bulbs which means if a customer wants to call a waiter they can ring the bell attached to their respective tables. The bells are connected to a sequence of bulb noted with the number of the parallel table so that it’s easy for waiters to recognise the table once a bulb lights up. The restaurant offers continental, Italian, Mexican and Chinese cuisine. To lessen the confusion, each food item on the menu has been given a code that the customer can write on the note pad at their table. Negotiating the communication gap between the customers and the waiters was the biggest challenge for the owners, but they came with a solution which eventually has made the cafe’s name and has become a symbol for a social cause. “We wanted to be different so, we thought of intriguing the place on the theme of ‘motivation',” said Kshitij Behl, who opened the eatery along with his mates Sahil, Sahib Gaurav, Shivansh and Prateek “But we still felt that something was absent. It then hit us that maybe we could create a prototype by getting deaf and mute impaired people to run the café. We saw 106

THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS ALWAYS BEING UNIQUE 107

differently-abled people do back-end jobs and even no jobs at times and our aim was to bring them into the spotlight,” Mr. Behl said. Talking about the imperfection how can we forget The Junkyard café in Connaught place which confutes its name and brings a fresh, healthy meal to the table. The Café, doing egalitarianism to its name, has the décor made unreservedly out of junk. The first thing that strikes is the unique interior. The sofas made out of mother boards of computer, car bonnets, automobile parts gathered into a robot-like structure, a junk dinosaur and the list goes on. One part of the roof is made up wholly of bottles and the the alluring interiors made of recycled objects. Once you figure out its second floor location in Connaught Place though, nothing could be more open, from the stone border entrance to the commodious interiors, the whole restaurant respires in wide spaces. Rusty wrenches, irregular furniture and sprockets welded arts, waiters dressed in mechanical dungarees and hats, and even a life size World War I aeroplane model, done up entirely in wood and making it difficult to take our eyes off from the neighbouring and focus on the menu. Coming now to Cafe Imperfecto: Imperfecto, because perfect is way too

monotonous. It is located right at the starting of Hauz Khas Village, it demonstrates to be tremendously attainable and the bright exteriors are embracing. The theme followed by the entire café is clearly observable i.e Perfect yet Imperfect. It’s a blonde coloured structure with an unique extrinsic and never ending crazy steps leading up to the floor number third is what makes Imperfecto, an eye catcher to everyone. There are distinctive illustrations that has been doodled till top. There’s an insertion with a fusion of assorted locks and one with a pink colored scooter ascended on the wall. Though the climb is pretty prosaic, the design team has ensured it’s still congenial. Nuria Rodriguez Parra, founder of the café imperfecto and who is also the Head Chef of the joint.

Each and every design and item of décor is a fabrication of her innovation. The café has been inspired by the country Spain, right from the interiors, cookery, arrangements and even their music, has a connection with Spanish culture. The lighting designed in the café is flat, yet there is an adequate amount of sunlight as there are big French style windows with no drapes. There are few pipes emulsion in red and black on the ceiling which communicates countrified appeal. A distinctive commodity that has been used in amplitude throughout is hay. It manifestly is common in Goa, but is tropical when used here in the heart throb of Delhi. The intelligent use of hay makes the atmosphere stress free. The concept of order among chaos is noticeable in the seating arrangements. Every provision is different from each other, everything seems to be in symmetry, Keeping in mind about the imperfect theme this eatery has not forgotten about the sitting arrangements which has an unusual coalition of chairs and distinctive table which will surprise any guest about how perfectly these people are embracing the imperfect furniture, you will see some of the chairs are made of wood while others are sack wrapped ottomans with vibrant cushions embracing the meaning. Nothing seems to be out of place as it describes

perfectly imperfect. It’s somewhere funny yet so delightful to see that how people are changing there approach towards the imperfection. We all have different things in our homes that are imperfect and pretty in there own way be it an an old chair that has been with our family since ages, an evanescence tablecloth brought out for remarkable occasions, or some part of jewelry or an ornament that has been regulated and many more things like these. We shouldn’t be afraid of them or probably shouldn’t keep them in a store room. If you all can love what these beautiful eateries has and love going there again and again because of that quirkiness then why can’t we all do the same justice to our own place. We should be proud of the historic essence of those objects, beautiful stories behind them, and how the beautiful imperfection lies within it despite how ripped the things are.

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.sevil tluda ruo tifeneb thgim yeht woh ees ot snoitcefrepmi Â dellac os eseht fo emos tisiver eW .seceip nekorb ro dlo ,sehtolc tuo nrot si ti rehtehw ,lamron naht ssel leef su sekam taht spu gnah evah lla eW

Â .niaga elohw flesruoy ekam ot eganam uoy ,tib yb tib ,eceip yb eceip dnA .sesiurb nwo ruoy erutrun dna stnemgarf esoht pu kcip uoy ,sneerehtims ot dehsams si era uoy ohw fo ecnesse eht nehw ,nekorb si tirips ruoy nehW Â :seceip nekorb eht ni lufituaeb erom dna regnorts emoceb ew neht tub ,su skaerb efiL

.thgil eht si ti ,lennut eht fo dne eht ta ssenkrad eht ton si ti ,dne ehT .semoc syawla ti tuB .stbuod gniregnil htiw dna erusnu ,emoc yam tI .lluf eht ni tnatluxe ,enacirruh eht ekil emoc yam tI .dne eht syawla si erehT :gnivil eht ot repsihw a si ,fael a fo llaf ehT

.srieht ton ,noitaerc ruoy si siht ,kniht srehto tahw fo sseldrager ,yppah uoy sekam tahw fo erom oD .noitisop ruoy nodnaba uoy sselnu ,uoy ot sneppah taht gnihtemos ton s'tI .elbidercni ti ekam dna ti epahs ot deen uoy sgniht tsom evah uoY .noitaerc ruoy si efil ruoY :seod enoyreve llitS .ton si tahw dna ',tcefrep' si tahw ediced ot eno on s'erehT

.yaw eht fo tser eht ot uoy ekat lliw raf siht uoy deirrac hcihw htgnerts eht taht wonk tsuj ,rehtruf yna og t'nac uoy ekil leef uoy nehW :gnidnats llits ,nekorb yllufituaeB

.sgniht fo ssennekorb eht htiw Â ,noitatnorfnoc eht htiw si tI .si noitcerruser eht erehw s'taht dna ,ni steg thgil Â eht erehw s'taht tuB .rehtegot tup uoy taht gnihtyreve ni kcarc a si erehT :ni steg thgil eht woh s'taht ,gnihtyreve ni kcarc si erehT

.esira efil fo smrof emos ,yaced fo tnanmer das hcae roF Â .seid gnihton erutan nI .htaed sa gniht hcus on si erehT ?swonk ohW Â ?tsopmoc otni nehw snrut ro dees ot seog ti nehW ?srewolf ti nehW ?etelpmoc tnalp eht si nehW

.neht emitefil a erahs ll'ew ebyaM Â .yrots tnereffid a ni sretcarahc sa ,niaga teem lliw ew ,yad eno spahreP :niaga teem ot trap ylno eW

Â .tcejbo desu llew ,devol llew a etacidni raet dna raewÂ fo sngis emos dna tcefrepmi ylsuoirolg dna yssem si efiL :tra emaceb I ,hctits yreve htiW

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.wef nesohc a yb ,ylpeed yrev os devol tuB .enoyreve yb devol eb ot dlo ooT .smeop ni erutpac eb ot dlo ooT .dlo sraey fo sdnasuoht si taht uoy edisni gniht lufituaeb a si erehT :luos evah secalp dlO

Old places are worth preserving.

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DISCONNECTED CONNECTION Words by: Eshan Khanna

Acceptance leads to fluidity and if we really worship nature, we must implement its rules in our lives.

e are surrounded by many things, most of which are gifts for us by mother nature. The air we breathe in, the water that lets us sustain, the forest and products that help us thrive in the environment. We are grateful for the things that we have gotten and those which we use as though they belong entirely and exclusively to us. We will never in any way be able to pay back for the things which we have gotten for free. Not only life sustaining products, but the nature also gives us the things to draw comparisons with. As soothing as the night sky, as beautiful as the sky after rain, as pleasant as the petrichor, as comforting as the shade of a tree on a hot day etc, we come across such statements almost every day in our materialistic life. These statements are used to define the beauty of nature in all its aspects and it is not wrong to say that nature is indeed beautiful, but there is other side to the coin too, the nature too has flaws just as we humans have. Nothing is perfect. The moon which is referred to as the messenger of lovers also has spots on it, but ignoring that, we still believe moon to be beautiful. But when it comes to accepting a person who has scars, we resort to our double standards and that person has no beauty according to us. Such double standards have taken over the human soul which we were given.

By Joyce Wright Photographs by Mark Halberg

A flower with vaguely cut leaves becomes unique and is praised for its beauty. But a handicapped person, suddenly becomes unacceptable to society at once. A tree, no matter how old, never loses its importance to people but as our elders grow old, they become the most unimportant ones for us. A branch which grows as an epiphyte, is praised for its efforts, but a person who grows the same way becomes the most criticised one. If by chance a nonxerophyte grows in desert conditions, it becomes the talk of the town for being a fighter, but a man who grows from level zero in a place where his ancestors didn’t fit is looked down upon as a criminal and his hard work is given no importance. We close our eyes to the flaws of the nature but act as vultures to the vulnerabilities of other humans.

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Everyone has flaws, if we look inside us then we will realise that finding weaknesses in our fellows is our biggest flaw. We share an intimate connection with each other, a connection that is very strong. We both are useless without each other. The Sun, the prime source of light is important, but a father, the prime source of light for the family is passed into oblivion when we become capable enough. Even the devastating aspects of the natural forces do not decrease the beauty of nature in our eyes. We are too lazy to find blemishes in nature, because for us nature is just the provider of things and we don’t want to prove ourselves to be greater than nature, but finding flaws in humans give us a feeling of unparalleled contentment and that is why we do it blindly. Vaguely grown trees, bent and stoop, making loops in their trunks are appreciated but bent and stoop people are made fun of. Irrespective of the fact that no one chooses an ailing life for himself, the diseased people become a matter of fun and joke but a rotten tree or flower with uneven colour patterns and patches is still admired in the earlier days of its disease, for it being unique. Although such beauty is only admired by the people who are not experts in botany, but yes, it is admired. When the shade of an old tree can be calming, why cannot the shade of a grandparent be calming and if it is soothing, why do we leave such a beautiful thing to move into a nuclear family. If a silent sky at night can be extremely soothing to us and can help us find answers to some unanswered questions, then why is that silent boy at school bullied for always being quiet and why is the silence of a night appreciated, when both of them don’t say anything to us!. And if a black sky can be beautiful to us then why can’t a black person be beautiful to us, why do we differentiate on the basis of colour? If a clean place after rain can give us a broad smile, then why can’t a person pure at heart, but not fitting in the criteria of ‘beautiful people’ made by the society become the reason for happiness irrespective of his colour or religion.

CATCH SOME WAVES IN

LAGUNA BEACH By Joyce Wright Photographs by Mark Halberg

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Naresh, a 26-year-old man, who is handicapped explained how he managed his obstacles while carrying out his disability. He explained, “I wake up at 5 a.m. and take a bath and get ready for my first job of washing cars. From 6 a.m. in the morning till 12 p.m. in the afternoon, I wash more than 20 cars. I return home tired and take a nap. In the evening, I set up a food stall locally serving Chinese burgers and dim sums. I don’t see my self any different than you but it’s the remorseless society which we live in, which keeps on ridiculing my ailment, looking at me from a different set of eyes and the way I am.” Every person is good, it just takes the right eyes to see. If we sit down and start noticing blemishes, then we can even take them out in the lord too. We must understand that irrespective of the ample flaws in nature, it is the most beautiful thing of our life, in the similar way if the flaws of people around us are kept aside they become beautiful too. God made everyone beautiful and as we ignore the defects of nature each time, we must also ignore the flaws of humans and then see the difference. Seeing everything as alluring, makes our own life a better place to live in and since nature and all its beings are gifts to us, we are no one to let anyone down on the basis of their differences with the rest of the people. If differences are the reason of uniqueness, then those people are distinctive and alas! we are all the same. When we are blindfolded to the flaws of nature, we must also be blindfolded to the flaws of others. So, lets grow up and grow out from our double standards and make the world beautiful for everyone else too. Change your thinking, it brings a big difference!

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Everything wears out, so does your make-up.

Nothing worth having comes easy.

DISTRESS TO IMPRESS Words by:Natasha Chopra

It doesn’t really matter how you got your rips in your clothes. We all can come up with an interesting back story for our shredded clothes

ear and tear is harm that normally and definitely happens because of typical wear or maturing. It is a type of devaluation which is believed to happen even when an item, is used effectively and with care and legitimate upkeeping. Perhaps one of the most delicate individual matter you can lift with people is that of their attire. How you dress up has become a completely private business. But people will judge you. Be it your choice of clothes or accessories. Even talking about fashion shows we all see how these designers are elevating the fashion onto a next level. Talking about the trend 'one two punch' where we can possibly combine two clothes at the same time making it look as fashionable and trendy as possible. The world of high end fashion has now declared 'distressed' clothing as dapper. These days fashion designers are using digital technology to show special effects when it comes to wear and tear. They are even getting moth eaten clothes and even torches and gun shot to show how beautiful a torn cloth can look. You really won’t believe but

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but professionals are using,air guns, blow torches, sanding appliances, lasers, loose threads, faded fabrics and wide holes. Nordstrom has just sold a $425 pair of denims with a mud caked look. When these experts can do such insane experiments then why can’t we? You really don’t have to justify about your wear or even ripped shoes. Your ripped shoes showcases that it’s journey that you have gone through. Clothing shoud be comfortable. There’s nothing wrong in wearing shredded clothes, its part of our lives.

A pair of shoes, steaming after a hot day of wear and tear.

According to a VOX populi that we conducted amongst teenagers aged between 19 to 21 years, at the Pearl academy of fashion campus, Rajourie Garden, most declared, “The main idea behind clothing is to feel comfortable not the protection, if you like wearing your worn out clothes, wear it! You can mix match your clothes with your creativity

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and look stylish.” Every story has two sides, above statement was given by the present day teens but to know how our parent's generation think we asked the same question, to that they said, “Wearing torn garments has turned into a design proclamation that says a person is cheerful, uninhibited and independent. Incidentally, such 'autonomous' individuals are running to the design in a race to look simply like every other person. Additionally, the individuals who purchase ripped-up apparels are likely getting ripped off. Kids these days are really into the trends and hence they really don’t care what we tell them, all that matters to them is there style” The assumption of 'distressed' clothing everywhere, it is an expression of individuality not any sort of submission. By accepting them, you become an independent thinker not a labour of fashion.

Worn out sweater? wear it inside out.

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he world today has become distance less. Everything and everyone today is just a click away. Even people in the farthest corners of the world are connected by means of revolutionary technology of internet and the biggest boon that has brought out the most of the internet, is the social media. The world today drools over the profiles on social media. Life nowadays is about uploading and getting likes. It although teaches us many things but social media now has become the best platform to hide one’s imperfections. With phone calls changing to chats and compliments changing into ‘comments’ people tend to see each other less and meet only at online platforms. People in earlier times were humble enough to accept the things they didn’t know but now people are becoming egoistic, they don’t want to learn new things. Improving one’s vocabulary is not important now because since a simple ‘nice’ or‘ awesome’ would do it, so who needs to know about ‘astounding’ and ‘stupendous’. With photos being edited to enhance their beauty and forgetting that beauty is not just white and a certain set of dimensions. With more and more editing apps being launched each day and becoming more accessible, photos and people have lost their true identity. With people focusing more on using face filters to look cute and better and ignoring that fact that it is more important to filter the negative thoughts than to filter photos, we are actually taking the society towards a very dark future where it would be difficult to know the reality of people. With smartphones becoming smarter and people becoming their slaves, the recent introduction of camera applications which ‘beautifies’ a picture before clicking it is an example of how dumb we can be in order to fit into the criteria set by some people. It is really depressing to know that people today are focusing on hiding their imperfections instead of focusing on improving them. Though it cannot be said that having a weak vocabulary is an imperfection or a weakness, but not accepting it makes it an imperfection. One must accept the way he is and once he does that, he has won half of the battle.

Hide all and seek never Words by: Eshan Khanna

Technology was created for the betterment of the human civilisation. Was it really? or are we using it in a whole new way?

To know more on this I interviewed a blogger whose name is Dhruvi Gupta, a 22-year-old and from the blog ‘thewardrobeshenanigans.’ She says, “Being a blogger doesn’t come easy, you have to make your each day and post look like you are having a good time. These days, the high standards are set , it’s not just the celebrities but also your friends and fellow colleagues. Social media has caused us to curate a life which seems perfect and enviable. It makes us put a lot of effort into editing our pictures, each picture needs to be bright and colourful. This not only creates stress but also sets impossible standards and that’s not just for the others, but also for the person posting that picture. Because all the following pictures must be better than the previous one." Certain social media sites have been instrumental in showing the sparkling and glorious part of one’s life. It has now become common among people to exaggerate their life. We all tend to hide what exactly our life is and in the race to become cool, we start hiding our shortcomings. Everyone has their own reason of resorting to various social media sites to take over to a life which doesn’t belong to them and to which they don’t belong. Being fake does no good to anyone. Having a fake profile shows the cowardliness of a person. One who is not able to accept himself should never expect from the society to accept him. It is the need of the hour that we realise no human is perfect, but persistence is the key tool to overcome the short-comings of one’s life and walk on the path to a beautiful and a real life.

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LO VE YO URS ELF AND YO URBODY WILL LO VE YO U BACK

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Words by: Anushree Banerjee

Love yourself and your life will change, almost all of us have some or the other day heard this advice. Yet, none of us realise that self-love and selfconfidence not only changes our lives, but it may also last longer.

his is extremely true that women often think that their bodies especially their vaginas are something to shy from or to be ashamed of. Some personally believe that it does not look nice to talk about vaginas in public, and exclusively not when a problem arises. Dr. Seema Gupta says, “It is not new that many women prefer to suffer alone rather than consulting any gynecologist. They are simply afraid to talk about their vaginal indications to a stranger, others are shy to undress and then those who don’t want to answer embarrassing questions.”

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to not shave your pubic hair completely, to letting them grown wild. It’s after all an individual choice. You must be thinking about what could be reason to let your pubes grow naturally wild, ain't you? So here you go:

A gynecological examination is always recommended by doctors at least once a year. Even if we feel completely healthy about ourselves.

You should avoid ingrown hair. The more the in-growns the more dark your skin will look. Better to keep it untouched. You should avoid using razors. It burns the pubic region and leads to irritation and rashes. It gives you comfort. Your pubic hair is designed to give you protection. Not only from bacteria, but also from those day-to-day uncomfortable scenarios. It provides you with a shield. SO BASICALLY, YOUR HAIR IS A SUPERHERO!

In today's generation looking neat and clean from outside has become a trend. A trend which will always remain a classic and will never go out of talk. Girls during their mid or late 20’s, if were ever told to not to shave their pubic hair. They will undoubtedly give you an, "ew! Isn’t that gross?" And if you think you’re one of them, then you’re not alone. Most of the people believe that the hair down there is unattractive. It’s totally ok

To be very honest, there are way too many reasons to not to shave your very own pubic hair. And just let them grow wild. Love yourself and embrace your body just the way it is supposed to be and you will never regret. Just let loose your mind, don’t feel pressurised ever to make your decisions. Always stay in your comfort zone. It’s your body and yours alone, so you should be the one to make all the decisions..

waters changes everything.