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While court orders ban sun film in cars for the"safety of women" it is how society views women that needs to change!
Let me first present the facts –
– I took to the wheel only when it became an obstacle to my independence.
– I am a reluctant driver but I can go anywhere in the city, with some groundwork done and armed with directions.
– I may err on the side of caution, but I have had fewer incidents than any male driver I know.
At a get-together with extended family, an aunt asked if I had come along with someone. The “someone” was a male relative, who has just returned from the U.S. and does not even hold a valid Indian driving license. He had napped in the car while I had negotiated Bangalore traffic for a good twenty kilometers and entertained my five-year son for an hour.
My response to her question was that the male relative had napped in the car, but that led to her thinking he had dozed off while he was driving! I was amused by that. The aunt with whom I had this conversation is an elderly person, and considered way ahead of her times – growing up she did everything her two brothers did. Back in the eighties, she used to ride a scooter to work, and continues to do so now.
On the way back home from the get-together, I was flagged because my car had sun film. I had chosen to ignore a piece of legislation that does nothing but pass the buck on for the safety of women, while the traffic police makes a quick buck. The man in uniform was speaking to me, when he noticed an adult male passenger sitting in the back of the car. Immediately, he began addressing him and ignoring me. The policeman assumed the male was in charge – a male who was a guest and couldn’t even have responded since he doesn’t speak the local language. Here was an officer of the law, supposedly enforcing a law that is meant to protect women, but all he was doing was reinforcing the societal assumption that no matter what, it is the man who wields the authority.
It is not the film on windows, but the tint with which society views women that needs to be removed.
Pic credit: Bugmonkey (Used under a Creative Commons license)
Arundhati Venkatesh is a children's books author. Her books have won several awards, including the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award 2015 for India, Middle East and Asia for read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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