When I'm gone and so are you, then, who'll hold chaos at bay?
When we both decide to move on, then, who'll take care of the world?
~ Shoma
I had written this a few days back because I knew she'd die of the grievous injuries that she had suffered at the hands of the rapists and was worried that those who had been fighting for her cause on behalf of every woman and girl who walks the streets at all times of the day and night - because it is her right to do so in a democracy - will quit.
I was happy to have been proved wrong. It makes me weep with joy to read that thousands have walked out of the comfort of their homes in this chilling December morning and are silently paying homage to a brave soul whose life was cut short but, in her short life, she shook us up and made us sit up and rethink.
She single-handedly gave a huge impetus to the cause of the thousands of voiceless, powerless women who suffer ignominy and harassment mutely because that is inherent in her conditioning. The society and the judiciary expect her to suffer in silence or suffer the consequences of being a fallen woman - there are never any fallen men - strange!
She showed us why it was wrong of Sita to take refuge in the folds of mother Earth and why it was sad that Ravan died because he pulled Sita by her hair to the presence of her husband and NOT because he had kidnapped and harassed her and kept her a prisoner against her will. Why did Rama NOT suffer for sending his wife to the jungles to protect the sanctity of his throne when she was expecting his child?
Why did the Kauravas suffer for being rude and lustful of Draupadi? Why was Yudhishthira still the one to reach heaven though he had put her on stake in a game of chance without her knowledge and lost?
Our scriptures are flawed and our Gods and Prophets tortured souls. We pray to Goddesses for strength but, openly humiliate and burn women in our homes. We look up to our prophets and Gods to show the way when they too have made the same mistakes as any of our men. And if someone tries to point it out then, we fight among ourselves to prove that our Prophets were mere men who still need our protection.
We need angels like this brave girl who has finally shown us our flaws and held a mirror to the society we live in. She has made the supreme sacrifice that is no less than that of any prophet and brought everyone together in a mass of humanity that wanted to protect its womenfolk - a rarity indeed. God bless you and bring you peace and happiness wherever you are little girl and please continue to show us the right way.
When we both decide to move on, then, who'll take care of the world?
~ Shoma
I had written this a few days back because I knew she'd die of the grievous injuries that she had suffered at the hands of the rapists and was worried that those who had been fighting for her cause on behalf of every woman and girl who walks the streets at all times of the day and night - because it is her right to do so in a democracy - will quit.
I was happy to have been proved wrong. It makes me weep with joy to read that thousands have walked out of the comfort of their homes in this chilling December morning and are silently paying homage to a brave soul whose life was cut short but, in her short life, she shook us up and made us sit up and rethink.
She single-handedly gave a huge impetus to the cause of the thousands of voiceless, powerless women who suffer ignominy and harassment mutely because that is inherent in her conditioning. The society and the judiciary expect her to suffer in silence or suffer the consequences of being a fallen woman - there are never any fallen men - strange!
She showed us why it was wrong of Sita to take refuge in the folds of mother Earth and why it was sad that Ravan died because he pulled Sita by her hair to the presence of her husband and NOT because he had kidnapped and harassed her and kept her a prisoner against her will. Why did Rama NOT suffer for sending his wife to the jungles to protect the sanctity of his throne when she was expecting his child?
Why did the Kauravas suffer for being rude and lustful of Draupadi? Why was Yudhishthira still the one to reach heaven though he had put her on stake in a game of chance without her knowledge and lost?
Our scriptures are flawed and our Gods and Prophets tortured souls. We pray to Goddesses for strength but, openly humiliate and burn women in our homes. We look up to our prophets and Gods to show the way when they too have made the same mistakes as any of our men. And if someone tries to point it out then, we fight among ourselves to prove that our Prophets were mere men who still need our protection.
We need angels like this brave girl who has finally shown us our flaws and held a mirror to the society we live in. She has made the supreme sacrifice that is no less than that of any prophet and brought everyone together in a mass of humanity that wanted to protect its womenfolk - a rarity indeed. God bless you and bring you peace and happiness wherever you are little girl and please continue to show us the right way.
Thanks Shoma for your thought provoking writeup. I feel ashamed for being an Indian man. I wonder how their philosophy works. Their self-esteem is heightened by lowering that of others. One needs to see how these men behave when they are with their bosses as if they were nothing more than insignificant scum and how all of a sudden in one stroke they seek it all back by lowering the esteem of a woman in gruesome ways. I think it is time all men of our country feel ashamed of themselves for belonging to the unfair sex which has been unfair as your write up amply proves since antiquity.
ReplyDeleteThank you whoever you are but, to tell you the truth, it is all wrong. Women and men cannot do without each other. I wish we'd all understand that and stop behaving like there is a point in one-up-manship to be proved.
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