International women’s day is marked on the 8th of March every year. The focus of the celebration ranges from the general celebration of the respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration of women’s economic, political and social achievements. Over a period of time the position of women and their status in society has gone through rapid changes. The first international women’s day was observed on 28th February in the United States .Inspired by their American counterparts the German socialists established the international women’s association. Hence as a result of increasing consciousness amongst women across the world about their rights and powers March 8th was proclaimed as the UN day for women’s rights and world peace.

As the years have passed by women have become more aware of their rights and capabilities. They have fought patriarchy, gender biasness and various social evils to come out and make their presence felt .Various events like the International Committee of Red Cross, FEMEN etc have worked towards drawing attention of the society towards the hardships women endure. This year too International women’s day has made its presence felt in a big way.  Today's Google Doodle is a montage of chubby female cartoon faces of all ethnicities swooshed together. Women’s Day 2013 is making its presence felt on laptops, smart phones and PCs the world over. But is one day enough? Here are the social media heroes (and heroines) who have fought the feminist battle day in, day out, and are campaigning to remind us what more still needs to be done.

Recent cases of sexual harassment and rape in our country is a constant reminder that a lot needs to be done to empower the women of our country. The ONE BILLION RISING was one such effort to mobilize women across the world against social evils like domestic violence, rape, eve teasing

“We Come out dancing, Come out singing,

Let us strike together and rise together

We rise with passion, we rise in anger

Holding hands we rise together

We are the One Billion Rising

To root out violence against women”

-One Billion Rising

We can face adversity and still walk tall.
We are strong, beautiful, and compassionate and much more than words could ever say!
Today was ours, and so is ever other day.
Happy Women’s Day!


Pooja Singh
Columnist

The book was originally titled ‘Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life’ and has proved to be true to its title by almost everyone who has read it. It is a simple parable told in less than 100 pages, most of which has just a picture of cheese with a saying on it. But it’s not just the length of the story that will make the reader like this book. Who Moved My Cheese is one of those books that everyone can relate to. The story is based on the very fact of life that we all succumb to at some point in our lives: change. In work, as in life, we all face changes that we find hard to accept or deal with. Although the sentence “this book changed my life forever” is as fraudulent as it sounds, books certainly help in giving a new perspective to the way we approach the changes in our life. ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ is one such book that will make you think without putting too much pressure on your head.

It’s a story about four characters: two mice named Sniff and Scurry, and two little people or miniature human beings named Hem and Haw. Allegorically, these four stand for the ways in which people deal with the difficult situations in their lives. They are placed in the maze of life, searching for the cheese which is the thing that gives them happiness. When the Cheese that these four were very comfortable with suddenly vanished, their reactions were very different. While Sniff and Scurry (who had already anticipated the change) moved on, Hem and Haw felt dejected and grief-stricken. The response of Hem and Haw is what most readers would associate themselves with.

Through the course of the last 40 pages, Spencer Johnson succeeds in his work of providing an ‘amazing way to deal with changes....’

One of the very interesting parts of the book is the sayings that Hem writes on the walls. The most effective line among those is: 'What would you do if you weren't afraid?' This is what we essentially need to ask ourselves when we face a dead-end and don’t know what to do. The characters of Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw are beautifully constructed to serve the purpose of the book.

‘Who Moved My Cheese’ is considered one of the best selling business books. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37 languages. Many companies hold reading sessions of the book for their employees, thereby providing them with new ways of looking at their professional setbacks. The story, as the title says, doesn’t just stay constricted on professional front. It helps in dealing with all sorts of changes one may encounter.

So go ahead and grab the book because by the end of it, you'll have a smile on your face and a picture of New Cheese in your heart!
Happy Reading! :)

Mansi Sharma
Columnist

Was one of your New Year’s resolutions to feel less stressed out? Did you know that the majority of people who join the writing business do so because they simply love to write? When you begin, it can be hard to imagine that you would ever do anything else other than write. However, when you write for your living, you may sometimes feel the strain and the burden of writing full time. When you write out your feelings or troubles, you can ease your worries. If you would rather not reflect about your hectic life, there is the option of creative writing as a way to escape the treachery of reality.

There are many things to do before it gets to point of no return and there are many things to do to stop the joy disappearing forever. But you have no ideas, you say?

For starters you need to completely step away from your computer. It is not surprising that most writers feel stale every now and again when they sit in front of the computer day in and day out. If you start to feel restless or anxious when you're writing you need to get out, even if it's just for a short walk at the park or taking the dogs to the park. Exercise is a great way to relieve tension and can clear your mind.

Find Inspirations in people and things around you, for example, my best friends inspire me to write. They're the ones who have stuck through and read my ‘creations’ to the end. They ask questions and find loopholes in the plot for me. The easiest and best ways to come up with new ideas is at night before you go to sleep. That's when our minds wander through different ideas and really think in depth about what we can do with our writing. The second best way I get inspiration is after a good movie.

Find music that makes you tick! Visit websites like www.stereomood.com and type out the feel with which you want you work to come out with. This not only builds up an ambience, it also helps you steer clear of all the distractions that might come in your way to hinder the process of bleeding words out of you!

Sometimes if you have to write an article about a particularly hard hitting subject it can be difficult to find inspiration. Sitting at home and writing makes your chances of meeting other people for inspiration really slim, but that does not stop you! You still have many opportunities to find out what other people think, so find a good forum or a message board and see what other people's opinions are.

Another favorite way to unwind is not only writing for fun but to write with a pen and paper. Sitting at a computer can be a drag at times, staring at the same old white screen and sitting at a constant position can also be very tiring. So find out your favorite pen, and notebook and start jotting down ideas to let off some steam.

Sometimes, you will often hear people saying that writing is not their cup of tea or they don’t want to do it because it is not something they normally do, and prefer its alternatives, such as talking to a friend over the phone to vent out their emotions, but sometimes, you need a thing, you can confine to without the fear of being judged and sometimes the emotions that we write and get recorded, later, turn out to be sources of inspiration for us, later in our life, in situations.

This weekend, try this activity! You’d be surprised with the relief and satisfaction that tags along.


Anvita Mathur
Columnist