Happy Mother's Day! But...?

On the 14th, the second Sunday of May, our motherland as also several countries the world over will celebrate ‘Mother’s Day’. And the moment you begin to think about it, the very first thoughts are of this gem of a verse scripted so beautifully by Valmiki and uttered by Lord Rama expounding on the true value of ‘mother’: जननी जन्म भूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी।   I don’t think there is any other quote as apt and stirring as this one in literature – short, simple but profound – to describe the magnificence and greatness of ‘mother’. Incidentally, Nepal has this verse inscribed on the red scroll at the base of its national emblem (see image below).

Well I am not here to pontificate on the subject. Enough will appear in the print media, on TV, Facebook and Twitter. WhatsApp will be overflowing with exchange of images, poems, couplets, videos, greetings, virtual gifts and various kinds of sentimental stuff eulogising ‘mother’. That’s all fine. But let us, this Mother’s Day, ask ourselves a question: Where does a ‘woman’ (read: ‘future mother’) stand in terms of her place in society even today?

Well, honestly, I don’t think the answer will make us feel very proud and happy. Look at the Nirbhaya case which shocked and shook the conscience of the whole nation: the case in which the death sentence to the four convicts has been confirmed by the SC just a week back. Look at the Bilkis Bano case (also in the news last week): of a pregnant woman having been gang raped and her young daughter killed right before her eyes. Look at the unending cycle of discrimination, crime, violence against women running almost on a daily basis through the length and breadth of our dear motherland. How ironical that while Kalpana Chawlas and the Phogat sisters make us hold our heads high, there are the khaps, Babas and politicians  with a medieval, caste-ridden mindset issuing farmans, fatwas and diktats against love marriages and freedom to choose one’s own soul-mate, and prescribing other silly 'do's and don'ts' to pull us backwards. Imagine the struggles and battles that many of our women like the Phogat sisters and Mary Koms had had to wage to fight the system and break the barriers of tradition and crippling restrictions in order to excel and make a mark in life.

Leave aside the fanatics, bigots and all other self-styled guardians of morality. What is most shocking is the gender bias extant even in the so-called well-educated families. I am witness to instances from highly educated, well-to-do families where the Saas-husband duo have meted out protracted harassment, dirty abuse and even thrashing to the bride  for years on end forcing her to leave, only to remarry and live happily ever afterwards! Is there any dearth of such evil-minded, beastly, double-faced hypocrites and perverts in our society? Those who present a very sophisticated, cultured, benevolent face to the world outside but are brutes to their wives at home?

No doubt things have changed a lot. Women are rightfully and proudly on the march. We see them more assertive, more aware of their rights and their power. They are elbowing out the nasty ‘man’ in all aspects of life and occupying prestigious positions in varied spheres of work. But deep down this sense of misogyny still dwells in many a male heart.

From whatever little I know from whatever little I have read, India once prided itself on having a rich, liberal sanskriti where a woman occupied an exalted position in society. She was not a jailbird fettered and shackled by male/societal bias and gender discrimination but walked free and proud. It was the influences and dogmas perpetuated by alien religion(s) subsequently that impacted and distorted our values and thus undid ‘her’ legitimate place in society;  turned her into a suppressed,  exploited, second rate, inferior citizen compared to man, meant only for menial jobs at home and outside. From a vibrant, inclusive, and progressive one, our society in centuries of foreign rule, became sickly, conservative and male-dominated.

I don’t want to sound preachy but do hold that no country, no civilization can attain the heights of glory and progress without equal participation of the nation’s women.

Let’ all resolve on this Mother’s Day to help restore the dignity and esteem of Indian woman. Let her attain her just place in society. Let more Laxmibais, Kalpana Chawlas, Phogats, Mary Koms come to full blossom and shine brightly. That would need a change of the feudal, insular mindset of many amongst us, our politicians included. That would be the best gift, the best tribute one can pay to a mother and a mother-to-be this Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s day!

                                                                   

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   AAP: What a downfall!

When Arvind Kejriwal launched AAP and won the Delhi assembly elections, the country’s expectations went sky high. Here at last was the leader and the party the nation had been eagerly, desperately waiting for, to take the country to new heights. It seemed like a fresh new dawn. A new model of open, transparent, people-friendly governance by committed, dedicated, self-less, spotlessly clean bunch of men and women under AK was going to unfold, so we all thought. Over-enthused, I even joined AAP “to be the change that you wish to see in the world”. But alas! It didn’t take long for disillusionment and disenchantment to set in. My cup of disgust was full when, out of the blue, a hard-boiled politician was air-dropped from above as the party chief of HP. Happily, I had already left the party.  Just see where it finds itself now. Both the AAP and its supremo have let us down.

Thus, a wonderful opportunity that sprouted from Anna Hazare-led agitation, to rid the country of the prevailing muck and morass of political corruption has been lost. How sad and shocking.

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Quotes of the week

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother – Abraham Lincoln

Motherhood: All love begins and ends there – Robert Browning

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers – Rudyard Kipling

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Don't take my tears as sign of my weakness
           - Charu Nigam, IPS Officer, who was allegedly heckled by Gorakhpur BJP MLA

You will never be forgotten Nirbhaya
            - Priyanka Chopra (DH)

Wanted justice not revenge
             - Rape survivor Bilkis Bano (DH)

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Random News Headlines

Oxygen level in world's oceans dipping since 1980s: study (DH)

US vows commitment to arctic climate change research (ToI)

Edible insects could help fight climate change: study (DH)

Indian origin girl in UK gets 162 IQ points, more than Einstein (DH)

'Heavily drunk' son of Gujarat Deputy CM taken off flight (NDTV)

Demonetisation by itself will not impede future black money inflows:UN (DH)

Australian Senator creates history, becomes first politician to breastfeed in parliament (Economic Times)

Writing your story post-divorce may keep heart healthy:study (DH)

Treatment to balding, greaying hair in the offing (DH)

Working at night may harm your liver:study (DH)

Novel 'smart bra' can detect breast cancer (DH)


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