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This Women's Day let's stop weighing down women with whole range of additional qualities that make her look extra-terrestrial. She exists just like everything else in this world. Whether she is marvellous or not she will decide.
From Pushpa I hate tears to Pushpa -The fire and not flower we have indeed come a long way. Pushpa -This humble simple name has a long history. It once symbolised a hapless women who only shed tears in wake of any sort of assault on her ranging from physical, sexual, mental, and emotional to even societal.
Unable to fight the odds the innocuous looking tears were her only weapon and she shed them unabashedly at every chance. How did the masculine world react to her tears? Well to begin with they enjoyed her tears as they projected a sign of her dependence, her frailty and her sense of weakness. Who was to be blamed….of course Pushpa herself for letting tears flow waiting for someone to wipe them. But are we still in the Pushpa mould today. Heck no….Pushpa and her tears are long lost history. Wake up and smell coffee. You are looking at us- the women of today who now singularly complete their world.
I am everything today what I could be- an entrepreneur, a homemaker, a single parent, a single happy woman, a professional or simply myself. I don’t need tags to define myself. What did I do….nothing? I simply acknowledged that my existence is most important for no one but me.
The vastness of this universe does not baffle me for I no longer consider my presence in it to be miniscule. I am a woman who everyday stands in front of the mirror and says wow you are remarkable. It was not easy to come this long but was it difficult? Did the woman face lot of odds to reach here today? Actually No. She just had to say a big flat No. The day this magical word came out of her lips the world changed for her.
Is it easy being a woman? We have grown up with the answer that is not easy being a woman but I would say it is not tough being a woman. Are men and women equal? The ever intimidating and formidable question with the most clichéd and acceptable answer – Yes. I say why we have to even go this way. Nature has been gracious enough to put every creature on earth in the same pedestal. Do birds, bees and fishes even think about equality? No- because equality is neither to be bestowed nor to be claimed. The day you are born into this vastness you’re free like every other creature so the question of demanding and asserting equality never should surface.
Another question- Are women superior or multi taskers? Women are women -period. Do not put dockets to recognize what they do. Existence never deprives anyone of capacities. Women are emotional ? Again I would say they channelize emotions into expression….a quality everyone has. Women are better care givers? No they care just like anyone else. Only their virtue is over exemplified and exaggerated. She is supposed to be ethical, moral and correct always. Don’t judge. Your yardsticks will fail to measure her up
So this Women’s Day let’s stop weighing down women with whole range of additional qualities that make her look extra-terrestrial. She exists just like everything else in this world. Whether she is marvellous or not she will decide. Whether she needs equal right is out of question. How she thinks, behaves, emotes and expresses herself is no one’s business.
Leave her alone. She will bloom. In her mind she always bloomed even as the Pushpa shedding tears. She always had a free will and mind. You just saw it now. Pushpa not flower but fire…..does it make sense to you now?
Image source: a still from short film Ghar ki Murgi
I am a post doctorate in social sciences, specializing in education and a professor at Somaiya Vidyavihar University. My areas of expertise are Research , Life skills and Management of Education. I am a voracious reader 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.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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