"Happy Women's Day" was the buzz on social media; celebrating International Women's Day.
In a male dominant society, where happiness of a women is viewed through patriarchal lens, I will try to unveil the implied meaning of "Happy Women's Day" or I should say, the A, B, C's towards happiness
Ladies, you can be happy if you:
- Abide by the unwritten, unexplained, hypothetical laws laid down by the society.
- Give up Boozing, as boozing gals are still considered as undignified.
- are prepared to live up with Catcalling - it is neither funny, nor a compliment; but due to lack of stringent laws you just have to live with it.
- Consider Domestic Violence as normal and keep quiet and just bear it.
- are always Empathetic & soft spoken - come what may!
- are prepared to take Free Gyan from the in laws; mind you - No questions asked!
- accept its your fault despite being Groped during the New Year's Party, in an overcrowded buses etc.. after all those are men or drunk men.
- are prepared to be killed in the name of Honor; as our society still justifies Honor Killings.
- give up your Independence; you know what 'Being Independent' - nah, not for you; ultimately - the society is still apprehensive of the Independent working women..
- can easily Juggle between the various responsibilities - the Juggler
- possess the Kinetic power of a superwoman to cope up with all the toing and froing of the daily chores.
- are prepared to loose in one sided Love marriage discussions - should be prepared to hear all the excuses; a typical conversation between (M)om and (D)augther:
M - Who is the guy?
D - Rakeeb
M - OMfG; agar Hindu hota to kuch kar bhi sakte they (vice-versa)
D - Dont worry Mom, Hindu bhi hai.
M - Whaaat..... ok which caste?
D - Singh hai.......
M - Hey Bhagwaan, agar apni caste ka hota toh kuch kar bhi sakte............
And the list of clauses from caste to gotra [गोत्र ] continues ............
- at the age of 21 or latest 23 [being generous or lets say giving time to finish the graduation] you need to get Married; because even today, girls are treated as an obligation [or what they call in hindi - Doosre ki amanat]; by 25 you are making the family cranky; by 29 - "Dude, sure she's got an affair - Samaj me naak kat hi jaayegi"
- give up on Night parties - Shareef ghar ke ladkiya clubon me kaha jaati hai?
- Oops - Short Skirts and minis - NO, because that draws unnecessary attention and calls for provocation
- are willing to have forced Pregnancies. Forced marriages are one thing but there are still cases of forced pregnancies esp. in the rural areas.... where people are desperately in need of their Chiraag!
- being highly Qualified - give that up as it is of no value, when someone says "Kamane ki kya zarurat hai, main hu na"
- dont take Rape threats seriously and if need be, be prepared to apologize to the slackers.
- are ready to change your route when you are Stalked, harassed; because the streets are still unsafe for women; remember the Bangalore incident!
- are prepared to face it on the chin when Trolled - because Karan Johar can make mistake, but Kangana cannot.......
- dont Use swear words becasue it is just a taboo.
- give up your refreshments, like Vodka with orange juice - Forget it, kisi ne peete huye dekh liya toh kya bolega......
- can Withstand your dim witted colleagues who always try to push you down the path they have been, whereby you are trying to break-free from the clutches.
- are an eXcellent interpreter of things that are not said; as they are the most important and easy to be missed.
- are prepared to discard all your learning from your Youth only to adopt the so-called society culture.
- got a feeling of a Zombie? wish to eat the brain of the person who laid down these bizzare society rules; you gotta wait until you die; coz that will be the only opportunity.
This year's google had a theme of 'Be Bold For Change'; so lets try knock all these alphabets one by one and #BeBoldForChange
Cheers and Have Fun!
Excellent Ajay.. very well articulated.
ReplyDeleteThank you 🙏
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