Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy fat women.
—Nicole Hollander.
I cannot help agreeing with Hollander. I cannot help imagining a men-free world where women rule the roost and roam anywhere and freely sans any fear of getting molested, raped, tortured or killed. Of late, we are nauseated by too many news of girls getting molested, raped, tortured or killed.
A few months back, the molestation case of an actress from the film fraternity disturbed our sanity. As usual, we protested and raised our voice. Some got hurt in the protest; one lost his life. And after a few weeks, the news of that case became stale. No one ever gives a damn about what or why it happened. We were temporarily very mad and angry. We showed what we could do and dusted away our hands. And that’s it. It was just another case.
Repeated dose of insanity
After a few months, a more gruesome case again perturbed our sanity. This time, it was a case of murder so we were more fumed. A research fellow was murdered, her face and arms charred. After finding the culprits, we could not help but resort to violence. We burned down the homes of the accused persons and proved what we could do. In a few days or weeks, the story is going to be dumped like an officially unwanted file. The short public memory is just too much sometimes.
The rest is ‘kana khangjabano’. We think we are doing our part by calling bandhs and burning down the homes of accused persons.
We might as well give the judgment and send them directly to jail. Some of us would even want to execute them. The deliberations on capital punishment across the world would enter only one side of our ears. We know exactly what happens to the other side!
Everybody hurts
Many probable factors create gender-biased chaos in our society. I can name one distinctly.
Technology (sans any sense of civilization) is one of the factors we can consider. Technology has transformed our lives with so many innovative tools and toys. Sometimes I wonder if technology is taking a toll in our lives. It seems that we have chosen technology over other basic needs, like education and civic sense, which are more essential to reconstruct our society.
To cite a laitrik-laiba example, it does not matter if one is a Matric failed or a double PhD. Yet, it matters a lot to one’s reputation if one does not have a smart phone. I earnestly believe that mobile phones have done more bad than good to us.
The recent case of Satyabhama is one fine example to cite. For a lady who had been having a decent career, she could not help; she was going out with a guy, who was indulging in fake identity, thanks to the mobile phones. There are perhaps many similar cases like Satyabhama’s that are secretly stored like skeletons in the closet. Maybe, we would never know about them.
I have come across thought-provoking remarks by friends and acquaintances on fighting for our causes in a more realistic manner. I do consider the realistic ways (if there is any). But as far as I know, there is no such thing like a realistic or virtual way when it comes to share your opinions with your fellow beings about a cause or issue.
As for the so called revolution, we don’t need armed crusaders to bring a change in our society. We don’t need to elect a particular leader to lead a revolution. We must first understand the real meaning and sense of what a revolution is.
The politics of phanek and khudei
Empowering the fairer sex is one of the crucial steps we can take. My understanding of women empowerment might be different from others. Women empowerment, in my opinion, does not mean competing with men or feeling superior to them. We do not need to do much to empower women as such. We can start by changing our age-old psyche like ‘Shumaang matonda fanek fouba touheide’.
All we need is a society where women can dress, speak, act, as they want to; a society where women are not considered as mere child producing machines or bed warmers; a society where phanek is equally treated as a khudei.
If we start preparing our mind for at least some of these basic stuffs, we need not waste further time articulating on women empowerment and related issues. All in all, let’s switch off the frenzied show of rapists, murderers and morons.
This article was published on 21 April 2013
—Nicole Hollander.
I cannot help agreeing with Hollander. I cannot help imagining a men-free world where women rule the roost and roam anywhere and freely sans any fear of getting molested, raped, tortured or killed. Of late, we are nauseated by too many news of girls getting molested, raped, tortured or killed.
A few months back, the molestation case of an actress from the film fraternity disturbed our sanity. As usual, we protested and raised our voice. Some got hurt in the protest; one lost his life. And after a few weeks, the news of that case became stale. No one ever gives a damn about what or why it happened. We were temporarily very mad and angry. We showed what we could do and dusted away our hands. And that’s it. It was just another case.
Repeated dose of insanity
After a few months, a more gruesome case again perturbed our sanity. This time, it was a case of murder so we were more fumed. A research fellow was murdered, her face and arms charred. After finding the culprits, we could not help but resort to violence. We burned down the homes of the accused persons and proved what we could do. In a few days or weeks, the story is going to be dumped like an officially unwanted file. The short public memory is just too much sometimes.
The rest is ‘kana khangjabano’. We think we are doing our part by calling bandhs and burning down the homes of accused persons.
We might as well give the judgment and send them directly to jail. Some of us would even want to execute them. The deliberations on capital punishment across the world would enter only one side of our ears. We know exactly what happens to the other side!
Everybody hurts
Many probable factors create gender-biased chaos in our society. I can name one distinctly.
Technology (sans any sense of civilization) is one of the factors we can consider. Technology has transformed our lives with so many innovative tools and toys. Sometimes I wonder if technology is taking a toll in our lives. It seems that we have chosen technology over other basic needs, like education and civic sense, which are more essential to reconstruct our society.
To cite a laitrik-laiba example, it does not matter if one is a Matric failed or a double PhD. Yet, it matters a lot to one’s reputation if one does not have a smart phone. I earnestly believe that mobile phones have done more bad than good to us.
The recent case of Satyabhama is one fine example to cite. For a lady who had been having a decent career, she could not help; she was going out with a guy, who was indulging in fake identity, thanks to the mobile phones. There are perhaps many similar cases like Satyabhama’s that are secretly stored like skeletons in the closet. Maybe, we would never know about them.
I have come across thought-provoking remarks by friends and acquaintances on fighting for our causes in a more realistic manner. I do consider the realistic ways (if there is any). But as far as I know, there is no such thing like a realistic or virtual way when it comes to share your opinions with your fellow beings about a cause or issue.
As for the so called revolution, we don’t need armed crusaders to bring a change in our society. We don’t need to elect a particular leader to lead a revolution. We must first understand the real meaning and sense of what a revolution is.
The politics of phanek and khudei
Empowering the fairer sex is one of the crucial steps we can take. My understanding of women empowerment might be different from others. Women empowerment, in my opinion, does not mean competing with men or feeling superior to them. We do not need to do much to empower women as such. We can start by changing our age-old psyche like ‘Shumaang matonda fanek fouba touheide’.
All we need is a society where women can dress, speak, act, as they want to; a society where women are not considered as mere child producing machines or bed warmers; a society where phanek is equally treated as a khudei.
If we start preparing our mind for at least some of these basic stuffs, we need not waste further time articulating on women empowerment and related issues. All in all, let’s switch off the frenzied show of rapists, murderers and morons.
This article was published on 21 April 2013
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