Convenience Store Woman.    Convenience Store Woman by Japanese author Sayaka Murata, despite being a slim novella of under 200 pages, is not a ‘light’ read. “Society expects you to fit into a certain mould for it to accept you. What if you refuse to fit into that mould and are happy in your own little space?” Keiko Furukawa is a 36-year-old woman who has been working at Smilemart, a convenience store in Tokyo, for 18 years. Society wonders at her ‘single’ status and her lack of ambition for better prospects. Keiko couldn’t care less. She knows what she wants. She temporarily gives into the pressure and ultimately does as she pleases. Her literal-minded brain doesn’t grasp emotions. While family and friends grieve the death of a bird, little Keiko feels no sadness and prefers to eat it. The convenience store is Keiko’s world. She thrives on the routine and stability that she finds in the Convenience store. Adopting a deadpan style of writing, Murata...

  Another Women's day is just around the corner. It sure feels good to have a day dedicated to you and to have so many nice things said about you.  Yet the undercurrents like a fly in an ointment remain - the atrocities, as in the rapes, the injustices, harassment. It would be Women's day every day if these atrocities ceased. On one hand, you have the Ashok Leyland advertisement, encouraging and uplifting women and on the other, you have a woman in search of a makeup artist for her soon to be wed daughter and shown pictures of only very fair girls wearing makeup.  Women's day would be more meaningful if women pledged to empower and uplift one another... says a friend.  The Dark Side of Fair. Woman is often referred to as the fairer sex. ‘How fairly am I treated?’ is the burning question in most women's minds. There are creams to brighten her skin tone and matrimonial advertisements ask for ‘fair brides.’ That’s as far as fair goes.  The Indian woman do...