Being a woman in India celebrating the festival of Durga, without respecting the Durga herself?
Within a few days, we’ll be back to our new normal again, soaked in the spirit & valor of Navratri, praying for nine continuous days in front of goddess Durga, the ultimate goddess of Shakti: Power, for whom we have no literal respect left.
Many of you may feel offended over my statement, but let me continue, please.
When a daughter is born, we usually say, ” Lakshmi aayi hai aapke ghar mai”.When we are grateful for the food we eat, we know there’s the Annapurna Devi, who’s serving food & nutrition on our plates & ensures that no one sleeps empty stomach.
When we talk about this country, “India as a whole”, we pay respect to the Bharat mata who has seen generations of Mata’s, behen, patni, beti or women in any form, not being respected or not treated fairly.
It all started with Sati, women being thrown into the fire as a dedication for her late husband.
Girls being married at a young age & getting pregnant and then facing complications and even death, as their body was not mature enough to handle a child at such a fragile age.
Women being beaten up, for having a girl child, where did the respect for the Durga go back then?
The brutal Hathras incident which took place on September 14, 2020, with a 19-year-old woman left me feeling extremely sad, but not shocked.
Because we all knew somewhere that we were heading towards this brutal image of India in the future.
With Damini, Kathua, Unnao, we all knew that our daughters weren’t safe enough.
Now I understand why my Dadi always wanted a son, coz she was too scared to bring a girl into this world & risk her life among the monsters who live here.
Maybe, she understood this world better, but maybe my Dadi should have tried to make his sons & grandsons a better example on how to treat women with respect, rather than being stereotypical about raising a woman.
Every second girl reading this caption has gone through some kind of harassment, teasing, brutality, or molestation in her life & either she remained silent to be a dignified part of the society or she raised her voice & was ultimately shut down by the society, calling her the “one with fault”.
I have no hard facts regarding the Hathras case, coz the political & administrative wing of Uttar Pradesh didn’t leave any evidence to be studied.
I don’t think, a mother can ever fake report for her daughter being found brutally raped & naked, As a woman, it quivers my soul down.
And in the end, she was denied the basic human right of dignified cremation too? Also, do you know 19% more cases are reported under the POSCO act this year? And don’t even start me on the quarantine domestic violence reports!
Some people blame clothing, I ask you, what kind of clothes a 4-month baby was wearing that seduced you to mutilate her body parts.
\ Some say women are outside till too late: Oh, then what about the rapes that happen in striking daylight and no one is there for the rescue.
Some say women are the acting way to modernized, ok so answer me, why a woman covered in hijab/ burkha from top to bottom or a mother in her late 60’s, get raped by her own son?.
You all are fighting for women today, for a girl I deeply feel for as a younger sister who doesn’t even exist now. But, I ask you, What have you been doing for the past 2 mths. Without any solid proof/, or even with pieces of evidence, you were just shaming a woman & promoting the media channels by raising their TRP to run behind their cars like wild dogs.
All you people talk about is: Deepika, sara, Rhea, etc, and you still deny to see where the exact problem lies?
It’s our mentality that has not grown, it is our attachment towards sensationalism & masala that is growing over the years. We are the ones who are supporting these stupid Media channels, which don’t focus on the real issues.
And for all the women out there, I would just like to say: “Being a woman is a matter of birth, but being a strong, brave & fearless woman is a matter of choice”
article By :B/L- Muneeta Aneja, PR Content Writer, DPR & Journalist
