I have been single for a very long time now. Only a year and nine months this time around, so you might say it hasn’t been all that long, but I think of it as kind of…cumulative singlehood over the years. I started dating when I was eighteen. I’ve been in love, I’ve had my heart broken, and I’ve not jumped from one relationship into another. So yes, there have been enough days and months and years of built-up singlehood for me to think of myself as perpetually single.

And it’s not a bad thing, this perpetual singlehood. It’s a bit solitary, but it is not empty. My life, without the comforts to be found in a relationship, is also free of the encumbrances of a relationship. And the fact of the matter is this: since no couple is perfect, neither is any romantic relationship. Which means there’s drama, there’s disappointment, there’s happiness, there’s joy. Pretty much the same emotions that you experience as a single girl too. I am lonely sometimes, but who isn’t? I read, I watch movies, I hang out with friends, I work, I travel, I spoil the people I love with gifts, I get laid a bit, I tweet a lot. It’s a good life…

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I’ve been off TV for a while, so this little bundle of joy (NOT) has arrived in my life a little late. It’s the Patanjali Saundarya vs Aishwarya ad that’s been airing for the past month and a half that I’m talking about. It’s a straightforward ad if you want to sum it up in a sentence: ‘Girls, use the Patanjali Saundarya Swarn Kanti cream if you want flawless, pimple-free skin’. But the messaging of the ad as a package is just so mind-bendingly awful that you can’t really do justice to it (or to a lot of women) by doing that one-line summary. For this ad, you see, is also about the ‘Good’ Indian Girl vs the ‘Not-Good’ Indian Girl.

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The Actresses Roundtable 2016 with Rajeev Masand is a must-watch for many reasons. As he speaks to Anushka Sharma, Vidya Balan, Alia Bhatt, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor, our favourite actresses open up about many things – from how they feel shooting sex scenes to the way they see Bollywood, as an industry, change as they move to more and more powerful movies that don’t just have ‘token’ female characters. But perhaps the most poignant and heartbreaking moment of the interview – for me, at least – comes fairly early on in the interview, when Sonam says that most Indian women experience molestation in some form or the other and then goes on to describe what happened to her. It’s a story that we’re familiar with – either because we’ve experienced it ourselves, or know someone who has…

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Hate them or love them, condoms are pretty indispensable if you’re a sexually active girl. Even though there are other forms of contraception available to prevent pregnancy, a condom is your best shot of staying safe from STDs. But if you’ve ever struggled or wondered how to put on a condom correctly, you’ve come to the right place! Though it is kind of difficult to describe, and you only get good at it with practice…let it not be said that we didn’t try our best to help you out!

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It’s not often that a Bollywood celebrity opens up about being insecure about their body – or even if they do, it doesn’t always carry with it a note of sincerity. Let’s face it: it’s hard to place your faith in the words “I don’t care what people say about the way I look” or “I’m not ashamed of being curvy” when those words are accompanied by airbrushed “flawless” pictures of the celeb speaking them. But Sonam Kapoor’s piece for Buzzfeed, titled “I Didn’t Wake Up Like This” – it really is something that feels honest, genuine, heartfelt. Because she isn’t pretending that she doesn’t care – she’s being brutally honest about how much she does care. And therein lies the raw honesty, the power of her story – she gives voice to the millions of women who do worry about their bodies, about their looks, and struggle constantly to battle the demons of insecurity and feel good about themselves…

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Job interviews can be nerve-wracking and stressful, especially if you know that there are many people vying for the same role. And while you can’t control every aspect of your interview, there are certain things you can definitely do or avoid doing in order to give yourself an edge as a serious contender for the role. That’s why we bring you some common job interview mistakes people make – some of them might seem obvious, some may be things you’ve never thought about. But they are all very important to avoid if you want a real shot at the role you’re interviewing for…

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Many of us make mistakes in the office. Easily fixable ones that are made out of not thinking things through more than anything else. Things so basic and simple that they shouldn’t even have to be written down. Today we give you the unspoken rules of the workplace – things your boss never wants to have to tell you. Embrace them, and you’re one step ahead of the game when it comes to that “Employee of the Year” award!

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Dear magazines (and other people of the world),

We got arms. And we got armpits. We even got underarm hair – which we tend to deal with as best as we can! We also have other things happening in our armpit area. Like creases, occasional fuzz even when we’re relatively hair-free, little bumps that we can’t Photoshop away – and why should we bother, really? What we don’t understand, then, is why YOU feel the need to airbrush so damn much. Especially when it comes to people who look like Priyanka Chopra – gorgeous by ANY standards of beauty. PC is a powerhouse in her own right. We can’t say that it has nothing to do with her looks (let’s be realistic: it definitely helps to look stunning) – but it has just as much to do with her drive, talent, ambition. So why turn something that could have been a celebration of how awesome PC is into a controversy about why her armpits have been Photoshopped?…

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There comes a watershed point in every girl’s life – and that’s the big three-oh. Because, you know, Indian society would (still!) have us believe that 30+ is the wrong side of 30. It’s the age when you step over the line from “youth” to “maturity”. In the case of the single woman, of course, it means you’re transitioning from “young thing” to “on the shelf”, with absolutely nothing in between. Your 30th birthday brings with it not only dessert that’s more candles than cake but also a horde of “well-wishers” who are really, really worried about you. And here’s what they have to say…

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Of all the problems that the world of dating throws up, the one that’s possibly the most difficult to actually find a solution to is: WHEN is it appropriate to have sex for the first time with the person you’re seeing? Because, you know, too soon, and you might be coming on too strong (and you’re secretly a little worried that he will think you’re promiscuous). Leave it too late, and you might just lose interest in each other.

But, ladies, worry no more, Time Out has the answer – 3.53 dates is it!

No, they don’t mean 3 dates, or 4 dates – and not even 3.5 dates. It has to be very, very exact. And luckily for us, NYMag tells us exactly how to go about figuring this out: you need to be carrying a stopwatch on each of your dates, measuring their duration exactly, and then doing some crucial mathematical acrobatics to arrive at The. Exact. Moment.

But the problem for us Indian ladies is a little different, and goes beyond mere maths and measurements. These are the questions that are still left unanswered…

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Sex is a wondrous thing. And if you’re having lots of it, then more power to you! But there are some very, very important things to keep in mind while you’re out there getting yourself some action. These are 10 dos and don’ts that every girl should adhere to – so that she feels fabulous not only in the moment but afterwards too…

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Singlehood. It’s a state of being, not a disease. Whether you’re single because you’ve been once bitten and are twice shy, or because you don’t want the complications of a romantic relationship, or you’re waiting for the right person for you to walk into your life, or you just enjoy being by yourself, there are certain things that a single woman should never be ashamed of. No matter what the world has to say about it.

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Whether it’s your first time, or you’ve done this a dozen times before, a job interview is always a stressful thing! How to prove yourself the best possible candidate for an opening is something that we all worry about. While we can’t, eventually, control the outcome of the interview, we sure can give it our very best shot. And just so you can do that, today we give you a few handy tips on modulating your body language to present yourself as a strong, confident candidate for the job. Take these to heart for the next time you’re headed out for an interview…

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