Twenty- five Seven

Personally speaking

Recent Posts

  • Titillating Tale of the Tata #FlavoursomeTuesday

    Incase you are wondering what the heck are these two round , dubious looking orbs doing in my featured image, let me set things straight.

    Finding TATA

    On the last day of my  recent trip to New Jersey, Daughter No. took me to downtown Somerville. It was unusually hot and we were the only people about but that didn’t stop us from walking down Division Square, a quaint little area where a few people were still enjoying the last few days of ‘summer’.

    We came across a quaint chocolate shop selling some amazing handcrafted chocolate. Neither of us were really in the mood to eat chocolate, nor did we want to walk away without making a purchase. So we decided to splurge on the specialty of the shop.

    “What’s your most popular chocolate? ”

    Carol, the owner of the shop, proudly displayed a hemispherical chocolate which had a shiny marbled cover. “This she said, is our most popular chocolate.”

    I had never seen any thing like it before – it had a sheen that looked like oil spill and its smooth roundness made it seem like a button or knob.

    “What is it I asked?”

    “It’s a Tata.”

    “Is it like tartare in Polish?” which I knew was used to describe raw meat.

    “No it’s tata like in tata.” and she gave a naughty, knowing look and actually chuckled.

    “And what’s that in American ?”

    “Oh it’s slang for ‘boob’”.

    Now that really floored me as I’d never heard that one before. But one lives and learns and when we got home, we dug into the chocolate which was a soft chocolate filling topped with a rose jelly and covered with the shiny couverture.

    I will forever associate this dreaded disease with a quirky, chocolate called TATA and the hearty chuckle of the good natured lady who invented it.

    On the rise

    Incidentally October  in America is designated as International Breast Cancer Awareness month. I saw a pink ribbon in  several places drawing attention to this disease that affects so many women. According to a Breast Cancer India Report, the 2012 figures cited  an alarming number of 1,45,000 new cases that were diagnosed in India alone.

    Yours Truly at MumbaiOnAHigh is launching  #FlavoursomeTuesday ,a new weekly feature  along with  Shilpa at Metanoia.

    We invite you to join us with a post on food memories both flavoursome and otherwise with the hashtag #FlavoursomeTuesday.

    Let’s bond over food.

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  • Five thoughts on Monday #MondayMusings

    As I whizz past my haze enveloped city on the Eastern Freeway , I can’t help thinking about the thoughts that were mulling around my head during the Diwali buzz.

    Thank God for less noise

    The first thought that struck me was the virtual noiseless Diwali. Yes there were a few but by and large the noise actually stopped after midnight. Surprisingly even the fireworks were subdued. This is just as well because no sooner did the rains bid farewell than the haze came down! I can just see myself coughing the rest of the year away.

    How quiet and smoke free was your Diwali?

    How genuine are WhatsApp Diwali greetings?

    Once upon a time people sent each other Diwali greetings that were hand made Then came the commercial ones that saved one the angst of coming up with something unique and creative. Then some philanthropist came up with the idea of cards supporting charities. That made spending money on a card more meaningful.Then of course came the greetings via smartphones.I’m sure lots of you have received over a hundred Diwali greetings on your very smart phones. At least I have And some of them I’ve received many times over – different senders, same message.Which makes me wonder how genuine are the wishes! On the other hand, a message even if it is a mass mailing shows that you are thought of isn’t it ?

    What is your take on WhatsApp greetings?

    What made the skeletons in Harry Weinstein’s dark and dirty closet come out just now?

    After three decades of philandering, groping and sexually abusing hundreds of women, why did it all just come to light now? And talking about this I came up with some very strange insights –

    • There is a generational difference in what constitutes sexual abuse
    • Quite a few people felt that the women actually benefited from the Dirty Harry connection and it was rather unfair to bring it up now. You can read more about this here.

    What is your stand on #MeToo?

    Gender issues

    Over the weekend I had to meet a potential tenant. For the first time the lessee was going to be the woman who was obviously the more stable bread winner. She had a regular job while he was a freelancer. So in other words he was going to be a house husband. Now I have no issues with that . What surprised me that whenever the lessee was the Man of the House , I never met the housewife unless they invited me to tea. But this time the house husband ( who actually identified the property) was present at the discussions and was an active participant in the discussion. This made me wonder

    • Are househusbands smarter than housewives?
    • Do men really wear the pants?

    What bras do women in South Mumbai wear?

    After indulging my sweet tooth over Diwali,I’m literally bursting at the seams. All of yesterday I was surfing the net looking for a suitable bra when I discovered that most on-line brands don’t have a presence in Mumbai at all. According to my google search, the top 10 Bras in India aren’t sold in any of the few South Bombay stores that sell bras. You may find them in Ghatkopar or Mulund.So this can only mean

    • SoBo women buy bras online
    • SoBo women by bras from M&S ( and such brands that are sold in Malls)
    • or when they travel abroad
    • They don’t buy online brands

    What do you think they do?

    I’d love to hear your thoughts on these thoughts that kept plaguing me during my Diwali.

    I’m linking this up with Corinne’s #MondayMusings

  • The shocking revelations of #MeToo

    Responding to #MeToo

    Ever since the Harry Weinstein scandal broke news, I’ve been thinking about this creep. Obviously many people have been thinking about it because it sparked off #MeToo a social media campaign inviting people who have experienced sexual harassment/abuse at the work place to be vocal about it.

    Over the past few days, Social Media has been a flood with #MeToo. This was a uninhibited response the call to draw awareness to the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment.

    Especially in the workplace .

    Everyone knows the story of Harry Weinstein and the sexual abuse he’s been accused of. Everyone knows the Perils is the Casting Couch. Everyone also knows about Gender Discrimination and the slights, jibes and harassment that working women face.

    But what shocked me was the number of women I personally know who faced these issues too. I was aware of the hassles they faced as working women but what I didn’t know was that they were sexually abused too.

    Which makes question what constitutes ‘Sexual Harassment?’

    Would a mere harmless endearment like ‘sweetie’ be construed as harassment? Derogatory? Patronising?

    A literal pat on the back for a job well done?

    A commiserating hug by a colleague/boss of the opposite sex?

    A playful teasing remark that is not job related ?

    Or would asking a woman employee ( whose job description doesn’t require her to) to fetch you some coffee?

    Or admiring her new haircut/outfit/look and telling her so? Is it Leacherous? Poor taste?

    Yelling at some one for a job badly done Is humiliating but is it abuse?

    Publicly upbraiding someone ? Insulting?

    An actor friend of mine once told me that the Casting Couch is a real and present danger and she opted of her high flying career out only because she didn’t want to succeed at any cost.

    Of course I don’t condone the behaviour of Harry Weinstein. Nor do I feel that people in power should abuse their position and harass those who can be harassed.

    What I really want to know about all those people who hashtagged #MeToo was how seriously damaging was the abuse they faced? Was it life changing? Was it irreparable? Was it unpardonable?

    Funnily enough, most people I spoke to thought it a bit odd that so many women who were groped by Harry took so long to talk about it . Of course we don’t forgive his behaviour but why were the victims silent ? Some of them were definitely strong enough to say NO !

    Once again I reiterate that I don’t mean to undermine the suffering of those who have faced abuse. Nor do I pardon/absolve the abusers of this offensive and disgusting behaviour.

    So with due apologies I sign off

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