The burden of being a woman

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I asked my niece to bring me some water to drink. She wasn't in the mood to do it, she was watching a TV show with the family and so didn't want to leave. She said she didn't want to go, but she was promptly asked by all the family members to help me with water.

The TV show we were watching was showing a "debate" about the problems between sister in laws with the wives on one side and all the sister in laws on the other side. A "facilitator" stood in between regulating the discussions and looking for points which could be dramatized for better TRP ratings. In between this an ad came on showing Yami Gautam conducting a test of fairness creams from India and various "developed" nations and comes up with the verdict that the Indian cream wins hands down!

I see a few colleagues of mine who run to the wash room when they reach office first thing in the morning, majority of them women. One male colleague made fun saying "why are you coming through the back door of office" to which the female colleague replied sheepishly I had to do my hair and make up as I left home late. The bathroom is at the back of the office and so she chose to come that way.

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Another obnoxious colleague of mine makes all these sexist jokes that is heartily laughed at, surprisingly not just by men but by the women themselves. And then there is atrocious story of a woman colleague at my wife's office who has been let go because she got pregnant. World wide statistics clearly state women are payed lesser than men. A casual look around any office space will tell you how much of women are actually given opportunities - when I mean opportunities I don't mean the companies themselves, but society as a whole. There was a time when Indian women going to work were castigated by the mother in laws and the neighborhood aunties for being too forward and not being there to take care of the husband and kids. Today the same mother in laws and neighborhood aunties take the liberty to advice women on why they should not waste their time in being a home maker and should work irrespective whether you like it or not. This link will tell you all about it -  http://akkarbakkar.com/pompous advice on homemakers choice!!.

I was reading English translation of the controversial Tamil book "Maathorubaagan" by Perumal Murugan and it was revolting and disgusting to see how a woman was treated by the society for not being able to conceive. The sad part was that nobody knew whether it was the woman that was unable to conceive or the man, but our woman friendly society just chose the woman to harangue.

Then there are the lovely new songs sung by our great Mr Dhanush and Anirudh and Sivakaarthikeyan and Simbu about how women are always the one ditching men in relationships and how they ought to be beaten up and meted out with harsh treatment for their heartlessness and exercising their choice to accept or reject men that approach her.

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Not to mention the magazines and movies and media that is filled with anorexic women half dressed with pouting lips and asses screaming about the definition of beauty that serves only one purpose - filling the coffers of corporate houses. If women get any slimmer we would have skeletons covered in a patina of skin - and then there would be a term to call it the new vogue in beauty - maybe they'll call it the size "minus fifty". We have our elected representatives in the parliament and outside of it speaking brilliant verses about women's skin colour and reproduction abilities - like they were some domesticated animals designed to procreate and care for everyone around them!

We have government initiatives that give incentives for bearing women children at one end and on the other end we have female infanticide and ever increasing disparity in the sex ratios. It would be amazing fun to see men folk forced into accepting other men as life partners for want of the women species! That would be a lesson well served. We have stalwarts and great thinkers that exclaim proudly about great Indian women like Indira Gandhi and Kalpana Chawla while their wives would be slogging in the kitchen on women's day - ironically the world would be shouting out on how much their women mean to them - the usual descriptions of sacrifice, love, care, softness, affection and so on.

The Indian army proudly displays a contingency of women at the Republic day parade who are mere display dolls for they would not be allowed to lead any regiment, because the Indian Army admits that men are not yet ready to report into a woman commander. Indian women in the villages are called the Goddess Lakshmi of the houses and the same women are killed for the honour of the family. Women are considered the Goddesses of fertility and procreation and the same women are forced into the trade of prostitution for petty money.

Being a woman is a burden. The Goddesses of our homes are merely symbols - they only exist in honey tongued words. I hope we teach our children the merits and the importance of equality and fairness and why the sex does not matter. I hope our next generation is one that treats all human beings the same. Until then let's just keep writing, talking, sharing and telling the world how wrong it is to treat our Goddesses the way they are!!!