Hear the Woman's Voice - Loud and Clear

This Women's Day has started off making quite an impression on my mind. I am overwhelmed by this feeling which is neither fear, pain, anger nor shame. It is the memory of a wound that simply demands a solution, an end. This wound had probably came along with me on the day I was born, but the broader perspective of my family and their warmth has never let it surface. But the world is not motherly enough to do that. Yes, I am talking about the uncountable and unaccountable crimes against women in India. 

No, these heinous crimes do not just happen to girls of certain age, they happen to girls who are not even out of the mother's womb; for, a girl is a burden not to the woman carrying her, but to the people around her. No, they are not targeted just at girls in jeans or skirts, even fully-clad women are molested; for, there is a fetish of 'almost everything'. No, they do not just happen in cities, ironically they happen and are increasing at an exponential level in rural areas; for, animals know no borders. No, they do not happen at nights, they are committed in broad daylight; for, even a thorn-bedded path seems like bedroom to them. Well, they can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere under any circumstances, one can not set the terms and conditions for these crimes. But, we can definitely narrow down to one reason, 'Thinking Process'. The perpetrators in the 16th Dec Delhi gore, simply thought of it is as a form of enjoyment, a situation where they can gloat over a woman's helpless condition, a chance to prove their male dominance, or may be to teach a lesson. Yes, an uneducated male chauvinist in his journey to teach women a lesson, had tortured, did indescribable things and finally, killed a young to-be doctor. Their incorrigible thinking did not start with their plan to come out and have some fun that night, but it is way deep down. 

As children, they might have seen their father thrashing up their mother, made a bet on pulling a school girl's skirt, made innumerable number of vulgar remarks at people on streets, peeped into the bathrooms of neighbors or I am sure, might have done everything a jobless slum dog would do. There was none to grab their collars and put them on the right track. After all, we are a bundle of values and lessons taught by our parents. Hence, the moss started growing on the already rusty souls. And today it proves no one had even attempted to maneuver them into that route. I thought their consciousness was rolled up and thrown back to be lost in their filthy minds, but today after watching the Nirbhaya documentary, I realized it was never there and would never come.

Crimes against women are not just limited to rape or sexual harassment. They include eve-teasing, condescending behavior and refusal to recognize and acknowledge a job well done at work place, denial of freedom in marriage/career, demand of dowry, denial of all other rights bestowed upon Indian citizens by the Indian Constitution. Anything that draws a line between rights, opportunities, freedom, facilities of men and women can be treated as a crime because we do have the 'Right to Equality'. 

But, will this situation ever change? Will this wound find its end? More than schemes and policies, Education has to find its way towards the children all across the country. Because Victor Hugo once correctly said, "He who opens a school door, closes a prison". I am confident that I would bring up my child to be a sensible individual. And I am sure he does his part in changing the conservative ideas of seniors in my home, which I couldn't accomplish. Well, the days have changed and roles have reciprocated. 

Education is that powerful weapon which can change the world. While the world takes all its time to change, we're here to nudge it all times to move towards the sunnier side. We're here to raise our hands to stop and slap. We're here to fight for each others' rights. 'We' is not the Police Force, Indian Government or any other Special Security Cell. We is I. I am The Woman.

Life back to what it has to be

Life has been busy these days. 'No time' became a cliched phrase. I am revolving in a mundane daily routine. Going to office, coming back home, watching TV, playing online games, eating, sleeping, all in that order of priority. In between these, are 24 hours, family members, dearest friends, smiling kids, noisy teenagers, pleasant places, tasty food and many more. But I chose to ignore them. I have been doing this from the past 3 years. Well, I am stoned enough not to get bored for few more years, I realized that only recently. Realization about both getting stoned and bored. 

I made a trip recently to my grandma's place, a village with 500 houses all in all, those including migrated and those still remained at their roots. I have experienced the unusual the second I stepped into the village. The good unusual. I was hit by a cool gust of breeze the moment I entered this nature-friendly zone. I perked my head out of the window to greedily breathe the fresh air as much as I can, forgetting that I have 2 more weeks here. There were never-ending crop fields on both sides of the muddy road. I landed in a place I mostly imagined (when read in books), sometimes seen (as shown in movies), but never been.

My grandma's house had a homely and welcoming feel. Every step and corner of the home made me comfortable. The untiled floor never bothered my pedicured feet, the huge pillars at the entrance formed the artifacts, the smoke from clay stoves din't burn my otherwise sensitive eyes, the lavishly big door-less rooms din't intrude my privacy. Instead, two big green fish formations at the entrance became my pets, the corners of the huge pillars helped me create a new game, round-and-round. There is a huge front-garden with vegetable plants and there was always a unique, different smell around us; a mix of stray animals wandering around, empty strip of land across the road and of familiar love. 

I would walk barefoot on the fields, eat in earthenware squatting on floor, take long walks, spend good time with myself. In short, I did what I never get to do in my city life. I simply carried clothes, novels, a dairy and my phone for this one month trip. My phone couldn't get signals in this remote area and hence there was no internet, no facebook, no online chatting or browsing. I surprisingly realized, I am not missing any of them or my usual life. In fact, I found here something that went missing from my life few years ago. 

In my alone time I tried to figure out the reasons for my 'mundane routine'. There seems to be more than one. The most important being - "I am surrounded here by humans, not machines". Humans who talk, laugh, touch, interact with me about trivial issues. They were not my family, friends, colleagues or neighbors. They were all noones and the topics we spoke about were nothings. My busy life reciprocated before my eyes. I counted the number of number of people I meet in my day. My family, neighbors, watchman, lift operator, kids going to school, bus driver- helper duo, co-passengers in the bus, office janitors, house-keeping staff, scores of employees, team mates and the same set of people on the way back. And machines include alarm, electronic shower, hair-styler, mobile phone, toaster, smokeless stove, refrigerator, A/C, ipod, tablet, laptop, data card, TV, remote, mood lights across the house. The list including both the useful and useless machines only grew and grew. And so did my understanding. 

I carried my realization back home with me, now content and happy. I replaced the lights in my home with plants, reduced the usage of electronics as much as I can, never brought work back home at any cost, enjoyed every curl in my hair, bought a clay stove and earthenware for actual home-made food. And to humans, I gave my time, love, ears and a smile. Found a way towards my happy life.