Poem: Epitome of feminism

Hello Reader,

This is great irony that the one who we praise the most is also disrespected in equal measures. Yes, I am talking about the women in our country. We call it a free country and yet, always fail to prove that. Somewhere or the other, everyday, in some form or the other, women are suffering. People want their sons to get the best education, but not their daughters because the fee can be rather used to pay the dowry. Most of them won't say but they'll be happier if a boy is born in their family only because he carries the family surname forward. They won't send her out of their hometown or for higher studies because she has to learn how to carry the household errands. Also, because they think that going outside won't really be safe for her. Oh wait! not her, they are worried about their family's impression.  "Society waale kya bolenge?"
Even if she is allowed, there are a few requisites like wearing a particular kind of apparel. 
And once the girl is married, the in-laws become of the new Nazis. They start testing her talents instead of making her feel at home. They make her realize that her place is the kitchen and she must stay there even if she is more educated than her husband. For improper proportions of sugar in the morning tea or salt in the curry, she has to listen to the curses. Then sometimes she goes through a number of abortions, risking her health, to please her in-laws with a beautiful boy. She might even face a divorce if she fails to do so, who knows? 

But, they fail to learn that even if they tie a bird's feet, it has wings to fly away.

I request all my readers to help them fly away from this discrimination and inequality. They do not deserve this at all. We must take an oath for a good change...


Take a pledge,
to assure her, while she listens,
from the walls of her mother’s womb,
that she will be warmly greeted
and won’t be buried in a clandestine tomb.
She will be allowed to play outdoor and,
no one will dare to snatch her paper and pencils.
She’ll be given education equal to her brother, rather
being lessoned on ‘how to shine your in-law’s utensils’.
To let her decide her wardrobe and her mate
and compose her own empowered verses
because neither our verdict, writes her fate
nor does the society’s curses.
To protect her from the evil eyes
so that the humanity doesn’t get disrobed,
even if there is no one to pay the price,
she must be the last one to be probed.

Ring the bell,
bow before the goddess,
for portrayal of weak as belle,
ask for forgiveness
and for blessing,
to a new uprising.

Make a promise,
to open the cage that entangles her,
to set her free and let her fly,
as for her awaits an infinite open sky. 

Ashish

This post is written for "Ring the bell for IndiChange" 
Bell Bajao! Loud and clear.

Science of Signs

Hello Reader,

Dantumal was more carefree than he was illiterate. His father had left behind a lot of money for him, enough to make him a lazy couch.  Though this laziness saved his life once when every member of his extra-large-typical-Indian-joint family went on an outing and he decided to stay back at home. He never missed his unbalanced diet and scheduled TV shows at any cost. 

“Don’t make too much noise”, the grumpy driver announced as they entered the steep valley area, past the sign board, “Beware of the falling Rocks”. But the children ignored the driver and sang together aloud, “Rock On!” Their bad sense of music made the mountains vibrate in anger and drop a big boulder on their bus. Nobody survived except the grumpy driver who later chuckled as the future of music industry was safe. 

Next morning, their maid’s son came running to inform about the sad demise of the family members to Dantumal and that he must go and identify the dead bodies. Dantumal, without waiting a second, after finishing the show just as the commercials began, did the formalities. Their maid was the most depressed as even after her numerous warnings, they decided to go for the trip. Her deceased dog was wailing all night, which she said was a bad sign, an omen which was screaming out loud, “Cancel the trip, there are dark shadows upon thee.”

After a few days, the dog bit the maid and she died of rabies.

Dantumal had seen enough deaths in his life. The first one was his mother’s which came in replacement with his own birth. Doctor’s had said that she could be saved if the medicines were brought on time.  His alcoholic father always wore his watch inverted. He was supposed to get the medicines by 3 o’clock but his punctuality followed his watch. The medicines couldn’t save his mother.  

Apart from wearing his watch inverted, his father’s another bad trait was being a scrooge. He knew the value of every penny he earned and would never let anything that he buys to go into drainage. So, to beat the blues of losing his wife, he decided to consume the medicine instead of buying more Rum as it tasted almost the same. “Overdose is lethal”, the bottle said. 

“The bottle is talking to me. I must be really drunk”, he thought and slept peacefully forgetting all the woes. 

He dreamt of his wife in the sleep. Next morning, he refused to come out of the dream. 

Now Dantumal was all on his own, with all the family business under his nose. Though he was an illiterate, business was in his blood. He had surplus amount of money as he never married any girl. He loved his TV so much that he had no time to share his time with anybody else. He started spending money on useless things like unlimited supply of cigarettes. He had no idea on how to spend it or save it or even to keep it hidden. Somehow, people got to know that Dantumal doesn’t have a naturally grown wisdom tooth and laughed behind his back. Now, he had a reason to spend some money. So, he bought himself a tooth made of gold and declared that money can buy everything, even wisdom. 

He was living a happy life until one day when while watching TV and crunching popcorn, his gums started to pain. He summoned the best dentist in town. The clever dentist said confidently that the golden tooth is the culprit and should instantly be removed and thrown away. 

The dentist plucked the tooth, put it in his pocket and said, “Don’t worry sir, I’ll take care of it. It shall never hurt you ever again. Here is my bill”, and left after having the lunch and collecting his fees.

The pain returned but the dentist never did. And this time the pain was even better and accompanied with blood. He called another dentist. The wise dentist asked him to quit tobacco immediately and informed him that he has gingivitis and could lead to leukaemia. 

Dantumal thought what a show off that dentist was and never took his warnings seriously. Also, he did not know how to pronounce leukaemia or gingivitis. So, he preferred to ignore and continued with his usual routine. 

He did not agree to what the dentist said until his TV explained to him the same thing in simpler, graphical way.  He could relate with the anti-tobacco ad. Tobacco causes cancer. But by then the disease had got worse, the cancer grew. The TV assured him that he was dying and he could not deny.

One fine day, he left his TV alone and died.  

And the TV kept saying, “If only, you changed my channel at the right time…”


Ashish

If you liked this story, do vote for me, readers :-)

This post is written for the COLGATE Total Pro-Gum Health Contest.
Thank you IndiBlogger and Colgate My Speak Blog for this opportunity.

When there's a way, Nobody's far away

Hello Reader,

In midst of everyday competition and race to live in the modern world, everything by the end of the day looks very much formal. Nobody, for a second, waits and thinks, “Why am I even struggling so much?” Everybody around is running and so are we, to stick to the flow. And the amount of time we spend while running is so much that the people, for whom we are striving, get neglected. All day we work to earn something for our loved ones. We buy everything, everything but time. We almost forget spending time and sharing a small dose of laughter with the people closest to our hearts. The congested schedules and wearing distances do not permit us to do so. 

Staying away from home, I may have become an independent person but I do miss spending time with my family and friends, talking to them for hours and laughing to the silly jokes. And I have always prayed to god to help me find a way through which I can stay connected with them, talk to them as if they were sitting right next to me, under the same roof. 

The prayers have worked for me, finally. Now I do have a very helping feature on my phone through which they can always be in my reach. WeChat has helped me through this dilemma. When there is a will, there is a way. And using this app, my wish to add the five most important women in my life to the We Chat group and stay connected with them 24 x 7 has found a way. 

1. She has been the source from where I absorbed all the ethical lessons. The moral lied hidden in every little story she narrated to me when I was a child. Now those ethics and principles help me take every small decision in my life. But, of course, sometimes I forget those principles out of those fairy tales in trying to succeed in this corrupt world. How amazing it would be if she could always stay beside me to keep reminding me of those virtuous sagas. Also, I’d love to see the child-like euphoria on her face when, using this smart technology; I’d share my current status and photos. 

It would be magic to my grandmother. 

2. When she is around, you know that you are safe. You never feel insecure in this cruel world, full of boogiemen because you know she is there to protect you. Nobody else would care, but she never forgets to ask if I had taken my food on time. I know how much worried she’d be if I do not inform her from time to time that I am doing well. And We Chat will certainly help me do that. In a fast and easy way, I could drop a voice message, “Yes, Mom, had my breakfast. “ And I’ll always feel that her hand is on my head. I think I miss my mother’s love the most. 

3. A tiresome day could be made light with a tablespoon of craziness. And I would like to spend that bit of tomfoolery with my favourite enemy. She always irritated me with her wicked pranks and sarcastic laughs when I lost a game of snakes and ladders. The race of life is still on but I still prefer the race to the fridge with her where the winning prize was the last piece of chocolate bar left. And how can I forget the wacky nicknames we call each other with. I am sure that’s how I’ll address my little sister on We Chat too.  

                              

4. Been about Five long years since I physically saw her. The circumstances have been pretty coldblooded in keeping us apart. The only hurdle in our love story has been the miles, the physical distance. This is the trouble with long distance relations. Like two points running on a circle’s circumference, we have been shuffling through India, Pune-Bangalore-Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Pune, following each other, but never did we meet. Though, the distances between our psyches could never grow and even in the coming days, to keep our love alive, WeChat shall act cupid until our parallel lines finally meet. I would wait for her; after all she is my soul mate. 

5. They call me schizophrenic now. But, I would never agree because she is always present there. Whenever they ask me about her, I tell them that she is my muse, someone who inspires me to move on in my lonely world. She talks to me, gives me meaning to my life. If ever I am stuck somewhere, she pulls me out. Also, she helps me to keep my creativity safe. It is because of her that my passion of writing never breaks even in a busy schedule. Whether she is real or just my alter-ego, the world is still in doubt. But, I know she is there. Alimah is real. 

Ashish

This Post is written under "WeChat with Anyone, Anywhere!" contest.