Who is the 'modern Indian girl'? Essay book sets social media abuzz

Definitely not someone who is educated and independent, but one who is 'imitating men in fashion, ambition and professional endeavours', says a chapter titled 'The Modern Indian Girl' in an essay book

Know the ‘modern’ Indian girl

Who is the “modern Indian girl”? Definitely not someone who is educated and independent, but one who is "imitating men in fashion, ambition and professional endeavours", says a chapter titled “The Modern Indian Girl” in a book Current School Essays and Letters by Purabi Chakraborty meant for secondary and higher secondary ICSE, ISC and CBSE students. Social media was abuzz on Tuesday lambasting the book for such description. If one goes by the posts — the discussion was kicked off by one Abhik Hazra on Facebook who found the essay in a relative's book — the chapter purportedly says “saris no longer find a space in a modern girl’s stock of garments” because she “likes to wear jeans, pants and hot pants”. A few more ‘gems’ from the chapter include: “She no longer wants to confine herself to the four walls of the house”; “she is more a self-centred creature than a loving daughter or sympathetic sister”; “she talks and makes friendship with the boys more freely and easily”.

Outsourcing PR to news outlets

Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra seems to be trying to outsource the PR work around the upcoming launch of its multi-purpose vehicle, the Marazzo, to news outlets. It released the image of the vehicle’s headlamp to the media on Tuesday, calling it the “shark-inspired projector” headlamps. Besides suggesting liberal “editorial” use of the headlamp image, the company had another message for the media: “Kindly feel free to tweet and post these pictures on your respective social media platforms”. 

Mixing business with pleasure

While controversy raged over former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu’s  visit to Pakistan to attend Imran Khan’s swearing-in as Prime Minister — Sidhu was photographed sitting next to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir President Masood Khan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa — his shopping spree in Islamabad remained largely unreported. A report in Pakistan daily, Dawn, said Sidhu went to the Taxali Gate in Islamabad and bought the special tillay walay shoes for himself and for his family. The shopkeepers, it was reported, offered the shoes as gift to the former cricketer, who refused to accept them for free. People also gathered and took selfies with him.