Monika Suri

Z stands for  Zulmat . It is an urdu word , meaning darkness or obscurity . The dark attitude towards a girl starts from her birth itself . Born is not a girl, born is just a child , but she is transformed into a girl by instilling many hard facts and fears in her mind .  Girls speak slowly , girls must  learn cooking , good girls don’t go outside the home at night , good girls dress up properly , girls have to make compromises in their lives after marriage , so all such things are instilled and a child is transformed into a girl and then starts the dark attitude of the surroundings .  Every woman faces many biases and obscurities in her life and is still asked to remain quiet as if it’s part of her beauty package . I have written about many of the obscurities faced by women – Abuse / Bride Burning / Violence / Sexual assault / Foeticide and many others . The question is why a woman of 21st century is still caged in these obscurities ? When will the clouds of Zulmat ...

As I have started writing on #Astitva – A woman’s existence , I notice that  the no. of  social issues raising questions on a woman’s existence are just not coming to an end . I started from A – Abuse and I have reached T – Triple Talaq . Triple Talaq Triple Talaq or Talaq-e-Biddat  is a practice where a Muslim man can divorce his wife just by uttering the word ‘talaq’ three times , either saying face to face or in written or on electronic media .  Once a Muslim man has given such talaq (divorce)  simply by uttering the word thrice , but then feels like he was wrong and wants to marry that woman again , he   cannot remarry the  woman  unless she marries another man , consummating the marriage and then  that new husband divorces her .  This mariage of the same  woman with her new husband is called  Nikah halala . So in a way the divorce occurs twice . And you know what’s the meaning of consummating the marriage ? It means sleeping with her...

Rape is the most common and the worst crime against women . In India , the Rape cases are too much on rise with not even a single newspaper ever void of any Rape news . The statistics say that every year around 40000 Rape cases are reported in India , and if we calculate  , it comes out to be 109 rapes every day in India . How shameful ! How can anyone call this country developed or developing where such sexual assault is a daily act . I think the world has started to recognise India as the Rape capital of the world . What a wonderful title ! Shouldn’t every Indian be proud of this title ?  Out of all the Rape cases , 91%  of the cases go unreported as the victims fear back attacks and humiliation . During the last few years , some horrific  Rape incidents got widespread media attention and the result is that now the willingness to report has increased much by most of the victims . Nirbhaya’s Rape Case  The date 16 Dec . is remembered by every Indian woman as it was the day of Nir...

The alphabet of the day is C C stands for : Childhood Marriage A piece of fiction ( bit reality too ) on Childhood Marriage In that village , Chandra was like any other  young girl who was living her life with desires of  touching the sky, totally unaware of the society’s ill eyes and burdens . Studying enthusiastically in the school in morning and playing jovially with her Mohalla friends in the evening . One  day , while going to school , she noticed few ill eyes staring at her and passing some comments flirtatiously .Her body gave some strange indications of uncomfort .  Some complex movements in the brain along with the  jumping heartbeats. Those bad looks were like the first injury on Chandra’s innerself,  she felt like someone had stabbed her #Astitva . While coming back from school in the afternoon , she had to face little greater injury , this time on her body too . Next day , her marriage was the sudden topic of discussion at home because  one of those ill eyes had ...

The alphabet of the day is B B stands for : Bride Burning A piece of fiction on Bride Burning In today’s  exhibition , the painting with the title ‘Bride Burning’ was adjudged the best one. The painting depicted the face of a woman lost in flames. The painter , Jaya , was asked to come on the stage and say a few words. Someone from the audience asked  “Is Bride Burning still practiced in 21st century ? Isn’t it a concern of the past ?” Here were Jaya’s words in reply : I am a Woman , a Bride too ,  I have my own existence , My #Astitva You don’t burn a Bride just by a matchstick Whenever  you insulted  me , you tried to burn my respect When you assaulted  me physically , you burnt the dignity of our relationship. When you just didn’t  care about my emotions , you burnt the love that I had stored exclusively  for you . When you doubted my character , you burnt the bond of trust between us . When you came home drunk & showed your r...