A few days ago, I had many of my friends especially my guy
friends wishing me “Happy Women’s Day”…I had nothing else to say except
politely thank them. I wish there’s also a Men’s day so that we can appreciate
men for all the great works they’ve done for our species. Somehow I feel sorry
that amidst all this hue and cry of women empowerment and rights of women and
such serious feminist stuffs, somewhere along the way, we have generalized all
men to be chauvinists. We have painted them all with the same colour which is
really really unfair.
Last week when I was at Delhi, infamously called as the Rape
capital, I was all geared up with a pepper spray in hand, flaunting it to the
taxi driver as I was travelling alone. He must have read my mind or something
coz he had that stupid looking smirk on his face and I ended up feeling stupid.
After reaching my destination, he handed my luggage, smiled politely and asked
“Madam, aur kuch?? I could not help
but smile at his innocence. Am I really becoming so self-possessed and
judgmental? Or it may be just that we are just too preoccupied with fending
ourselves that we risk losing our courteous manners.
On a positive note, I must admit that life is so much easier
being a woman. Quite often there’s always a chivalric gentlemen who offers his
seat while I am hustling in a crowded bus, the queue is definitely quicker for
women be it in banks, post office or any other public services, I can hold
hands with my best friend whenever I want without disapproving stares, it just
take a couple of hours to get a hundred likes when I upload a picture, and many
times a flirty smile is all it takes to get a work done. And so often many of
the guys tease me saying “Why do you need a PhD? There is some nice guy out
there earning a PhD for you. You just have to find him”!! As easy as that!! In short,
there’s so much to celebrate about being a woman.
As for me, no matter how much tall claims they make, I just
cant understand the need to have a separate day to celebrate being a woman. We
talk about equality on one hand and again we feel special when we have such
separate days for us. We protest for equality and yet we have this unfair
reservation policies which segregates us into different categories!! What an irony!! How about empowering our girls to be independent and
teaching them how to give and earn respect? Let us teach our girls to say NO at
the right time not at the expense of losing her modesty and grace. After all,
women are in no competition against men. If equality is what we are striving
for, then so be it…..we are only humans and let us stay humane.
