Pratima Shah

Despite all odds you must remember that you are strong. Do not underestimate your power. The power of living a life of your choice, doing what you want, exploring new arenas, getting physically and mentally fit. So what if you had a bad experience? So what if you were betrayed? So what if you met the right person at the wrong time? So what if you had multiple breakups and hook ups? So what if your dream job is not the right fit for you? So what if you had a bad interview? So what if you are drudging on with life? So what if you are faking to the world? So what if you just got divorced / still single? So what, so what, so what to all the 'ifs and buts' which you think about yourself and doubt your self.  The above 'so what' questions and many more may be on your list. But despite all odds if you are alive today remember God has destined that you live the life he blessed you with. The above list could vary or match with so many of us, yet we carry on with life. We try to

  Body shaming is ubiquitous in our Indian society and all over the world. Any one takes the liberty of criticizing / making fun of somebody else’s appearance / color / clothing / anything related to that personality. It is easy to fight anything but very difficult to fight body shaming. The big proponents of body shaming are the television, the tabloids and the social media that exists now. This mass media culture has a huge role in advocating body shaming. The mass media has established the notion that a conventionally pretty woman is one who is thin and this has led to a majority of the women striving to be that woman. Overweight people are the butt of everyone’s jokes. A teenager is inundated with a tsunami of the so called perfect body images once she logs into any platform on the social media. There are viewers who even comment on these pictures. Some of the posts leave an indelible impression on the minds of teenagers who get carried away without realizing whether it is right or

  We are social animals who are caught in the webs of our relations around us. Maintaining these relations is not an easy task. One has to invest time, love, care, understanding and honesty in the relations. What if we lose one of these relations? What if we have had a long dispute with one of them? What if one of the relations betrays us? These kind of things do happen in any relation. It could be between two friends, between a couple, between 2 members in a family etc. Whenever there is an issue in a relation and it goes through turbulent times it becomes difficult for both the parties to reach to a reconciliation. Some relations just break or are severed due to the issues / lack of understanding / various other reasons like dishonesty, lies, deception, betrayal and many other factors. Sometimes both the parties do not have an effective closure. The lack of a closure gives rise to many problems within the person. The person cannot live in peace / faces health issues - physical / ment

 The pandemic phase that has escalated its reign on the planet has proved fatal for many families who have lost their near and dear ones (father / mother / husband / wife / child / brother / sister / friends / any relatives.The ones who succumbed to this virus and the ones who were tending to them are in a horrendous state of mind. The incident of the death of a loved one causes great upheaval and the person goes through an emotional crisis where he / she experiences bereavement. Apart from this there are various emotions that go on within those who are grieving for their loved ones. Emotions like shock, confusion, sadness, denial. yearning, disbelief, guilt, anger, humiliation and despair are experienced by them. These emotions are experienced even in cases when a death is expected. These emotions are natural as death of a loved one makes us numb and shocked. They may be experienced by all in varying intensity. Even the mental stability of a person could get affected by the loss becau

   If only each of us could ever anticipate the perils of opening up before someone!!! It would be a boon if we would all have the power to see through the other person and know if he  she were trustworthy or not. All of us pay a huge price when we trust a wrong person and vent out our darkest fears / sorrows / mistakes. We are taken away by the good looks, some behavior at a particular moment or some charisma that follows. Thus we end up risking our secrets to someone who is more troublesome than the worth they hold. There are people who 'sleep their way to the top' by using their charm, sex appeal or anything through which they achieve what they desire.Amidst all these wolves, thankfully we do have people who are our genuine friends and before whom we can open up without inhibitions and any risk. But the point is - the worst that we face when we open up before the wrong set of people. We are left with more troubles and immense pain that the betrayal has caused. The betrayal o

  When I look at women around me I witness the kind of issues that they all are struggling with. Everyone on this planet is fighting their own personal battles. But being the nurturer of the family it is highly imperative for women to take care of their mental and physical health. We all multitask and women are great multitaskers compared to men. In today’s age even though we find people getting vocal about mental health and its issues we need to understand that it is just the tip of the iceberg as there are many of those affected who have never dared to speak of it nor shared it with anyone. The reason that I can relate with is that despite all the drama of sisterhood / womanhood by the leading women / feminists around us women are unable to empathize with another. They behave and treat one another as rivals. When one woman confides in another woman it is the duty of that woman to empathize and understand rather than judging and labelling her. Such incidents always occur in everyone

The quality and efficiency of a decision can never be witnessed when you are the process of making a decision. One understands its impact only after a decision is taken. Not everyone is sane enough to understand the pros and cons of a decision. Many of us live life superficially and are not even aware of what goes within ourselves in the busy life. In such a state of mind it is difficult to understand whether a decision taken is right / wrong. It is only when you delve deep within you realize the consequences of the decision you have taken.  In the process of decision making a person is always surrounded by choices and picking up the right choice that shapes your life is the toughest decision to make. At times even though you have gauged the decision and weighed the good and bad of it you fail to take the right decision. In such cases think of it as an experience which God wanted you to have. Rather than remaining depressed and noisy about the decision taken think how you can make your