Is it really a happy women’s day? Why in fact, is there a women’s day that is invariably prefixed with the adjective happy. Is it a way of patronizing women to be happy with the way they are? Or is it an irony like a happy gandhi jayanthi we observe and in celebration lynch innocent people or a happy children’s day we patronise along with abduction and molestation of kids or is it like our much revered happy Independence day on which we whip and jail individuals for expressing their independence. Actually is it worth celebrating all these days when there is only a calendar mark commemorating the day’s auspiciousness and no gratuitous soul having a concern in understanding what the day really means.
Back to today’s special item, A Happy Women’s Day. It is really inspiring to see how the world has changed from mankind to peoplekind and at last settled to humankind through a butt of jokes. And the palpable concern amongst those memes and jokes to respect women carried an indefatigable spirit in bringing justice to them is heart-warming. One does it through concern and the other by mocking that concern. And also many great movements like #Metoo and #Timesup have arrived at the scene celebrating and consecrating the unquestionable stature and merit of women. But, Sir/Madam have these all bought women to the fore and facilitated their progress. Of course, it has bought a dozen more million women to twitter and FB and doyennes of women reformist together, preaching in high pitched voice. Is it the birth of a revolution or a feigned revolution to render the sprouts of revolution to pillage.
It had taken more than 20 years to name and shame a Harvey Weinstein. Result? A Big bang explosion and fulmination. It culminated in accusations and horrendous experiences being piled up like the chinese products in Indian markets and complaints and sufferings queued like the unending queues in Indian ration shops. But why has it taken this long? Sir/Madam didn’t we celebrate ‘A Happy Women’s Day’ for the last 20 years?
It is a moment of great rejoice when we find that women outlive men and are catching up with them in literacy, globally and locally. But it is also a moment of ignominy that the supreme leader of the sole superpower has come to power by firing a barrage of sexist bawdy jokes and a confession on ogling and groping women; the leader of the largest democracy permits and omits a women as his wife in accordance to his mood swings; and the leader of the former superpower engaging in an adults-only campaign to bring voters to poll booth. It is the society we live in. A society where there is appreciation and encouragement to be a Sylvester Stallone but ashamed to call Sunny Leone beautiful. Am not a member of a utopian radical society to justify their profession. But the pressing point is why this bias? When both have started from the same point why lift one and drop the other. And it is no secret that people who show such bias and virulence against Sunny Leone are also her most devoted admirers hidden behind the iron walls of private browsing.
So, is today a Happy Women’s Day or a happily Woo-Men Day, Year, Decade, Century…
Darting back to our country- the ecumenical land where peace and non-violence is inviolable, though not in reality but at least practised by lifeless words in a whimpering textbook. We live in a country where there are hundred Nirabhya’s for every Indira Gandhi, a thousand Vishaka Singh’s for every Arundhati Roy and a million Swathi’s for every Kalpana Chawla. We live in the society where a women’s skirt is the reason for her being raped fortuitously uttered by a male leader whose party has a woman at the helm of defense for whole India. Ambivalence and dichotomy have become the rule of the land. The flagrancy is so explicit that a monkey sena run on the streets with flaming tongues and brandishing swords to protect the honour of their Queen who lived 400 years back. Who leads this monkey sena? A band of rape convicts and murder convicts. The Rani would have jumped into 1000 more gaurs had she been alive now.
Who is to be blamed for all these? Columnist Tabish Khair writes,
“So every time Muslim youths get hysterical over a novel they haven’t read or Hindu youths throw a tantrum over a film that has not been released, I suspect part of the fault lies in the women back home, who cook them chappatis, fetch them slippers, admire their petty prejudices and tall stories, and do not contradict their opinions”
The Women are to be blamed. Today in our country there is so much pride in idolizing a Shashi Tharoor but so much animosity and bad vibes in emulating a Burkha Dutt. A man has to get a good job and earn well to get settled in life. But a woman has to get a good husband and produce good children to be even considered as settled and happy in life. The adjective for an honourable woman is Sita-fied but why is it not Rama-fied for the men. Why this gross prejudice? The reason is again women.
The women are made to believe that their lives lie on dependence and diffidence. And unfortunately, women have conceived that idea and follow the ideals etched on the glory walls constructed millenniums ago. Thus, becoming the reason for all the misery. From birth, she is treated as a commercial copyright who is sold at different junctures. Once sold she has to wash her soul of all her past and become a supplicant to the new master. Every Indian boy would have experienced a situation where the wisdom-filled elders would ask them to stay away from the kitchen and domestic chores. As if it is a monopoly which has been gifted to the women. Pathetically, rarely have women protested against these discriminations and on many occasions have guarded these pungent iniquities in their closet. Even in many developing areas of our country where more than 80% of women are educated, consider marriage as a duty to be arranged by their parents. But with a mild vaccine of WhatsApp and FB showing some effect, very few do choose their one. But on choosing one they again end up considering it as a duty to safeguard that one as the only one. A woman in love has a thousand dreams and one man in each one of them and that man has his own thousand dreams but a different woman in each one of them has become a trite nowadays. There are several instances where women bury their ambitions to safeguard and pin marriage as a badge of honour. Is marriage the last destination of an Indian Woman? This question has created a lot of contentious debates. Women who have challenged it have gone on to embrace immortality through greatness. And have also astonishingly subjected to admonition for treading a new path instead of walking along a century-old decaying path. Women who evaded that tortuous journey and remained grounded in their last stop have faded from world’s memory.
So, the answer to whether, is it really a happy women’s day lies in the hands of women. She alone can decide about her happy life. It is not a question of whether the society treats her fairly but it is a question of whether she considers herself an equal in this society. If yes, push the Humpty Dumpty off the great wall and let it have a great fall and send shockwaves everywhere and put an end to all.
