Wo Men

At 16 Savitha got married. At 18 she had her first child. At 21 she was a widow with her second child. Society scorned at her. Family asked her to marry again leaving the kids at their care. Yet she refused all, rose up to the situation and decided to bring up her 2 kids alone. She could have had a second chance at life had she remarried but she took the “road not taken”.

At a time when divorces were really uncommon, Geetha has had enough and has moved out of her husband’s home with 2 sons and a tag of being a “divorcee”. Today she is at the top of her game being the most sought after HR head in the country. The words of her father kept her going : “Be in a position where no man can question you or dare to disrespect you. Let your work overshadow your past. “

Often people symbolise women as weak and helpless damsels who need rescuing to be done. But its time to wake up folks! Today’s girls can well take care of themselves and need no knight in shining armour. The above two incidents are real life examples.(though names have been changed). Right from my childhood I’ve always been the closest to my mom. She is my world....my strength. Her persevearance, emotional strength, rational approach and the list goes on, always amaze me. I’ve been surrounded by some great women who are far superior to men in many aspects. Yet today they need to fight tooth and nail just to prove that they aren’t vulnerable.

Injustice to women impedes the growth of the entire human kind itself. How can a society be expected to develop when half of its population lives in subjugation? And India is a worst hypocite. The same people who throng Maa Kaali’s temple during Durga pooja are the very ones who leave no opportunity to make women feel less important. Female infanticide rates are still high and girls still gotta deal with rape happening at every nook and corner of the country. They still gotta tackle every rogue who hoots and stares at them as if they are naught but flesh of meat.

They say instead of teaching your daugthers to be “sanskari” teach your son some “sanskar”. But I say show your son that “sanskari” is only a word coined by male chauvinists who wanted cultural legitimacy to oppress women. Show your son how stronh women are and he will automatically grow to respect them.

This prejudice against females is so deep rooted into our system. Fairytales exist when prince charming saves our princess from the evil step mother. But why can’t the princess get up and fight for herself? Every Mills and Boons love story makes me realise that there is still a long way for us to go. And the lyrics of bollywood item songs throws me into introspection about where we are going.

I am a man yet these injustices against women move me so much. I can’t even imagine what the victims must be going through. If we can actually make a difference then lets start by doing so by actually respecting women and stop pretending like we do respect them.

When I say respect women, it doesn't mean that you have to pay respects, address them with utmost respect or any such thing. It only means that if you have enough conscience, treat them as your fellow mates without any discrimination. You don't have to consider them superior or inferior. That is the the basic principle of gender equality.