Stand Together

I always complain and whine about how women are ill-treated in India but today my question is to the women. Women, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? Why can't you stand up for yourself and take matters into your hands? (LITERALLY!). So this is the story. I was on my way home tonight, it is only 8:00PM, which means it is not too late in the night according to Hyderabad standards. At times I have to take one of those sharing autos rickshaws for a distance of 5kms. I opt for this mode of transport over a bus because it goes faster and is more comfortable. Just before the auto rickshaw started off a drunk man got in and sat behind the seat I and three other women were seated in. He put his disgusting arm on our seat and I immediately hated it and let him know about it as well. He obliged and then suddenly he started stroking the back of the girl sitting next to me. She looked old enough to not be scared but to scream and get attention but all she did was look at me with pain and shame in her eye...

We call India our “motherland”. I don’t know how the word “motherland” sounds to rest of my fellow citizens but to me it sounds feminine. India is a place where people, both men and women equally, believe in female divinity. The number of goddesses and female deities rival those of ancient Greece! But today, India is a place where every Indian girl and woman curses God for creating them as women at least one time each day. It does not surprise me that the UN has declared India to be the deadliest place on Earth for a girl child. But why? Why in a land where there are female gods are girls killed and women abused at a rate that it is impossible to watch the daily news or read the newspaper where such incidents are not reported. What about those which go unreported? What happened to baby Falak? What happened to the teenaged sexually abused girl who abused Falak? Why is a 10 year old girl raped repeatedly to such an extent that she can’t speak anymore? Why is the girl child still put ...

Off late I have been having many conversations with family, friends and colleagues about childhood memories. I realized that unfortunately I do not remember a lot about my childhood but I do remember my younger sister, Sonal’s, childhood very clearly. I was watching the movie ‘ The Sound Of Music ’ a few days ago. I have been in love with the movie since forever! As the song Do Re Mi played, I realized I had many memories of my childhood related to this song. I remember singing it, I remember dancing on it and I remember doing school group drills on it till I was fourteen years of age. It certainly is one of those rare compositions that stay in your heart forever. It made me wish that if life was the Do Re Mi song, wouldn't it just be perfect. In the movie, Maria says, you need to put in one word for every note and you will be able to sing anything! If we tried that with life, putting one beautiful word for any and every note wouldn't it be, well, delightful living? I’m g...

Incredible India! Yes India is an incredibly beautiful country with diversity that can be seen nowhere else in the world. It is also incredible to note that my country is full of incredibly unbelievable hypocrites where a powerfully rich politician (read Kanimozhi) is given bail for squandering money of a huge figure that my mind can’t fathom exists in India and where a stupid sarpanch of some backward village is not even arrested for assualting a woman in public. What is wrong with this country? Everything! Once debating with a friend on Indian values v/s western values I realised we are so proud of our Indian culture and so called ‘Sanskriti’. So that means we should be proud of the following as well – A minor is raped and is forced to marry her tormentor. We should be congratulating her for her newly found wedded bliss. Online content will now be censored, the Minister’s excuse being religious sentiments of certain communities being hurt through online posts and content. Poo...

I happened to watch the movie Provoked over the weekend. The movie is based on the real life story of Kiranjit Aluwalia. Naveen Andrews, the actor who played the role of her husband uttered these lines, " You're a woman, you're nothing ", while abusing his wife. I was reminded of those instances where I was told the very same thing repeatedly. How did I put up with it and why I still cannot fathom. What upset me more was why I did not write about this before. Was I scared? Was I ashamed? What was I thinking? The movie, though not a great one, put many questions in front of me or rather brought out the questions burning in my heart to lips. Why do women put up with domestic violence and sexual abuse? Is it because we don't want to shame our families? Is it because we don't like being termed as 'house breakers'? Are we too proud to expose our vulnerability? Or is it because it is so steeped in our so called 'Indian culture' that being abused see...

The Telangana Movement has raised its ugly head again in a very quiet manner this time sans the riots and the violence and once again the government prefers only to watch the show. In most countries/cities which have been under the grip of their respective revolutions, there have been incidents of severe looting. The looting in Hyderabad is so different that the looters justify their acts fairly enough. There aren't any buses running in the city today hence it is an opportunity for the auto drivers, private buses and also the call center vehicles to make the most of. A distance which costed Rs1o/- to cross yesterday is worth Rs30/- today. If you refuse to pay, you will get to hear the profanest words that exist in the Hindi and Telugu dictionary. There is police every where but they're watching the show too. They have been instructed to make sure there is no violence on the roads but somehow they manage to ignore verbal violence as calmly as if they're watching the most bor...

Living in the suburbs of Hyderabad has its share of blessings. One such blessing, being able to take long walks on rugged roads surrounded by farmlands. Every time I go for one such walk early in the morning or late in the evening an old farmer, dressed in his Earth soiled dhoti, kurta and turban turns up out of nowhere surprising me. He walks along with me for a few minutes always asking me about my lunch, about how my day was and where I was going. I knew he was a farmer but some how to me he never seemed real as he would suddenly appear out of nowhere. A few days ago, I was walking home in the rain and I met him again. He asked for the time and suggested that I buy an umbrella as these rains are not good. This morning at 6:00AM, walking under the street lights, under the trees in the furious rain I see a ghostly figure walking towards me with a huge plastic bag over his head. It is the ghostly farmer again. He notices me and decides to walk back with me. He was very cheerful in the ...