untold fury of an indian woman...

Dearest Indians,

The recent front page news got me thinking for a long time. And I just began to wonder:

You stayed silent when the boy’s side of a family demand lump sum amounts as dowry

You were okay when the mothers in the family were treated like inferiors,

You had no problem with drunkards beating their wives up, you called it normal.

You had no problem when college students sat on the compound whistling and hooting at every passing woman. You went ahead to call it adolescence and hormone rage!

You hardly raised your voice against millions of those little girls who are killed even before they got a chance to see day light, and some more who were thrown and got ridden of in one of those numerous unused dustbins of the cities.

You dint seem to mind too much when there is discrimination shown in the pay cheque just because of her sex,

You dint really come forward and help a girl who was forced to get married against her wishes.

You don’t mind when a son could come home after 9, while the daughter was expected to be back by 5!

You really don’t seem to be seeing how a woman’s voice is subdued in any family discussions by those of her male counterparts

You seem to conveniently overlook the numerous cases of custody rapes and other likewise military gang rapes.

You don’t seem to respond to people who call themselves moral police and do nothing but try curbing the little freedom this country offers,

You don’t want to utter a single syllable about how a man always likes to earn a higher salary than that of his wife or sister! Don’t get me even started over how you enjoy and tap your feet to songs calling women chikini chameli, halkuts jawanis and badnam munni!

Oh India....you have finally awoken and suddenly have manned up all because of one woman who was brutally raped??? Are you trying to, as usual forget the hundreds of women whose lives are miserable thanks to your insensitivity to the matter! Furthermore you go ahead to tell these wounded women that it was their fault that they dressed in a particular way which gives rise to these rapes.. well like the women today are any safer draping a saree!

This protest would hopefully see some justice for the one lady who just lost her life. But what about the millions of other women in this country?

The Delhi police have taken measures for increasing the safety for women in Delhi, what do the women in other parts of the country do?

You can have any number of candle light protests or you can continue to throw stones at our government and lament, but wake up to reality, is this what is going to help us?

As a woman of this country, I am not asking the men to give me their shoulder, but I'm here trying hard to stand on my own. All we are asking for is the freedom to be as independent as the opposite sex. Not their empathy nor sympathy! It’s when we get to hold hands as equals can we abolish more such autocracies. It’s not new, we did it with sathi, with child marriages and many more, why not this?? 

A NOMAD’S QUEST.

A NOMAD’S QUEST.

Walking without a path in mind

Drifting across the many clouds.

With nothing specific for the mind to find;

Looking out for ruins and lands.

The night sky shone;

Lit by a lonely moon;

Drawing to the beauty;

Of the stillness of the night.

The sound of the cricket’s chirping;

The silence in the cold breeze.

The mystery within,

Blending with the darkness.

Awoken by ripples of a brook,

Giggling and teasing as it flows.

I see fresh life beginning;

With rise of the sun, and

Flight of a bird, to hunt.

The breeze blows gently

Rustling the pale autumn leaves.

I bow down to the water,

Feeling its chill

With palms beneath.

The stream flows through,

Tranquil and at peace

Making way for all the lives in it.

I see life: in its myriad manifestations

And wonder where we differ?

I walk through the gardens,

 I climb through the hills

I walk through the dunes

I swim through the seas.

I see cultures, I see religions

I see health, I suffer the sickness.

I see the smiles, feel the tears.

Oh! My friend, where do we differ?

Isn’t this groundless?

Isn’t this an ignominy?

I see the cleric preach; I ask:

Are thou so blinded:

That thou can’t see; we are one?

 Like the river flowing through:

Like the moon lighting a path

I know not where I belong:

But, for every patch of grass,

I’ve laid my feet on.

Thus a nomad’s quest

its time to cut down!!!

Its that time of the year everyone sports a talk on the national budget, and here it is this year.,I tried to grasp as much as possible from all the news channels and papers ending up even more confused! Being the extra talkative person that I am, while on the rickshaw traveling back to my hostel, I started a SMART conversation wid the driver. All I asked was “bhaisab, howz the budget doing for u??”… well, he gave me such a admonished look, it scared me quite a bit. But well, he then gave me a small talk on his view of the budget, one which helped me understand the whole crux of the effect of the budget on my life within 5 minutes.

He started with his rattling about how the price per barrel of crude oil has increased, I wasn’t paying much attention until he mentioned that the minimum fare of auto will be Rs.24 in a few days! Tht would mean an extra Rs.7 per every ride, that would mean an increase of Rs.210 in a month!!! I understood my railway ticket is also going to see a rise, which would mean another increase of Rs.400 minimum in my expenditure.

Now frankly speaking, for a girl like me, any change in the VAT or CENVAT is of least bit importance, but, auto anna to rescue, he gently explained that “ behanji, ur cosmetic price is going to increase”. Now, my mind started its mental calculations. My monthly cosmetics plus tax etc etc would now add up to an increased gross amount of Rs.500! its time I stopped using the liner, mascara, blush and others!

After all this while my mind wandering on how to cut costs so that I could sustain myself with my monthly refills, my vary eyes rested upon the meter. My heart stopped at once. It read Rs.65!!! seeing my petrified face, auto anna with a diabolic grin said “ pranab dha has increased all the prices, question him, not me! I’m just the aam adhmi!” for the love of all the “aaam adhmis in India, do those financial giants even think of students?? Ponder over!!!