They would want to silence you, crush you and 'teach' you. But stay strong... because women like you are HOPE.
They would want to silence you, crush you and ‘teach’ you. But stay strong… because women like you are HOPE.
Having an opinion and guts to spill it out while being a woman is a disastrous recipe.
Let me tell you how, as an Indian woman.
Firstly, you will have few friends.
You will get less invitations for the fun parties because you just can’t limit your chatter to the weather and dresses.
You will get few promotions and more memos from the boss.
Relatives will keep you away from their children and cultured wives.
Your professors may also ignore your raised hand because your questions disturb their lesson plan.
Even the salesman won’t give you more discount because having too many opinion kill your femininity (they say).
And for any crime against women, within this country and elsewhere… women like you will be blamed.
Even for the failed rains, crop, Pandemic….It’s you, only you…
They would want to silence you, crush you and teach you…
Stay strong…
Because women like you are HOPE.
A letter to our courageous sisters in Afghanistan.
Image source: Anamika/ Pocket Films on YouTube
Vartika Sharma Lekhak is a writer based in India. She is the author of the short-story collection – Bra Strap and two anthologies – When Women Speak Up, and The Take Off. The short-story collection read more...
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Neena Gupta shares her terrifying childhood experiences of being molested - like most assault survivors who often go to great measures to minimise these incidents by remaining silent, she was scared to tell her parents.
Neena Gupta shares her terrifying childhood experiences of being molested – like most assault survivors who often go to great measures to minimise these incidents by remaining silent, she was scared to tell her parents.
Trigger warning: This deals with child sexual abuse and may be triggering for survivors.
Hiding family issues to patriarchy, 'House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths' throws a light on several problematic aspects within the typical Indian family.
The spine-chilling Burari deaths that happened in 2018 were brought to light again with the Netflix series ‘House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths’. The eleven member Chundawat family were like any other middle class family who had been living in the neighborhood for the last twenty years. They also had a grocery and plywood shop in the same vicinity.
Rajeev Tomar the policeman who entered the Burari house after the incident, stated that he had never seen a scene like this in his entire career and the visuals still haunt him. He was in shock to see the entire family hanging with their hands tied and their eyes covered. The documentary mentions that there were 11 diaries that were found with various other notes that further deepened the mystery surrounding the deaths.
You can be an engineer, a doctor, a teacher, a writer. Whoever you want to be, but be a human first, be kind and compassionate.
My Dear boy,
It is still a man's world - as an ambitious professional woman though, you can't wait for everything to be set right - make it happen!
It is still a man’s world and equality is some way away; as an ambitious professional woman though, you can’t wait for everything to be set right – make it happen!
I have seen hiring managers refusing to hire women as they are at a ‘marriageable’ age, or asking married women what their plans are for having children or not even considering women applicants for night shifts. Being a woman can be hard sometimes. Okay, more than sometimes. And the workplace is no exception. It can be challenging with nuanced stereotypes, male egos and generalizations about women.