The best of 2020
We end the year by celebrating the voices that rang through this gloomy year
On a balmy March evening, the Tweak team left office not knowing that we wouldn’t be seeing each other in person for many months to come. Pillows and dining tables replaced our work desks, and only Shyam the succulent kept us company during our sacred midday ritual — unveiling of the lunch dabbas. Working remotely took everything online – from brainstorming to shooting videos to firefighting the inevitable hitches and glitches along the way.
We always wanted Tweak to be a space for Indian women to challenge old ideas and discover new ones, where laughter is sacred. And while we may have struggled to keep our houses in order, children in check and parents pacified in person, we wanted to ensure we retained this space of levity and love at a time when we needed it the most.
Like most people, our yearly planner went for a toss but the organic cherry on our ‘best of 2020’ gluten-free cake was the launch of Tweak Books in association with Juggernaut.
What’s In Your Dabba arrived at the right time to save hopeless chefs from their own lockdown kitchen disasters. The second release from Tweak Books When I Grow Up, I Want To Be… is filled with stories about real Indian role models who have moved mountains, broken records and even changed the very course of history. These local superheroes served as the real-life stories to inspire kids, entertain and engage their minds when playing cricket in the park was no longer an option. Read more about Tweak Books here.
It seems that retreating into our homes created the opportunity for us to finally have some of the difficult conversations we had been avoiding. Our Tweak family shared personal experiences of reconnecting with their partners, facing fears of loneliness and having uncomfortable conversations about sex and sexuality. Like the story of Shalini Chopra and her former mother-in-law, Madhu Ghosle*.
When her marriage ended, Chopra had to big farewell not just to her husband, but also the only mother figure she had had in her life. Cut to the announcement of lockdown and she got a call from Ghosle, asking if she could move in with her. Half an hour later, Chopra was parked outside her old house. The 45 year old and 71 year old have been living together since, and couldn’t be happier. Read more about this unlikely duo’s heartwarming relationship here.
They aren’t the only mother-daughter duo who wowed the audience this year. After appearing in their first Netflix show together, Neena and Masaba Gupta sat down with us for a no-holds-barred interview on everything from parenting and self-care rituals to dating apps and feminism. For those of us in social isolation away from home, it was endearing to watch them giggle and argue like you would in a fight with your Ma.
If there’s one thing that Neena Gupta reminds us, it’s that the struggle to keep your identity and individuality intact while being a doting mama is very real. So this year, we turned the spotlight on women who seem to be able to juggle professional achievements with personal goals and self-care. We know what we see on Instagram is never the full story, so we asked these inspirational women to give us their cheat sheets – dirty diapers and all. Read and be inspired by the CEO Moms here.
And if you’re wondering what to give your own mother in exchange for her support and love this year, take a cue from Tweak India founder Twinkle Khanna. In a Mother’s Day video that broke the internet and made it to our best of 2020 countdown, Khanna was honest about what they really want but can’t tell their kids. A day free from all ‘mom’ duties. Free from tasks and never-ending questions about when lockdown will lift, what’s for dinner and what’s 15 +73. “In fact, for the rest of the day, I would prefer it if you don’t even call me mummy but call me aunty so I actually feel free of all responsibilities,” she saids.
The in-house relationship guru — or as we like to call her, Baba Twinkdev — also scored a home run with her tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving marriage without going to jail. “Husbands for some odd reason, after a year or so, just stop functioning efficiently. Unlike a refrigerator, they don’t even come with an extended warranty, so you are stuck with this creature, who from sweeping you off your feet, now grumbles to even lift his off the coffee table,” writes Khanna.
She shares her tried-and-tested tricks to fight back without even fighting. From pretending that the house is haunted to emulating the mother-in-law and slightly dosing them. Read her hilarious guide here.
For those clutching their pearls at the suggestion of slightly drugging our husbands, we promise it’s a joke… unless it works. Anyone with experience will tell you that marriages don’t play out like a fairytale in real life. Finding out that Prince Charming eats his boiled eggs with mooli ka acchar could have you rethinking how big of an egghead he really is. This realisation had us asking our Tweak family how we can make sure we’re marrying Mr Right-for-me?
The inputs came flooding in and we created a pre-marriage crash course with the help of experts and real-life couples. Read the complete story here.
In this time of social isolation, we had some of the strongest speak out about deeply personal experiences. At many points during this nationwide lockdown, we’ve felt at our wit’s end. When we were feeling hopeless, the real-life story of UK-based Kajal Mehta’s strength gave us hope. She was married off at 17 to a man she barely knew, spent nearly 16 years in an abusive marriage — with four young kids, financially dependent on a ‘controlling, narcissist’ 12 years older than her. Even looking after his mistress when she got pregnant. Mehta’s story of courage received tremendous appreciation from our team and readers alike. Read her inspiring story of here.
We may have spent 2019 in the gym working on our core, but 2020 taught us that true strength goes deeper. We needed fresh lessons in self-love and body positivity, so Tahira Kashyap Khuranna dropped in for a pep talk, even sharing a special message for children.