Skip to main content

Woman's Day

8th march—its significance—called the Woman’s day.

I am not a feminist, I don’t believe in gender differences except from the biological point of view, but then , when a vast majority of my biological counterparts have concerns that are based on this very gender divide I cant resist the opportunity to write

I was born and brought up in a town. I have lived a fairly free life. I am glad to have parents that treat me as my brother’s equal, who understand and treat me as a child (thankfully not as a daughter). But not everyone is as lucky as me

I belong to a circle of frens mostly of the opposite sex. I am happy they treat me as one of them in most cases. What I find baffling is when they refuse to acknowledge me as a girl (“thank you”) and then ass “ she is like one of us….Guys”. (Excuse me!!!!)

I may be one of u, but that doesn’t make me any closer to a guy, nor does me nt bein a conventional girlie type in any way change my gender status. I am “Nishigandha Patil”; socially m neither a guy nor a girl.

I am not the only one searching for equality in an unbalanced world. We are divided on every possible pretext, may it be religion, caste, faith, following, party, beliefs… GENDER… in a democratic society each one has a right to opinions. But a major chunk of the vast populace of India doesn’t think this way. i was reading Renuka Chowdary’s (minister of state,Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India) interview in the RD issue, (March 2008). She spoke of how Indian politicians still treat women as inferior to them (no wonder we have had only one Indira Gandhi in 61 years of independence). When asked about any new programs for uplifiting the women of rural India, she spoke of a proposed program, wherein a family would be paid to take care of their female child, atleast till she is 18.

Why have we reached this state today in a third generation post independence India?

Has education not achieved its purpose? Are we falling short somewhere in imparting moral education?

What could be the reasons for half the human race refusing to recognize the rights of the other half? Why is woman abuse on the rise? Why do we come across a case of rape, dowry, infanticide, every day? Despite of all the efforts at uplifting the status of women, why are they still treated like cleaning rags?

Is there smtin wrong in the way we are brought up? Why is it tat the woman has to balance home, and career, while a man is free to follow his career endeavours without bondages?

Although all of us take pride in our Indian culture, we need to recognize that there is something fundamentally wrong with a culture that assumes the superiority of males, and that celebrates Indian women for being meek, submissive and sacrificial.

We glorify Sita, Savitri and the like… but what about Durga? Our epics echo male chauvinism. Why else would the “Purushottam” (perfect man) Ram ask his wife to go through the Agnipariksha despite of being fully aware of her innocence? Why did he succumb to public loose talk and send his wife into exile? Wouldn’t it have been manlier of him to stand by his wife… and fight for her innocence?

Back to India today… a victim of rape is still held responsible for instigating the rape, by the society at large. Its usually the woman who was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, wearing the wrong clothes, or she must have said the wrong words to him. The agniparikshas and exiles continue fr the Sita’s even today.

Can we bring a change? Can there be a successful woman’s liberation movement in India? May be yes, but not in the near future. A liberal woman is perceived as a House breaker. This allegation defies common sense. Why would a woman break a home she has built if she is contented with it?

The Indian Woman has been brainwashed into the submissive role for ages together. Before any liberation movement, the women first need to be freed from the shackles they hav put on them. A change in the way the Indian Woman looks at herself is the first step towards women liberation

My message to ma contemporaries wud b just this……..we women are not show pieces, nor are we cloth rags. We are individuals! Believe in yourself, your right to live freely. Transcend from limiting urself to being a woman to realizing your worth as a human!

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…

KUDOS to you my friend! That is one thought provoking post. Now I'm waiting for a book to be published... Wanna be the first one to read it!!! ;-)
March 10, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Damsel in Distress Syndrome

Many years ago, a male friend quoted, “a girl/woman in a relationship is somehow more attractive to other guys”.  I didn’t really give a thought to it then, it could have been well merely his opinion. But what with guys liking girls who are already with someone else (and vice versa) I thought it wasn’t as simple as that. At a broader, abstract level, we as social creatures, seek conformity in our actions, a kind of acceptance. We are more willing to conform to something that has been already accepted. More than often we conform to social codes, rules, without questioning them because they already have some acceptance for them. We tend to believe that anything that has been accepted should be worth accepting. The other way of looking at it, and this one’s a personal favourite, is the Damsel-in-Distress Syndrome. Okay, there’s no such syndrome really, and I came up with the name, but it fits. So a couple of years ago, I had this friend who thought a girl was driving him nut...
1 comment
Read more

smoke off yer life

Its been some time since my last post…..but I was preoccupied with other matters… Back to ma writin What is the difference between addiction n habit…if any!! The first thing that I turned to for an answer was a dictionary! In the GREAT DICTIONARY (no adjective, the dictionary I refer is itself called the GREAT DICTIONARY…nt oxford, m a bit unorthodox) i found this: ADDICTED is defined as being physically dependant on a certain thing, or, being devoted to a particular interest or activity HABIT was defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice!! This may sound drab, n my reader may wonder what I am heading to, but I have a point to make, n I hope you bear up wid me The definitions above are not complete, what about mental dependence? I come to the crux of the matter now!! SMOKING: is it an addiction or a habit? its not supposed to make u mentally dependent...but then ppl do behave lyk they r aft some tym...lyk i need a cig to think, to relieve ma tension!!...
2 comments
Read more

a story

Once upon a time, th ere was a bird . He was adorned w it h tw o perfect wings and with glossy, colorful, marvelous feathers. In short, he was a c reature made to fly about freely in the sky, bringing joy to everyone who saw him. One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him. She watched his flight, her mouth wide in amazement, her heart pounding, her eyes shining with excitement. She invited the bird to fly with her, ant the two traveled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admir ed and venerated and celebra ted that bird. But then she thought: he might want to visit far-off mountains! And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird. And she felt envy, envy for the bird’s ability to fly. And she felt alone. And she thought: I’m going to set a trap, the next time the bird appears, he will never leave again.’ The bird, who was in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in cage. She ...
2 comments
Read more