Oh,Womaniya!
The trending topic of this week was the Indian woman.
(Disclaimer : “Indian woman”,here alludes to THE "Indian woman" irrespective of caste,creed,colour or any such barriers one might be dimwitted enough to create.)
The women with who the week commenced were technically,not even women yet.They were two minor girls tragically found hanging off a tree in the heartland of UP,having been raped while on their way to relieve themselves.This not only raises the topic of “violence against women” (about which a lot has been said,and little has been done),but also that of sanitation.
In a cluster of slums in a big city like Mumbai,the ratio of TVs to homes is approximately 1:1,but that of public toilets to people is about 1:50.The railway track hence doubles up as a personal toilet.The tracks,being in full public view, compel women to answer nature’s call after sundown and before sunrise.This is not only unsafe but also unhygienic from a medical point of view and unfortunately,a common sight in many other places in India.The “pehle shauchalaya,phir devalaya” statement just managed to do three things: a) Create a political argument (which seemed more suitable in kindergarten ;"I said it first","No,I said it first") b) Create another row for using the words “devalaya” and “shauchalaya” in the same sentence (yes,there are illogical Indians as well) and c)The usual-NOTHING.The Badaun rape cases are proof enough.Now had the statement been implemented,it would have been a different story altogether.Infact there would be no story,hopefully.
Where on one side,we dealt with this horror,on the other, Ms. Pankaja Munde-Palwe was making us all proud and creating history.In the event of her father’s (Sh. Gopinath Munde’s) untimely death,she was the pillar of strength and poise for her entire family,and unconsciously,an inspiration to all Indian women.Sometimes one sees sights that unconsciously get imprinted in one’s mind.The image of the tear-stained,grief-etched face of Ms Munde-Palwe,hands folded in gratitude,appealing for the people to remain calm is one of them,for me atleast.She not only exuded that quiet strength that we all covet,but also performed her father’s last rites,including lighting the pyre,traditionally performed by men.She may not know it,but that day,she set a benchmark for other women.
Badaun and Beed are part of the same country,barely 1,500 km apart from each other.Yet,while two minor daughters of India were brutally raped and hung in one,in the other,a brave daughter of India paved way for the others and encouraged them to change with time.Indian women have the potential to change the world for the best,but not all are lucky enough to get a chance.I just hope there comes a day we all get a chance.Oh,Womaniya...sigh!!
(Disclaimer : “Indian woman”,here alludes to THE "Indian woman" irrespective of caste,creed,colour or any such barriers one might be dimwitted enough to create.)
The women with who the week commenced were technically,not even women yet.They were two minor girls tragically found hanging off a tree in the heartland of UP,having been raped while on their way to relieve themselves.This not only raises the topic of “violence against women” (about which a lot has been said,and little has been done),but also that of sanitation.
In a cluster of slums in a big city like Mumbai,the ratio of TVs to homes is approximately 1:1,but that of public toilets to people is about 1:50.The railway track hence doubles up as a personal toilet.The tracks,being in full public view, compel women to answer nature’s call after sundown and before sunrise.This is not only unsafe but also unhygienic from a medical point of view and unfortunately,a common sight in many other places in India.The “pehle shauchalaya,phir devalaya” statement just managed to do three things: a) Create a political argument (which seemed more suitable in kindergarten ;"I said it first","No,I said it first") b) Create another row for using the words “devalaya” and “shauchalaya” in the same sentence (yes,there are illogical Indians as well) and c)The usual-NOTHING.The Badaun rape cases are proof enough.Now had the statement been implemented,it would have been a different story altogether.Infact there would be no story,hopefully.
Where on one side,we dealt with this horror,on the other, Ms. Pankaja Munde-Palwe was making us all proud and creating history.In the event of her father’s (Sh. Gopinath Munde’s) untimely death,she was the pillar of strength and poise for her entire family,and unconsciously,an inspiration to all Indian women.Sometimes one sees sights that unconsciously get imprinted in one’s mind.The image of the tear-stained,grief-etched face of Ms Munde-Palwe,hands folded in gratitude,appealing for the people to remain calm is one of them,for me atleast.She not only exuded that quiet strength that we all covet,but also performed her father’s last rites,including lighting the pyre,traditionally performed by men.She may not know it,but that day,she set a benchmark for other women.
Badaun and Beed are part of the same country,barely 1,500 km apart from each other.Yet,while two minor daughters of India were brutally raped and hung in one,in the other,a brave daughter of India paved way for the others and encouraged them to change with time.Indian women have the potential to change the world for the best,but not all are lucky enough to get a chance.I just hope there comes a day we all get a chance.Oh,Womaniya...sigh!!
Really nice blog... Now the time has come that Women have to take a stand on their own and not to depend on Men. They have enough power and courage to do that. They are strong enough to protect themselves and also not let any one to do any harm to them
ReplyDeleteWell said :-)
ReplyDeleteThank u for reading and the comments :-)