This week marks 50th anniversary of 2 products; both of which are somehow related to women. One claimed to have helped improve self-image of millions of girls and the other one got a group of 7 women started in business which I am sure must have improved their self-image and selfrespect. Fifty years ago, Mattel started selling Barbie dolls and a group of women in Mumbai started a home-based business selling “Lijjat Papad”. Both of these brands have become hugely successful over the years and have secured a top place in markets all around the globe.

I remember reading/hearing somewhere that if the Barbie doll is scaled up to human size, her dimensions will be 42D-24-34 which are far far away from any real woman. Don’t know how this helps girls build a better self-image. Googling “barbie real life measurements” gives several different answers.

In our house, Lijjat papad is definitely more popular than Barbie.V and I definitely like to eat papads more than playing with dolls and so do the kids. Ashwini is not much into playing with dolls of any kind. She received a couple of obligatory Barbies from friends and relatives as presents because of her gender but, she doesn’t really care about them.

Adit on the other hand, likes to play with Ashwini’s Barbie. His favorite game is taking her clothes off. Wonder when that is going to stop.