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We women have been pushed around too far for too long. Maybe it is time to rebel, to stand up for our right to dignity and a life on our terms! #PledgeToSurvive
I am a girl. Yes, I am a GIRL. Born in this country; brought up with values of respect, dignity, love, nurture, sympathy and integrity.
As the new year begins, I hear the voices of the endless ‘ME’s.
I hear the ‘me’, who was aborted in the womb. The ‘me’, who was shot at point blank range for standing up for what was right. The ‘me’, who was raped by those six in the middle of the night – they thought they were just being ‘men’!
Then the ‘me’, who was manhandled at that temple, just because I wasn’t moving faster in the queue. The ‘me’ who was harassed and tortured by a certain boss at a certain workplace. The ‘me’ who was burnt alive by my own people. The ‘me’ who was taken advantage of and left in the middle of nowhere. The ‘me’ who was assaulted for merely being ‘me’.
And many more such ‘me’s. I hear them all, loud and clear. I have heard them cry. I have heard them shout for help. I have heard them screaming.
Now I hear them walking. Silently. I hear their feet and I hear their souls. Like words don’t matter anymore. Like enough was said but not enough was done. I see them vigilant, I see them stronger than ever. They are all a bunch of ‘ME’s. And we are moving steadily towards all of those ‘YOU’s who have taken us for granted. Those who felt we can be victimized…
You had better know that we have decided to stop playing a victim. We have decided to stop being harassed and subdued and tortured and played with and taken advantage of. We have decided to stop dying.
The next time you touch me without my consent, I will not draw my hands back. I will ensure your hands are ripped apart, so that you do not even think of doing that ever again.
The next time you tell me I can’t do something just because I am me, I will ensure that I do it right in front of you, so that never again would you underestimate my power.
The next time you grope me or try to assault me physically, I will let you see my strength and make you go down on your knees and beg for mercy.
The next time you shout at me or try to take me for granted, I will make sure my voice reaches its highest decibels so that never ever you use your power against me.
The next time you try burning me alive, I will ensure that I rise from my ashes and destroy your existence to its core.
The next time you play with my soul or body, I will make sure you do that for the last time with anyone.
This New Year I pledge to bring out the strong, powerful, undeterred and fearless ‘ME’ – the survivor me. In today’s times, when the saviours fail to save, when the legal and judicial system ridicule, when my own family abandons and leaves me homeless, when my parents decide to kill me even before I come into this world, when my companions stab me deep, when I am treated like a no one – I will show the world who I am. I will not back down.
I was brought into existence by the Almighty with a heart full of love, to spread joy and hope among the hopeless, to be a ray of sunshine. But just remember, the rays come from a fireball – you try to suppress me and I will explode – and the destruction thereafter would be just a consequence.
All the ‘ME’s out there – let’s #PledgeToSurvive. Beat all odds and triumph!
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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