Is “hashtag feminism” enough or have we failed ourselves?

In 21st century, The buzzword has moved from “armchair” to “hashtag” , but both are not the same when used in context of “feminism”.

Are we truly a generation of “hashtag feminists”?

Instead of long debates, we choose to communicate via hashtags (a superpower of 21st century mortals to be able to express their emotions compressed in hashtags). People should move beyond the negative connotation of the phrase “hashtag feminism”

Hashtags have become like titles of  a book  that binds pages of individual stories. It has helped spread awareness about the sufferings of women. It has encouraged women to come together and stand up to publicly speak about the abuse they suffered.

#metoo has brought to light the perils faced by all women who have been abused, and this is but a small number. #whyistayed was an eyeopener for many suffering from domestic violence. #neverthelessshepersisted stood for women speaking up, when asked to be silenced. There are so many women who do not have access to social media to voice their sufferings. I’m sure most women have at some point wished for parthogenesis, where only the female of a species exist, like mourning geckos!

The only point where hashtag feminism has failed us is when the society around us doesn’t change .

There was a time, a decade ago, when I could still walk down the street at night in my own neighbourhood. Fast forward to this time , I feel unsafe after dark.

The society is progressing and degenerating, simultaneously.

More women are joining workforce , but they are not equally paid. More women are stepping out of their homes, but are unsafe. More emphasis is on having a girl child, but there is an increase in abusing girls.

As women, we feel unsafe. As mothers, we worry about our daughters. As daughters, we worry about our mothers. As sisters, we worry about our sisters. As friends, We worry about our lady friends. As a woman, I worry about all other girls and women out there.

We have seen an increased number of rape incidents and absolutely no effort to curb it. The laws are not stringent enough, and moral compasses are broken.

The three branches of government- executive, judiciary and legislature have failed us. Instead of being a holy trident which can be saviour for women, it is a rusted institution, ineffective to cut out the evil…

Will demanding and enforcing more stringent laws be a step towards actually safeguarding women? Changes in legislation are foundations on which edifices of social reforms are built. India has witnessed that to bring social change, first a tough legislation has to be brought in and an even draconian punishment. However, Laws only act as pointers in directions of virtues, rather than human behaviour auto-correcting itself.

How long can we just blame the government? Is moral policing also a part of civil society activism ? Are moralities not part of family institutions and basic fibre of society ? Do we always need fear of legal consequences to live up to basic moral values ?

Why are women not walking the streets , taking over cityscape demanding justice and protection? Because cities are not safe, but “hashtag feminism” is still slightly safer,if not completely immune to abuses by men.

However, I still call out the ladies , let’s do something to make our society safe. Let’s join hands together. Let’s March forward and demand our place as honourable citizens of this society rather than being treated as commodity that anyone can use?

The blind Lady Justice needs to open her eyes, throw away the scale  and lift her sword, demanding justice, and respect

 

 

An ode to foggy morning

How inviting is stillness, echoing the sound of silence… of walking into a white fog all around. Wrapped in this cold blanket of assumed softness , when life is a mystery.
It forces us to be in a moment of meditative presence.
Resonating with the soul’s need for stillnesss, quiet and not knowing what’s next but moving on with faith.

Even in a crowd, space is created with intangible cloak surrounding me.

the mental vibes of person near me is stopped by this foggy boundary

i walk on earth with a meditative presence. Embracing now every moment!
Much gratitude

Saree story – Pre and Post GST

This Diwali season, my sister and I enjoyed going through (read as rummaging) our mother’s saree collection; we wore a couple of her sarees for festive evenings.

On last day of Diwali, I wore a Banarasi saree, which is over 35 years old and has been my favourite since childhood. The fragrance of real zari, along with the gleam and occasional dullness (when left unpolished for years, tucked away in dark corners of a box) are all part of the saree stories that live in crevices of memory.

As I took out this favourite red and green Banarasi saree to wear , I was amazed by the weight of this pure zari elegance. I looked at it in awe, as I reminisced my mother wearing it during pujas at home. The floodgates of involuntary memories opened and I remembered how beautiful my grandmother looked in her sarees — mostly crisp cottons for school , since she was a vice-principle. For all other occasions like pujas and weddings, Nani wore silk sarees. My great-grandmother, who I have little recollection of, was also a saree-lady. She was a teacher in pre-independence India in 1930s, a time when less than 3% Indian women were educated.( as per census, the female literacy rate was 1.8% in 1921 and 2.9 % in 1931 )

 

 

My mother also followed in the graceful “saree” footsteps and the glorious “education” footsteps (though she is a business woman ). Even today she wears saree when she steps out for work whether an office visit or factory. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and hence education and saree are both important to me too. Though the credit also goes to my father for always encouraging us to chose elegance and intelligence over everything else.

The one fact that my great-grandmother, Nani, mother, & I also shared until earlier this year was, we didn’t have to pay taxes on our sarees. A beautiful fact that was common for generations of women, tax-free Indian wear. My “Grands” definitely departed an India which was free of “saree-tax”. Perhaps, strong laws cannot stand strong women, and they lived through times when Independence for Country and women empowerment was more important than burdening them with taxes. I wonder if My grandmother and great-grandmother would have agreed to paying taxes (GST) on saree? I doubt they would succumb to such tax regimes.

My saree collection is divided into two eras- pre-GST and post-GST.

For working hard wasn’t good enough, nor was taking the time to keep our ethnic wear spirit alive. We must pay 12% taxes on that too.

Taxes are important for Nation-building and with evolving times, taxes evolve too. However, the rates and range of taxes imposed can surely be reconsidered to offer some relief.

right to Breathe (clean air)

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. – Albert Camus

image source : pixabay

The Countdown to Diwali has always been associated with the beginning of pleasant autumn mornings when the air is cooler and the tea cup in morning feels warm, not hot. As a child I eagerly counted days to Diwali as soon as the effigy of Ravan was burnt on Dushhera. The wait for Diwali was full of endless to-do lists : buy firecrackers, visit friends , Diwali lights,  Diyas , rangoli designs ideas (the unspoken competition of who makes the best rangoli) and of course our homes inadvertently becoming “ mithai ki dukaan”. On the day of Diwali we eagerly awaited for Lakshmi-puja to be over quickly so that we could burst crackers.

After Diwali , there was the mandatory illness due to allergies.

Now that was my magical childhood. Magical despite the pollution as childhoods often are presumptuously magical.

My motherhood has a different story. Come autumn , I enjoy the mornings from a distance, as though looking out the window but reminiscing in past. I stare outside thinking how much trouble it will be to manage my daughter’s breathing issues. She will miss out on dance and sports due to it. When she is in school, I have to ensure that my work revolves in a periphery of maximum 20 minutes drive to school, as the numerous emergency calls from school due to my daughter’s breathing issues are scary.

My to do list for Diwali still begins after Dushhera which includes Friends to visit, gifts to buy, rangoli design and most importantly stocking up on masks, mosquito patches and inhalers.

Am I blaming Diwali for pollution? Am I blaming change in season for mosquitos leading to dengue mania? Am I saying that it’s various kinds of pollution caused by us which are making us sick?

Am I blaming the farmers for burning stubbles that fill the Delhi air with unbearable smog clogging our lungs and making children fall sick?

Can a different farming technique prevent this cause of pollution across major parts of North India?

Am I blaming the pollution in metropolitan cities caused by variety of factors and not just one?

The toxic gases & particles emitted from bursting firecrackers are more dangerous.

Even though  India’s carbon emissions have increased by 5.2% in 2015 contributing 6.3% of all global CO2 emissions, even though global emissions remained unchanged (researchers at the ‘Global Carbon Project’.)

We are not alone in fireworks, The July 4 fireworks in US emit the equivalent of 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (Source inverse.com)

However, cultural celebrations are not the lone cause of pollution.

Industrialisation without consideration for environment, decrease in number of trees per capita , increase in urban density of population, rapid urbanisation with environmental disregard , and mobility of population are amongst the prime reasons for India being ranked 4th in carbon dioxide (kt) emissions (2,454,968 kt)

The difference between reasonable restrictions and blanket ban is the degree of trust put in citizens to be responsible humans. The demand for clean air or even the Right to Breathe is because somewhere over and over again our government has failed to give us holistic economic development.

Thanks, to the Supreme Court’s ban on firecrackers- No one will buy and sell firecrackers in Delhi, it’s a breathing respite. But there will still be buying , selling and burning of firecrackers . There will also be pollution on the other 364 days .

I have an urban jungle in my house and balcony, even though having greenery in house comes with the fear of mosquito-friendly existence. The added electricity bill due to air-purifiers makes me guilty of  consuming electricity by burning fossil fuels in order to have clean air. 

Perhaps now is my turn to demand Right to breathe (clean air). We live in times where high-speed data is more important than clean air. A generation that can tolerate air-pollution but not mobile phones without internet connectivity (carcinogenicity of cell phone towers is a debate for another time )

For now we are gifting plants on Diwali as my 9 year old feels that’s the best gift along with sweets.

Sampradaa- a wealthy life

Sampradaa is sanskrit word for wealth.
Often the modern interpretation of wealth is limited to material wealth . The long race of trading our time and life to accumulate wealth, and give it away to buy stuff which has shelf life of a banana, the reality remains are we focused on only one kindf riches ?

Wealth is holistic and it encompasses everything that makes a rich life.

In ancient India the Goddess of wealth had many forms like knowledge, courage, victory, progeny, health, food, natural resources, animals to name a few.

In modern times wealth is equated to cash and assets, but what about the asset of a healthy mind and body?

We must aim to bring together the different kinds of wealth given to us -emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, relationships and financial. Would you add other kinds of wealth to it? Like that of patience, family , natural resources of our planet, the wealth of good memories, of positivity and most importantly the wealth of gratitude.
Can we truly enjoy all our abundance in the absence of gratitude?

When we start accepting with gratitude all that is in our life, we will step into a consciousness of next level.

Yes all wealth are important in the right balance to enjoy the precious journey on earth… and thus begins our journey with you.

Why can’t journalists handle public criticism?

Lately, I found articles by a certain journalist, rather ordinary -only stating obvious facts. The certain journalist in question is incredibly ingenious and has the ability to mingle with commoners to find stories.

UP elections make the state a battleground, a wedding and an examination all in one- also it makes journalists partisan.

The certain journalist until a week ago was saying Muslim voters are in favour of  BSP, then this week he attended a BSP rally and said Muslims are not in favour of BSP.

        As for his first opinion, I commented “it wasn’t true that all Muslims were supporting BSP”. Also that I’m glad actual voters don’t read his newspaper. For second article, I said “he doesn’t need to attend a rally to know this. It is “common knowledge”

The certain journalist, right there on social media posted “why are you being so condescending? You want me to block you?” I said “sorry for being condescending. Blocking is your personal choice?”  ( well do we ever ask permission before blocking someone?)

     Anyway out of curiosity, I decided to check after few hours, and the gentleman had blocked me.

I got a good laugh out of it,because journalists can’t handle public criticism. Cricketers, athletes, artists, actors,  even POLITICIANS can handle public criticism, but not a journalist. Pray tell me, why journalists can’t handle public criticism? Their articles are not holy grail that I have to abide by it as truth. I have a thinking mind, a questioning mind, and I shall use it, even if I offend a few!

BJP swiped a majority of seats in UP during LokSabha elections of 2014. However, what is under-reported is the margin of victory. The voters did not decide against SP, they decided against the Government in Centre. At that time SP under CM Akhilesh Yadav was only 2 years old. The seeds of development were already sown, and now in 2016 the fruits are here.

“achche din” vs “kaamboltahai” is the true match of election this year.

Achche din were a promise of hope, of change – a subconscious neuro-linguistic programming tool often used by Politicians, where nothing substantial is promised. However, CM Akhilesh Yadav has  acted upon his manifesto of 2012 and over-achieved. Here is a leader that the populace has started to trust. He is not selling dreams but making dreams come true.

UP for once is witnessing development as a political agenda and not just religion and caste based politics.

So, in February I will caste my vote- a sacred relation of faith and trust between me and the EVM.  The silent voices of UP voters will be heard when results are declared on 11th March. And no journalist can block it.

Don’t be afraid of Failure, be afraid of quitting.

There are moments of failures in everyone’s life. You should not let that fear stop you. When you started walking , you fell many times.

A baby isn’t afraid of failure.
Also the baby in its most pristine stage of life doesn’t know the concept of quitting nor does it understand failure. Baby only tries to walk and receives positive encouragement for that. Only thru years of human conditioning do we learn the concept to “failure”. Worst still we learn the option of “quitting”

It’s time to unlearn . Failure isn’t full stop to success. Rather it is just a diversion, the route taken didn’t work, we need to change something or just try harder. Quitting has to be forgotten. Quitting is not an option but an end to all dreams,hopes and possibilities.

Bring out the child in you again.
Believe without doubt in your ability to do whatever you decide- just take the first step