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Sometimes, a bright young light of reason needs to shine upon the hypocrisy of the inequality of gender that has a skewed idea of what is right.
A teenage boy asked his Dad, “How do we decide what is wrong?”
Dad replied, “If your actions harm anyone then your actions are wrong. If you lie to hide your mistakes, you are wrong”.
The boy said, “Can the same action carried out by two different people, be right for one and wrong for the other?”
Dad replied, “No beta, Of course not”.
The boy asked, “Are you sure Dad?”
Dad replied, “Of course, But why do you ask?”
The boy said, “Then, why is it wrong for Rucha Di to go out in the night with her friends, if it is right for me? Why does Mom always tell Rucha Di that good girls don’t wear short clothes? I always wear shorts and banyan, then am I a bad boy? Why does Dadi always blame Mom for taking you away from her home, but Nani doesn’t blame you? Did you do a right thing and mom wrong?”
Why is Mohan Uncle, who always asks money from Rashmi Aunt’s family right, and Ashmita Bhabhi asking Shyam Dada money to support her parents wrong? Why is drinking by all the men of the family right, but it is wrong if any woman in our family drinks? Why is it wrong when our neighbour aunt travels for her work and uncle looks after the kid? Even you travel for work and mom takes care of us while you are away? So, are you wrong?”
“Why is it wrong if my friend’s uncle left his job to manage the house and kids, while his wife continued working? Even Ashmita Bhabhi left her job after Adira was born. So, was she wrong? Nani keeps saying that due to Rekha Mami’s ambition their divorce happened. Is being ambitious wrong? So, should I not have ambitions? I don’t understand Dad, what is wrong and what is right? The world and their definition of right wrong confuses me.”
And then one look at his father face, made him understand it all. He quietly walked away to his room.
Sometimes, silence speaks more than words.
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A software engineer ,who loves to travel.A writer by heart. read more...
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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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