WHEN WILL WOMEN BREATHE FREE?

“AGLE JANAM MOHE BITYA NAA KIJO……………”. I got to hear these lines while watching a daily soap on a television channel (obviously with my mom). The translation goes like this – “Oh Almighty! Do not make me be born again as a daughter…..”. I was a little baffled, to be honest, as to why would a woman make such a discomfited statement because it did not sound logical to me with someone raising a hue and cry over the gender endowed upon. I, like so many of the unconcerned males of this flamboyant nation, was too much ignorant to the atrocities that women, irrespective of their age, have to undergo each day on the streets, in the offices and even within the walls of their own homes. I was just 14 then and was not at all aware of what harassment meant but I knew it was something ugly, 8 years later, even now there is not a day when I do not come across a news headline highlighting the fact that this nation, with a great cultural heritage, that worships females as goddess, has become a breeding ground for innumerable diabolic wolverines and sabertooths who can rip off a woman’s dignity whenever and wherever they desire to do so. The recent unfortunate events in the heart of our motherland have shocked me to the core. I cannot even dare to, even by mistake, conceive of the pain and the humiliation that, those poor sisters of mine have to bear as a result of the barbaric treatment inflicted upon them, now and again.

The question is why are women being subject to such heinous behaviour? Does that mean that they have to stick to old chauvinistic statutes of bygone eras? Today when women are receiving education and are excelling in every domain in life thus claiming their rights over public spaces, then these incidences can only be attributed to the insecurity that some of the primitive, uneducated egoistic and brainless menfolk harbour in their mind. And now, when public is on streets protesting against these inhuman activities then we get to hear all kinds of possible excuses that can be formulated by the concerned authorities and not to forget the silly comment on the maryada that Indian women are supposed to follow. Today women are afraid to venture out after dark because, with family or not, they are not sure if they are going to return safely. They have to be always watchful - of the lustful eyes of innumerable men that are scanning them head to toe, of the venomous lips that are passing lewd remarks and of those devilish hand without faces that touch them in a crowded spot. There is no respite for women, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, married, unmarried or widowed. From a toddler to a senior citizen, women are being subject to every form of harassment mercilessly.

I use public transport for commuting to and fro my workplace and it is a daily routine that I witness an uncivilized gesture towards women in some form or the other, which includes an autorikshaw driver deliberately stopping his vehicle in front of a woman and trying to compel her to board it, then the ’elite and educated’ young men from various colleges diagnosing the framework of some random young girl and then passing some uncultured remarks or throwing that predatory smile et cetera. Not so different is the corporate culture of our nation where the men are yet to come to terms with the fact that women can be equally competent as they are. One can very easily gauge out to the cases of sexual harassment in the offices - a senior official demand romantic pleasures in return of increment and promotions, a female employee being ogled at for the kind of garments she dons, a male colleague placing his hands on their female counterpart’s knees in the name of casual conversations, morphed photographs to seek revenge and degrade a female employee’s image and credentials and the list goes on. There is no place where one can assure the safety of women and this is an extremely shameful fact for a nation that boasts of its cultural richness.

Now the question arises, why do rape incidents occur? Is it just the lust in the menfolk of our society that is not quenched even with the, more than enough, dosage of vulgarity being served on a silver platter by films and with the extremely uncivilized lyrics being used in the popular numbers? Or, is it some other reason that is driving these inhuman barbarians towards insanity? According to what I have observed in the newspaper articles, the bulletins being broadcasted and the debates being conducted, the reason comes out to be – ‘pure and unadulterated quest for total dominance’ arising due to their extremely high patriarchal egos! According to an article published in one of India’s leading newspapers, the psychoanalysis of a rapist shows that:

1. A rapist has undergone some kind of sexual exploitation, sometime in his life, which he wants the opposite gender to suffer.
2. A rapist is very insecure about the fact that the opposite gender can overshadow his potential.  
3. A rapist wants to inflict his sexual fantasies on his opposite gender.
4. A rapist wants to exercise complete dominance over his opposite gender.
5. A rapist has a chauvinistic mind-set that women are subject to exploitation only.

This is quite a clear indicator in itself that perpetrators of such heinous a crime as rape  are not mentally very sound, ethically ill-mannered and morally corrupt. This all is the outcome of the chauvinism that has percolated over the centuries in this male dominated, son worshipping and ‘whatever-crap-term-you-can-think-of’ society of ours.

                I do not know what measure to suggest because it hardly would be implemented because, firstly, this is a non-commercial blog and secondly, we Indians have a very obnoxious habit of ‘moving on’ irrespective of whatever crap that happens around us. Still, considering myself a part of this neo-India that knows the difference between right and wrong I would want to throw in a few suggestion, which are:

1. Co-educational schooling should be encouraged with special emphasis on sex education and gender awareness.
2. Parents should take the onus if ensuring equality between their male and female children and thus encourage them to reflect this gender equality in all spheres of life.
3. Menfolk should realize that there is no difference, except for the biological, between them and their female counterparts.  
4. Strict administrative measures should be taken to protect the women, especially after dark.
5. Perpetrators of sexual crimes should be inflicted upon harsh punishments to instil fear in the minds of those who harbour wrong intentions in their heart towards women, because often it has been observed that when all else fails fear does not.
6. Police force should be made more aware of the sensitivity of the issue.
7. No person, irrespective of their designation, should be allowed to issue any derogatory statement that intends to degrade the image and the rights of women.

It’s time we shed the false skin of patriarchal diktats and move towards building a society that treats and individual with proper respect irrespective of the gender, caste, religion or creed. It is time we stop paying heed to corrupted and crippled bureaucrats who issue crap statements against the poor women and girls who fell prey to this barbaric act known as rape. It is time we make the streets and the offices as safe for the women of our country as their homes are. It is time when we protect our asmita so that every girl child who is born in this part of Earth proudly says ‘AGLE JANAM MOHE BITYA HI KIJO…………’.

                                THE WRETCHED SIDE OF LIFE

I woke up one morning,

but realized it wasn't me,

Besides my bed wasn't the usual pair of slippers,

neither was the familiar green tea.

I saw my reflection in the mirror 

and witnessed a demented image,

My thoughts and ambitions had been altered,

 and my once a peaceful world was now a wreckage.

There was no beacon of light to look for, 

my own sky was shrouded by a dark cloud,

I had lost faith in the theory of good times, 

my inner voice was chocked out.

There were people whom I trusted,

whom I adored from the core of my heart,

But they turned out to be the harbingers of pain 

and drove me stark.

Something is tearing me apart ,

I feel I am two people within,

One half of me wants to raise his voice and fight the odds,

The other half just wants to give in.

I know there are people for whom

I have to bear with my colorless life,

But when will I live for myself?

Sometimes, I feel like quitting

and kill the rebel within and dump the corpse in a shelf.

Why do we always have to restraint 

from acting the way we want to act? 

Everybody needs to understand, 

that there are times when we need to follow our heart

because for everything there can’t be a tact.

What will you do when you are cornered, 

being referred to as unusual?

What will you do when among the hundreds around you, 

there are none sharing your opinion, 

with whom your feeling are mutual?

There is no one to relieve you of the pain,

neither a messiah nor a prophet,

You have lost your will to live 

because no more are you a destiny’s child,

but a mere entangled puppet.

I do not know when it all be over,

I can see no light at the end of the road,

Time presses on me like a boulder of cactus,

and my shoulders can take no more of this unwanted load.

And feeling the dusk of my life approaching, I pray-

“Oh Dear Lord! Why can’t you just slice my throat 

with a stroke of your all mighty knife?

Because, I do not if it is beautiful, 

having been always the witness,

of the wretched side of life!".

                                       GOD......as i know HIM.

I am a religious guy and therefore I dedicate my first article to The Almighty, but this article pertains to my perception of Him. I feel blessed and perhaps I assume myself to be God’s own child, because as per my observation , whenever I have strayed from my path and mistakenly led myself to be entangled in the cobwebs of gloom, He has, by means that have been strict or sort of amusing , led me out. In fact, whenever I have disgraced my own existence with actions and reactions that do not correspond to those of the so called normal living biological samples of Homo Sapiens, He has, somehow, created such situation or led me into such scenarios, that I myself was willing to accept my mistakes and redeem them. 

I believe, that God is more of our own moral consciousness, which is quite evident by the fact that we have been passed on this notion through generations - that God is in everything that surrounds and us and most importantly God resides in our heart, our breathe, our mind – in short, we are Him and He  is us. The Vedas state – when there was nothing then the Tridevas visualized what the human world is going to be like and then created everything that fits well in, our very own, human frame of mind. What I feel is that, the Tridevas correspond to three states of our mind that is, construction, maintenance and destruction (and of course recycling in today’s eco-friendly era). 

God is actually a guiding light that wants us to stick to the noble path in life; it is our character that decides how long we can follow his footsteps. Consider the example of an airport, the landing strip illuminated by the lights symbolizes the correct way of living. It, completely, depends on the pilot as to how well can he identify those signals and land correctly. Similarly, the Divine One can show us the right road to our ultimate goal, that is, salvation, by giving us those hints which can be a gut feeling or a bad omen or the natural insight to view things as bad or good.

Our mana (the human mind) tends to deviate from walking towards moksha(salvation) and gets caught somewhere in the crossroads. It is our duty to leave every distraction aside and concentrate only on the ultimate purpose, so that when we disintegrate back into the five elements, we can reunite ourselves with the greatest soul. As a lost child runs into the arms of his father or mother when called from a distance, we all need to clear the mists of our eyes that are mesmerized by maya (desires), and go and surrender our souls to The Great One, so that He can expand our tiny and materialistic approach towards life into a fruitful one.

  TWAMEVA MATA CHA PITA TWAMEVA, TWAMEVA BANDHU CHA SAKHA TWAMEVA, TWAMEVA VIDYA DRAVIDAM TWAMEVA, TWAMEVA SARWAM MAM DEVA DEVA.