Saturday 8 March 2014

Celebrate yourselves for being a woman!



What? Who told you to show yourself as someone so brave when you are not? Can’t you remember one simple thing that you are a girl and you cannot be as strong as a boy? If he and his friends were teasing you and following you till office, who told you to just stop and slap him? Do you know how unpredictably they can react now? They might throw acid on your face, they might kidnap you and rape you and then throw you in a jungle, they might just have a revolver and shoot you next time they see you? Don’t try to show bravery here dear. This is your real life and not any women’s emancipation documentary or a Bollywood movie. You should know that you are nothing in front of a group of guys!

This was my mom who was quite angry on me and I am sure you now know why, and whatever she told me was out of extreme fury! She left my room in a dash and slammed the door of my room hard while leaving. I knew well that she will not talk to me for some days now and will also remain worried whenever I leave the house. She might even tell me to take a leave from office for a few days and to stay at home in order to avoid those men.

Like my mom, there are many other women who constantly live in fear. They think of themselves as the weaker sex, as the ones who can be easily crushed by men. But if we only start thinking about ourselves as the weaker sex, as the ones who can be easily subdued, then how will a man respect us anyway? If we, the women, believe that we cannot do a lot of things which men can, how can we say that we are strong? Giving speeches on a Women’s Day function or debating with a male friend about how strong and brave we are doesn’t make us brave in its true sense. Somewhere, we just try to portray ourselves as strong in front of the society without even having that faith that we really are.

I knew that my mom would stop me from going to office the next day. But still I got up early, took a bath and got ready for office. I came down to have my breakfast and my mom was quite shocked. Somewhere she also had thought that I too will be afraid of going to office and hence she expected me to sleep for some late hours. However, I didn’t bother her surprising glance and sat down to have my breakfast. I knew she would say something and soon after she said, “You are not going to office today. Just go back to your room and call your Boss and tell him that you are ill.

That’s it! I had to speak up. I didn’t tell her anything the night before but if I couldn’t say anything now, it would get tough for me in the long run. I stood up and said, “Mom, are you proud to be a woman?” She was quite amazed at my sudden query. She fumbled and replied, “Yyyyes... but why you asking me this”. I continued, “Are you sure about it?” Mom replied, “Have you gone mad? I am in no mood of answering to these stupid questions of yours.” I didn’t pay much attention to her and said, “If you cannot be sure about how proud you are of being a woman, then the way you are behaving since last night is quite predictable. See mom, I saw you discussing with your friend the other day on phone about how proud you are of me that I am an independent woman now. How happy you are about the fact that me, your daughter, is earning on her own and is much better settled than a lot of men you know. But tell me something, did you really mean saying it? No mom, you didn’t, because if you would have meant it, you would never have behaved the way you did last night and today as well. We are not lesser or inferior than any men mom. You need to know that. If you think that the next time you talk to the same friend of yours and tell her that I have left going to office for something so silly, how will she feel? Will not she think of you as someone who changes her mind every now and then? I am going to office today and I will go to office every single day.

I saw that my mom had tears on her eyes. This was the first time I spoke to her this harshly and I felt bad but I was really angry. I took my handbag and rushed to office.

I just have one question for all. How are we the “weaker sex”? We can bear a child on our body for 9 long months. We can see ourselves getting fat every single day when we get pregnant. We see our 28 inches waist becoming 48 inches but still we manage to smile thinking about the little bundle of joy that is going to come in our lives after a few days. We can leave our parents, our friends, our home, our bedroom, our bed, our pillows, and every single thing when we get married and move with our husbands. We can do so much and what men can really do? There is nothing which women cannot do now. We are pilots, we are scientists, we are actors, we are managers, we are entrepreneurs, we are mothers, and we can take up any single role.

We need to believe in ourselves and only then we can get appreciated by men. We should make them aware that being a woman is not easy at all. So, all you women out there, celebrate yourselves, celebrate the way you are, take pride in yourselves and always remember, “Bekhauff aazaad hai jeena mujhe... bekhauff aazaad hai rehna mujhe...” (Courtesy: Satyamev Jayate)

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