Latest news with #MiniMathur
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mini Mathur cannot get enough of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Banarasi saree look from Cannes: 'Got this one right.."
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, ever since her debut at Cannes in 2002, has been making the rounds for all of her looks over the years. This year's Cannes outfit was nothing short of royalty, as the iconic actress strutted the red carpet in a beautiful saree, paying an ode to her roots and keeping it fashionable. The actress also ended up receiving a lot of praise from the public as well as fellow celebrities and friends alike. One such fan was Mini Mathur, a prominent TV host and wife of Kabir Khan , who did not back away from publicly showing her love to the 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' actress. Mini Mathur shows love for Aishwarya's Cannes 2025 look Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has taken the world by storm again with her Cannes 2025 look this year by styling a simple and elegant saree into something regal and almost royalty-like. The actress received a lot of love for her outfit, with one such fan being Mini Mathur. In a video of Bachchan at Cannes shared by Diet Sabya, the Mini commented, 'Got this one right." She also provided more details about her comment and shared that 'Not every appearance is about showcasing your versatility score and clotheshorse potential. Sometimes it's about being at peace with who you are at this moment." Fan reactions to Aishwarya's outfit at the Cannes Film Festival Fans also took to the actress's comment section after she shared photos from her look for the night at the prestigious film festival. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Thousands Are Saving Money Using This Wall Plug elecTrick - Save upto 80% on Power Bill Click Here Undo Many shared their love and support for the actress in the comment section of the online social media post, with one sharing, 'Queen of Cannes for every season and every reason." Many called the actress 'Queen of Cannes', hinting at the actress's influence in the film industry and all of her iconic looks over the years. Another person commented on her post, sharing that 'She looks celestial! She represents Indian women like no other on the world stage! And she is so nonchalant and not affected by her own success and status! The confidence in her eyes." Another fan requested her to keep on making more public appearances like this, stating, 'Please, we all request you for your public appearances. You are a beautiful queen.' Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
How's your uterus?
How's your uterus? Women grow up with the constant worry of losing out because of their gender: some have dysmenorrhea, some endometriosis, both with pain so excruciating it makes them cry. Then there's childbirth and years of caring for a baby, a toddler, a school-goer — each stage with a different set of worries for women, who are usually primary caregivers. Then, just as life begins to settle into a pattern, menopause hits. Through life, FOLO — the fear of losing out, mostly on paid work — is real for women. Shanti Kurupati, who works in a global software company, talks about how FOLO impacts 'women of a certain age'. Actor-presenter Mini Mathur and Lisa Ray speak about how brain fog and forgetfulness are a reality of menopause, which can result in a decrease in confidence, and consequently, less work. Just when women are growing out of caregiving, menopause asks her to take another break. Perhaps it is nature's way of saying, slow down for just a bit. The 'extra' hours at work are no longer possible — the exhaustion is real, but can't be explained to a boss or a relative. Menarche and menstruation are now openly spoken about by both women and men, thanks to millennials and Gen Z, who broke the rules about wrapping it up in brown paper so no one could tell that a period had arrived. Boomers, forced into euphemisms, called a period 'chum', the friend who visited every month. Gen X, consumed as always by what an older and a younger generation was telling them, waited to speak. Until we began to get hot flashes. And to feel irritable. Then, we decided to talk about it. This speaking out coincided with people beginning to vent about many things: mental health, grief, loss, so to some extent the ecosystem was ready to listen to us. Social media helped. Many men, however, don't know what to do with this 'new' information. Last year I told two male friends that I was peri-menopausing. When I said to one that I was exhausted despite my bloodwork being ok, he told me to eat more seasonal vegetables. I told the other I was getting very hot and very cold. 'Oh, climate change,' he said, waving it away with a hand gesture. COP-29 became a code word each time I turned up or down the air-conditioning. My young male colleagues, ready to speak about period poverty and period leave, avoided my eye when I told them I didn't remember what we had spoken about the previous day because I was perimenopausal. So, us women in our late 40s and 50s, turn to the sisterhood who understands. We are all in it together. In the book titled What I Want, six indigenous women artists share their dreams. Warli practitioner Minakshi Vayeda, says her 'want' is the solidarity of female friendships. This, I have, and cannot be more grateful for. My sisters don't judge me when I forget words like anachronistic and redundant. Wordsworth Eco feminism: 'A branch of feminism that examines the connections between women and nature. Its name was coined by French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne in 1974,' according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The philosophy and practice is based on the belief that patriarchy exploits both nature and women, while both, as reproducers, are sacred, hence interconnected. Chipko was a prominent eco feminist movement, where women, in what is now Uttarakhand, hugged trees to prevent them from being cut down. In March this year, American musician Madame Gandhi released Rise! a song that feeds into the eco feminism thought. Toolkit Fox 40: A pea-less whistle invented by Canadian basketball referee, Ron Foxcroft, used in some of the top sports competitions across the world. Whistles with a pea can jam or deteriorate, with Foxcroft himself being at the receiving end of a crowd of 18,000 fans who booed him when he seemingly didn't take note of a potential foul. Foxcroft had blown the whistle, but the pea in it had got stuck, silencing the sound. The Fox 40 is one of the loudest whistles in the world, and can be a safety tool for women who like to go out and 'loiter'. Somewhere, someone said something stupid 'I am thankful you are wearing a beautiful dress today.' Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad to Hina Parvez Butt in Pakistan's Provincial Assembly of Punjab Women we meet Aarti Malhotra, 45, an artist-educator-creator and single mother, lost her son to suicide three years ago, when he was just 16. He had allegedly been bullied and sexually assaulted for a couple of years, over his gender and sexual identity. 'My son liked the arts, and he was loving and empathetic,' says Malhotra, who has got some support from LGBTQAI+ communities. She now runs an Instagram handle @internetkimummy with a following of 500k, where she speaks to children who may be in stressful situations. 'When life breaks you, it also gives you strength to shape your pain into power,' she says. This February 23, a day before her son's death anniversary, she stood at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, with her group of supporters, asking for justice for her son. She has taken the then principal, school coordinator, and some students to court. 'This is not my fight, but a fight for every child who faces discrimination and bullying,' she says.
The Hindu
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Breaking the silence around menopause in India: how women are coming together to talk about the transition, especially at the workplace
It was a scenario television presenter and actor Mini Mathur had never imagined. A few years ago, she was facing an audience of almost 5,000 people, narrating a 10-minute unscripted story on stage, at the Spoken Fest in Mumbai. 'About 40 seconds in, I completely blanked out. I had no idea what I was going to say next. I lost my train of thought and couldn't remember the point of my story — nothing.' 'As a television presenter, you could wake me up in the middle of the night, hand me a mic, and I'd be ready to go. But when perimenopausal brain fog started interfering with my work — it really hit me hard'Mini MathurTelevision presenter and actor Mathur, then 50, was appalled. She was one of India's most seasoned, experienced television presenters with a three-decade-long career. 'It gave me so much anxiety, not knowing what was coming next. I blanked out for just five to seven seconds, but on stage that felt like five hours,' she recounts. The moment hit her hard. She started hesitating before taking on live, unscripted events for almost six months. 'I was so unsure about my memory. I would write my entire script down and have it put on to a teleprompter or use cue cards. For about a year, I couldn't function on stage without one,' says Mathur. She had never needed one earlier. 'As a television presenter, you could wake me up in the middle of the night, hand me a mic, and I'd be ready to go. But when perimenopausal brain fog started interfering with my work — it really hit me hard.' Menopause is having a moment, says a recent headline in The New Yorker. If you are a 45-plus woman in India, your Instagram feed is most likely flooded with ads of mid-life fitness and menopause tips our mothers never discussed but we now happily share (ditch the coffee; get the tofu; stock up on magnesium; sign up for strength training; and so on, depending on your algorithm). Celebrities, from Gwyneth Paltrow to Oprah Winfrey, former news anchor Tamsen Fadal, and actor Naomi Watts, have all written books or spoken extensively about it. Menopause care is now a booming business. According to Grand View Research, the menopause market in India is expected to reach a projected revenue of $1,632.2 million by 2030. ''I wanted to normalise this new version of myself, but I didn't have the knowledge or tools to do so. One day, I finally stopped and said, I've conquered cancer; now let me conquer menopause! Being in denial was getting me nowhere. Now that I have embraced this stage, I have uncovered valuable insights about myself and I have never felt better.'Lisa RayActor, author and supermodel Actor, author and supermodel Lisa Ray, who went into a medically induced menopause at 37 after a treatment for multiple myeloma, is vocal about her experience. While it took her time to confront the changes menopause brought, like Mathur, she has become a strong menopause advocate, using her social media to do explainers on midlife, women's health, emotions and self-love. Ray noticed a change in her appearance (thinning hair, lack of energy and focus) after a cancer relapse in 2013. 'I wanted to normalise this new version of myself, but I didn't have the knowledge or tools to do so. One day, I finally stopped and said, I've conquered cancer; now let me conquer menopause! Being in denial was getting me nowhere. Now that I have embraced this stage, I have uncovered valuable insights about myself and I have never felt better.' How Lisa Ray manages symptoms • Acceptance is key • Consult a good doctor to discuss care and treatment, if needed • Add more protein to your daily intake and consult a clinical dietician on supplements • Do weight training • Sleep is non-negotiable as is doing activities that help regulate sleep, such as meditation at night, journaling, magnesium creams or supplements Workplace support With over one billion women globally — including nearly 150 million in India — experiencing menopause in 2025, workplace support is crucial. The transition begins even earlier for Indian women, around the age of 46, possibly due to factors such as geography, socio-economic status and lifestyle, among others, says a study by the Indian Menopause Society. Even a casual chat reveals struggles with concentration, anxiety, brain fog and irritability among women who often have a full plate, with a demanding job, teenaged children, caregiving responsibilities and their own bodily changes. Despite the scale of this demographic change, most Indian workplaces lack formal mechanisms to support women during this transition. Some companies have initiated wellness programmes and medical support, but stigma and lack of awareness remain barriers to an equitable workplace. Global take • In the U.K., the Labour Party has pledged that, if elected, it will mandate large companies to publish menopause action plans. • In Europe, the fashion industry has begun to address menopause-related challenges, with companies such as Asos and Burberry implementing supportive measures. • The Indian government acknowledges the absence of a menopause policy for women employees. The Ministry of Women and Child Development says that strong research is needed to draft such a policy. Ray saw the changes impacting her work. 'I do different sorts of work — not just in front of the camera. I give public talks, I wrote a book, I read and research a lot, and my inability to focus impacted all that. I even found myself forgetting common words. Even when I would drop menopause in casual conversations at work — in a humorous way, to gauge the room — it would be met with awkward silence,' she says. A March 2025 Stanford study called 'The Menopause Penalty', conducted among Swedish and Norwegian women, found that those with menopause-related symptoms earned 10% less because they cut back on their hours or quit work. In India, a survey by healthcare firm Abbott in partnership with research and data company Ipsos, among 1,200 women, revealed that 81% women felt menopause affected their work life. Bengaluru's Chaitra Vedullapalli, 52, entrepreneur and president of Women In Cloud — a community-led $1 billion economic access initiative for women innovators in technology — knows first-hand the challenges women face balancing leadership, well-being, and career. After years battling perimenopause symptoms, she openly shares her journey of managing executive functioning — what she describes as the ability to manage oneself and one's resources effectively to achieve personal and professional goals. Vedullapalli faced stress, burnout, brain fog, and memory challenges, all of which impacted her ability to lead and parent at her usual high level. 'I would forget things, so I started documenting everything because I felt like I was losing my mind,' she recalls. These struggles, compounded by chronic fatigue and cognitive shifts, forced her to rethink how she prioritised self-care, leadership responsibilities, and personal health. Challenges of transition Cheryl S., 48, vice-president at a multinational technology company in Pune, has been struggling with sleepless nights. 'I'm on the run from the moment I'm up — packing off children to school, instructing the house help, sorting my day — and all I can think of is how little I've slept. I struggle to focus during morning work calls that I often lead. I'm also getting irritable very quickly, and it's something I need to consciously watch with my team. I'm often tempted to leave it all and sit at home if I could,' she says. Obstetrician and gynaecologist Nina Mansukhani has come across such challenges often. The template is often similar. 'This period coincides with women holding senior positions in the workplace and making important decisions. As a result, the transition can become mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. Women may find that their tolerance for mistakes diminishes, and their capacity to handle errors decreases.' Dr. Mansukhani says sleep deprivation can shorten one's patience. 'Essentially, the capacity to manage errors and mistakes, as well as responsibilities at the managerial level, becomes reduced. Many women tell me that they feel like they are losing control frequently, and this experience is something we all encounter at some point.' Finding the right work-life balance during this time is crucial, says Dr. Nina Mansukhani, obstetrician and gynaecologist • Start with lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and building small, consistent routines. • Seek support through therapy, whether with a life coach or a cognitive behavioural therapist • Take short holidays, or attend healing courses for some much-needed relief • If menopause symptoms significantly strain daily life, menopause hormone therapy (MHT) might be recommended. When carefully selected and used for a short period (under medical supervision), MHT is extremely safe and can dramatically improve relationships, work dynamics, and overall quality of life. Taboos persist Menopause discussions are now gaining traction in workplaces globally. Across the U.S., U.K., and Europe, legislative discussions, policy proposals, and corporate initiatives are addressing the issue. In India, a few forward-thinking companies are taking action. Standard Chartered Bank is one of them. They partnered with the Financial Services Skills Commission in the U.K. five years ago to understand the impact of menopause on career and talent retention. 'Learnings from this have been applied across countries, including India,' says Shivshanker S.V., India and South Asia Head of Human Resources at Standard Chartered Bank. A signatory to the 'Wellbeing of Women's Menopause Workplace Pledge' and a member of the 'Menopause Friendly Employer' organisation, the bank provides counselling and full medical coverage for menopause-related consultations for employees and their partners. 'We take a data-led approach to better understand the challenges. Specific initiatives include wellness resources, flexible work arrangements, awareness sessions with gynaecologists, manager training, and a closed-group 'Lean-In Circle' for open conversations,' says Shivshanker. Bengaluru-based Shanti Kurupati, Director of Product Development at Intuit, a global software company, thinks the key is in building inclusive environments that enable fearless sharing. At Intuit, this is done through internal communities such as Tech Women at Intuit (TWI) that create safe spaces for discussing sensitive topics such as menopause. Talks with specialists further help normalise conversations, says Kurupati. Intuit's 'Well-being for Life programme' provides ₹60,000 annually for physical or mental wellness. Employees can access Maven, a 24/7 digital health platform offering menopause support. It's anonymous and extends to employees' dependants, too. But many women still feel uncomfortable and fear ageism may rear its head. Shuja, 49, works in a Pune-based boutique travel firm, and often accompanies clients on day trips near the city. 'My gut health has suffered, I urinate frequently and I'm finding it tough to be out the whole day.' But she would rather endure the discomfort than speak to her boss, fearing reduced responsibilities. 'They'll start viewing me as an old lady,' she laughs. Kurupati acknowledges this fear of losing out, across a woman's life phases — from childbirth to menopause. She thinks sharing experiences resonates with people and ally-ship between women is important. 'Intuit's initiatives aren't just policies — they are born from the lived experiences of senior women who've gone through these life transitions.' Stage of change Perimenopause is the phase where periods haven't completely stopped, but hormonal changes have begun. It typically lasts two to four years before menopause — marked by 12 consecutive months without a period. During perimenopause, oestrogen levels gradually decline, causing hot flashes — sudden spells of intense heat in the face, neck, and upper body — as the brain's temperature regulation gets affected. Irregular periods and a slowing metabolism are other early signs of approaching menopause, says Dr. Nina Mansukhani. A recent Women In Cloud survey (Feb-March 2025) of more than 1,000 respondents found that over 60% of women experience cognitive, mood, and stress management challenges — yet few receive targeted care. Only 25% of those seeking medical help for hormonal or stress-related concerns received an accurate diagnosis and treatment, largely due to gaps in healthcare system preparedness. Vedullapalli sees this as a call to action. 'If we want to empower women as innovators, executives, and changemakers, we must address the full ecosystem of support — skills development, economic access, health, and wellness readiness,' she says. Armed with information When she first started reading about menopause, Mathur asked her mother when she had gone through it. Her mum's reply — 'maybe at 45, maybe 55' — made her realise how little the older generation understood or catalogued it. When she probed further, her mother admitted not fully understanding what she was going through. 'Nobody was sensitive enough to notice how women of her generation felt.' Even today, Vedullapalli points out, awareness and sensitivity around women's health challenges is lacking. Early on, many healthcare providers dismissed her symptoms, advising more exercise or stress management without addressing the underlying hormonal shifts. Some even suggested her challenges were psychological rather than physiological. After finally receiving a clear diagnosis, Vedullapalli took a proactive approach: embracing a holistic lifestyle that included hormone therapy, inflammation-reducing supplements, metabolic and hormonal tracking, and prioritising restorative habits. 'I'm fanatic about my eight hours of sleep,' she says. Women's health is so under-served, Ray notes. 'From the research to finding the best informed doctors, it's a journey.' It's probably the reason women are coming together to create platforms, groups and resources that demystify menopause. When Juilee Dandekar entered surgical menopause at the age of 37 after battling endometriosis, she felt information could be her rescue. Her Instagram page @livefearlessofficial documents her surgical menopause journey and is a platform to share experiences and insights. 'Not too many people talk about menopause, and at 37, it was overwhelming,' says Dandekar, India director for strategy and business development with a leading healthcare company. She got certified by the British Menopause School in 2021 to become a menopause coach. Dandekar believes 'education is the first step' and at the moment, offers free support. The Chennai Menopause Society (CMS) conducts public awareness sessions to help women understand menopausal symptoms and advise them on simple measures. Even incorporating a few menopause-changes at the workplace can be useful, says urogynaecologist A. Tamilselvi, member and former secretary of CMS. 'Organising annual health check-ups with a gynaecologist consult is one. Employees should also be able to discuss their health issues, including mental health, without the fear of being labelled, losing their jobs or being passed up for promotions,' she says. Struggling to find the right information around her symptoms, Mathur, now a certified women's health coach from the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches, took a one-and-a-half-year course in the U.S. to find credible information that could help her and other women figure out their bodies. Equipped with knowledge and certification, she is now curating a platform of resources for women over 45. She's writing a book, planning a podcast, and even working on a documentary, aiming to connect more women to credible resources around fitness, nutrition, hormone therapy and emotional well-being. 'Ours is the first generation of women that is asking questions, refusing to suffer endlessly without solutions behind hushed or subdued narratives around women's health and midlife,' she says. Instead, it's a generation determined to change the narrative — by talking, supporting each other, and refusing to stay invisible. At home and more importantly, at work. The writer is a freelance journalist and the co-author of 'Rethink Ageing'.
