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Society's expectations of girls being 'Sanskaari' are pathetically Paleolithic, says this hilarious list by the author. Do you see yourself in there?
Society’s expectations of girls being ‘Sanskaari’ are pathetically Paleolithic, says this hilarious list by the author. Do you see yourself in there?
Now that that’s out of the way loud and clear in bold, you know, the fact that I am NOT ‘so-called’ Sanskaari, let’s get into the “how.” Before I start though, let me just mention here that the poster-child for Sanskaari till a while ago was Alok Nath. Just saying. (Wicked smirk!)
What is Sanskaari then? For men, it looks like all you have to do is wear khadi and smile… a lot! Till the flimsy visage crumbles. At least that’s what dude Alok did.
For women, it’s a different ball game altogether, going way beyond sari and subservience.
There are Palaeolithic rules to follow, set behavior patterns to observe, bowing unquestioningly to authority, permissions to be taken, words to be weighed, expressions to reign in, people to please, guilts to be internalized, self to be subsumed in blissful docility and attitudes to be tolerated.
Newsflash: If you ain’t doing even one of those, girl you’re NOT Sanskaari enough. Yup, you’ve got to take in ‘all the layers’ and earn the coveted ‘tag’. You’ve got to start at the very bottom and slog your way up, fawning and feigning. That’s the only way you’ll make the brand. Earn the approving nods. Secure your ‘second citizenship’.
OR…or… you could say “to hell with it, I’ll live my life at my own pace with my own rules, thank you.” I am my own Sanskaari – you know ‘sans’ all the above ‘kalakaari’!
Guess what I did?
Obvious no? So here are some of the little things I chose to define me. Things that make me happy. Things that I refuse to let go – tag or no tag.
I do, ever since I was a child. Not that spittle-spraying finger in the mouth stuff, though God knows I’ve tried and after getting drenched in bodily fluids – abandoned!
Not that one, the other one, the sweet, melodious Malabar Thrush kind of whistling. And even if I say so myself I am damn good at it – my “Don’t Worry Be Happy” acapella is seriously swell.
LOL that’s a good one!! Really what would anyone have against laughing out loud? Please explain.
I mean I even “snort” Monica-like if the humor quotient touches the ceiling and that’s a mighty compliment. Come on, you can’t let anyone control your laughter – “Womaniya you can only smile an inch, no teeth, no sound, no real mirth… think Mona Lisa. Okay.” ROTFL. (snort!)
Let me get my glass of G&T as I ponder that one. Okay why “don’t drink” why not “don’t drink irresponsibly?” Which is all good in my books.
You’ve got to know your limits. Boundaries can be quite good, but YOU need to set your own boundaries woman. You can legally vote hanh? You can drive a car? You can marry? Hence YOU can set your boundaries too. Mine’s an imaginary trellis of honeysuckle beside which I often nurse my Pinot Noirs.
The sub text being they don’t wear any revealing, tight, short, sexy, loud, out-of-the-box, un-Indian clothes, if you please. Interesting.
This one by itself needs a manual to debunk, and I have a word limit. So all I’ll say is – like that much tossed around Whatsapp messages, women do “dress according to their waxing schedules, mood swings, periods, location, weather, matching shoes, matching bags, availability of suitable underwear.” In fact I think the ripped jeans is a genius invention, prefect for a sunny day like today, where’s my baby blue number hiding?
Now we’re talking. Guys, even Alexa is allowed to answer back! If the mighty Lord did not intend womankind to answer back, he would have given us maybe two more breasts instead of a tongue no? That mouth’s there for a reason dude. Not that one you pathetic moron! It’s got other jobs. Much more urgent and soul satisfying.
Who the F#@$ came up with that B&%$#@*? I swear, I am gonna get on his case.
Besides the fact that scientific research conclusively proves that “intelligent people swear more,” I also consider it my fundamental right. You can’t put a carte blanche verbal cap on female expression. There’ll be one rule for all, or none at all. Period.
You know what, it’s getting too much. I’ll just take a break, chat up my friends and then tackle this.
One hour 33 Minutes later: Okay I am back. Phew! That was nice – voicing out all the pent up emotions. I feel light… so where were we, ya, “Sanskaari girls don’t talk too much” – that’s once again a scientific anomaly.
Women have what is called the ‘language protein’ in their brains so they are way chattier – it’s tough having to get out anywhere from 13,000 to 20,000 words a day! Naturally girl kids usually reach the ‘talking’ milestone much ahead of boy kids according to research. QED! Let us talk, or we’ll give you some talking to.
Ouff. This one’s a gem. I often wonder if all this hidden intelligence wasn’t wasted on making up ‘can’t-shouldn’t rules for Sanskaari girls’ and used instead in geophysics perhaps, we would have been on the moon (figuratively as well) ages ago!
To all those who propound this theory anyway, yes, two people of the opposite gender or sex can have a meaningful relationship beyond copulation. That was the ultimate goal of Adam and Eve, true. But today we are in an era of ‘free will’ and ‘equal rights’ where friendships will not be shackled and I am definitely a product of this era.
Okay FYI, I just had a talk about ‘sex’ with my teen son (comes up every once in a while according to triggers) and one of my blogs talks about that hushed up topic: female orgasm. So I am a complete gonner on the “sacred Sanskaari scale.”
But once again: Why? Why don’t Sanskaari girls speak about sex? They certainly do it. They certainly have read about it. I am sure they have questions and doubts about it. So why can’t they speak about it? What is with this condemnation or rather “condom-nation” of sex talk? Makes no sense, right?
Why? Why not? I think, girls, all I want to say here is you don’t need to answer that – you need to QUESTION it!
The important thing is never to stop questioning: Albert Einstein
Ciao girls.
Image source: a still from the film Cocktail
Published short story writer-Feature Writer-Blogger-Author-Mother-Human-Work in Progress!! Gunjan Pant believes she learns her lessons mainly from travelling across India & the world, and by interacting with interesting people she meets 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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