In earlier times, since women got married early and often became widows at a tender age, all households had two sets of women, the widows and the married, clearly distinguished by the colour code. Saris were made from a white cloth, better known ‘thaan’ in Bengali. While the widows wore white, the married women had a red border.
I rummage through my wardrobe, a yellow sari and a blue kurta. Uff, I’m done. Just the peacock green left, I sigh victoriously “Sari or
Last year, I participated in a fashion show in October. After that experience, I
refused to be part of any such program this year. As I was twirling on stage the anchor
said, ‘Oh! She looks absolutely normal. You can never guess by looking at her.’
Victims don’t complain and predators walk on the streets freely. If victims manage to gather some courage to complain, then they are silenced by the family members and the society, in order to maintain the family decorum and societal image.
And now I see the US Supreme Court where four men and a woman sentence the women in that country to a similar fate once again.
‘These are all the kids that have the same sperm donor father. So, technically they are all half-siblings.’ she excitedly reported.
A few days ago, the sensational Bharti Bhagat case had hogged the headlines and grabbed public attention because of the sheer bizarreness of the incident. Crime reporters, criminologists, and psychologists had a field day, analysing and dissecting the human mind and its baser instincts.
All women I knew had domestic help, but none of that for me. And I didn’t speak up, because I was raised to believe that good wives don’t complain, don’t rebel, don’t disobey. Tell me, have I ever nurtured such thoughts in you?
Break the biases. Hunt down the missing husband and show him taking the baby from the mother/SSP, feeding and soothing it to sleep, telling her that she need not carry both – her job and motherhood – alone.
