‘The Girl She was’  to  ‘The Woman She is’

Few years ago she was a little girl . She didn’t even know that boys or girls were different  . She just knew that boys wore short pants and girls wore frocks .  Boys fought more and girls loved more . They used to play together without any kind of hesitation or fear .

She was a darling daughter of her parents , especially her Dad . He always motivated her , supported her , educated her the best and was always the pillar of strength for her . She  was free like a bird in her father’s nest .  Her life  was cool as a cucumber – just play , study , eat and sleep . Her mind was too light to even know about the existence  of heavy words like gender bias , equality , empowerment .

The little girl was growing  from childhood towards  adolescence , weaving her own purple dreams . But she was  frightened  one bad day  when a  strange hand pressed her breasts and ran away .  She failed to utter even a single word when her own family member molested her  . She started feeling foul about herself but she lacked courage and confidence .

The young girl was once travelling back from school when she witnessed few people giggling at her . She could hardly judge anything till she came back home and saw red spots on her white skirt . Her mother asked her to be very secretive about it from her dad or brother .  Period days became tension days as it brought emotional disturbance along .

Her Marriage reflected many shades of  positive and negative . She felt like a queen during the first year of marriage but the next years taught her the meaning of words like abuse , domestic violence , abortion , foeticide and labour pain  .

She let go of  all the negative aspects of her life when a tiny beautiful creation was born out of  her . The beauty of that little angel  lighted   sparks of joy within her . She was happy to make any kind of compromises for her child .

Life brought many experiences and taught many lessons . The compromises when felt like a overburden to her mind , she roared . The unexpected raised voice was tried to be suppressed but you can’t tame an infuriated  lion . She overpowered abuse and violence with her courage and power . That’s the confident woman she is today.

The girl who was unable to utter a single word when she herself got molested , today stands against any  letcherous stares   in a public place . That’s the  bold woman she is today.

The girl who once faced giggles on her skirt discusses openly the topic of menstruation in the family . She teaches her daughter about the scientific aspect of it rather than being secretive or restrain from religious activities . She feels  happy and proud   when  her  mother –in-law keeps the point  that menstruating women should not cook but her daughter smilingly  cooks maggi in the kitchen citing  example of Mata Kamakhya Devi  . That’s the rational woman she is today .

The girl she was , has always been  avoiding  to take the discussion ahead when somebody said – auraten to bas khana hi bana sakti hain . But today she hoots in criticism in the theatre when the man in the movie ‘Thappad’ taunts his wife ‘Paranthe banane to seekh lo pehle fir kuch aur seekhna‘ . That’s the rock-ribbed woman she is becoming .

The women of yesterday faced inequalities , physical abuse , sexual  violence not even leaving our  Godesses who went through Agni Pariksha  or Cheer haran . But every  woman of today feels  a fire in the belly whenever she notices gender bias or   any kind of violence .( I remember how my husband  flared up when I noticed something on our recent travel and started the discussion about   men’s private part scratching .) That’s the kind of contentious woman I am sometimes looked upon as .

Yesterday was the time when low caste women were made to pay mulakaram ( breast tax ) . Then came the time when a woman Switzer was pulled out of a marathon  because men’s society didn’t want women to give them competition . Today is the time of Mary Kom , Kalpana Chawla  , Pratibha Patil and many more women achievers . But the mind gets disturbed when  another Nirbhaya is still sprouted up somewhere  almost daily .

The words like equality and empowerment which the  girl of yesterday was unaware of , are actually lived by many women of today .  The girl who used to confide in four walls of her house , today  stands unshattered . She knows how to  raise her voice and counter the  stereotype image of a woman. But  she demands respect , love , balance , equality from the society too . That’s the insistent woman she is today .

In our society , some  change can definitely be seen but the  world is still not completely equal . The patriarchal world still exists in a large extent .  The woman has to make many adjustments , she has to face  the lusty glances or acid chappaks   , she is deprived of her rights , tortured , raped and made to wait for years in the hope of justice .

If every man respects  her dignity

& if need , a woman roars against inequality

If society doesn’t trap her in burkas

& if need , she stands up against all stigmas

If every man gives due recognition to her abilities

& supports to develop her potentialities

That we can truly say

“An equal world is an Enabled world”

You may also want to read  A woman’s demand for respect and Society’s sabhyata 

“This post is a part of ‘The Woman That I Am’ Blog Hop #TheWomanThatIAm organized by Rashi Roy and Manas Mukul #RRxMM. The Event is sponsored by Kraffitti.”