Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Traditional celebrations often propagate stereotypes. Occupy Navratri is a way of challenging stereotypes and creating awareness.
Growing up, Navratri was one of my favorite times of the year! My siblings and I couldn’t wait for my parents and grandparents to unpack the Golu doll boxes.
We didn’t have ready-made Golu steps in those days, so we had to get creative and make the steps out of tables, boxes, suitcases, anything remotely rectangular in the house. Even if it meant no dining table for the family for those nine days or no coffee table for our grandparents, everyone pitched in to make the nine steps.
Arranging Golu dolls in those steps was an elaborate ritual by itself. From gently unpacking the layers of old newspaper bits that safely wrapped the dolls to dusting and arranging them, my siblings and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Of course, our favorite part of the arrangement is what we called ‘the park’, which usually goes on the side of the nine steps and includes various figurines that portray regular human beings (while the steps are mostly reserved for gods and goddesses.)
As an adult, life got busy, so I haven’t celebrated Navratri for several years now. This year I decided to stop with my excuses, and to make an effort.
When I started preparing for the celebration, I felt the same excitement as I felt in my childhood and teenage days, but of course I am a very different person today. My sensibilities are different. I would like to believe the people in my life and the experiences I have had, have made me a better person. I don’t blindly follow traditions anymore, especially if they are religious.
A letter from the ‘girls of these days’
Navratri, as many of us know, is a celebration of Hindu goddesses and typically considered a women’s festival. Unfortunately, Navratri continues to propagate some of the stories from the Hindu mythology which are sexist, casteist, discriminatory and biased. The festival also continues to portray social representations that are out-dated, irrelevant, and sometimes inappropriate.
Occupy Menstruation
Considering the status of women in our country today and the difficulties and challenges they face everyday, I wondered if there was anything I could do differently to put the nine days to good use. That’s how Occupy Navratri was born.
Dark is Beautiful
The word ‘Occupy’, as many of you might know, symbolizes the Occupy movement. The Occupy Movement is an international movement against social and economic inequality and the lack of ‘real democracy’. In the last few years, the movement has taken several forms and has been used by communities across the globe to challenge the status quo and demand real and meaningful change. In essence the word Occupy now means to challenge the status-quo. It’s about time that we occupied Navratri to make the festival relevant, fair, and inclusive.
On Marriage
Instead of blindly displaying out-dated arrangement of dolls, I decided to display dolls with messages against sexism, misogyny, classism, casteism, LGBT phobia and other forms of social evil. I used my dolls to tell stories of gender equality, class and racial equality, economic equality and LGBT equality.
Check out some of my Golu arrangements this year! They are available on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you find this inspiring, I invite you to join me in celebrating Occupy Navratri in your home. Let’s claim the space, create our own stories and celebrate fairness and inclusivity. By doing something as simple as this, I am sure we will trigger conversations in our communities that might lead to real change.
Images: Shridhar Sadasivan
Guest Bloggers are those who want to share their ideas/experiences, but do not have a profile here. Write to us at [email protected] if you have a special situation (for e.g. want read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
Love cannot be imposed Stalkers speak of love, which in a few minutes turns deadly when they are rejected by the woman.
Trigger Warning: This speaks of stalking, violence against women, and murder by a stalker, and may be triggering to survivors.
Justice prevailed after 6 long years.
A ‘NO’ once said or said over a thousand times holds only the same meaning when uttered by a woman.
Please enter your email address