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Today also we have social evils and retrograding rituals and traditions which prohibit girls and ladies from entering temples during menstruation.
Maa is Maa, either for male or female child, she remains Maa. She is above all supreme sacrifices and efforts. When we talk about Devi Maa then we feel more empowered. Worshipping Her by everyone is different.
When we talk about who, when, why and by whom she should be worshipped then we are forced to think that now the time has come to put our retrograde traditions and rituals at the back and let them also see what exactly happens when you do not follow them religiously as they were expected to be done.
Since ages, we are following our rituals and traditions so religiously and never dared to step out of that. Social evils traditions like ‘Sati Pratha’, ‘Child Marriage’, ‘Widow Re-marriage’ were once opposed by great people and they succeeded also in eradicating these from the society. Similarly today also we have social evils and retrograding rituals and traditions which prohibit girls and ladies from entering temples during menstruation. Today also in many festivals, women are abstained from attending the celebrations because of periods. Woman today also feel low, stressed and suppressed and this is what we must change and recast.
We remember our grandmothers used to give instructions to our parents not to allow us to attend Puja, while questioning them ‘Why not’, we were threatened by ‘what will happen’ fall outs on not obeying Maa Durga or other Gods. I remember a girl from a neighbour who waited for his brother’s marriage and worked day and night for preparations but was refrained to attend all rituals of puja because she had periods during that time. Not only she was shattered but this message got viral in the family and friends that she is having periods as if they were derelicts.
Poor, rejected. As if she murdered someone. Today again when I heard a lady can not have nine days fasts because she is having periods, it made me to recapitulate all those incidents where women were prohibited and were punished to be disobedient. We pray Goddess Durga in Navratri and because of menstrual periods that feelings and commitment of ladies are negated.
Every year when I see Navratri approaching, I am immediately reminded that now again no to ‘this’ and no to ‘that’ will begin. Maa Durga herself is Goddess and how she can punish her daughters for worshipping her during periods? Moreover, it is a natural phenomenon, which must happen.
Our elders always threatened us “do not touch to puja Ghar ” or “do not go to the temple” during this time but I never abstained myself from all these. I do as in normal days I worship in temples. Only a Maa can understand her daughters and Goddess Durga is Maa of all ladies, then how can she harm her daughters? Every year during Navratri we see girls and women regretting not to be able to attend puja despite their consistent efforts and commitments.
Let it be natural. Do not stop any girl for not touching and entering Puja Ghar. When the sun doesn’t abstain its rays to fall upon a girl in menstruation, the river doesn’t differentiate, wind and everything in nature treat them equal, then why we humans especially ladies should stop our daughters to worship Goddess or to go to the temple to worship their God to whom they wish to worship?
Let us start from Maa Durga Puja to say no to retrograding rituals for girls let us say it from Navratri “Ladies First”.
Image via Pixabay
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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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