It was one of the most beautiful evenings. A long slit of sunlight disturbed my monotonousness with work. When I turned to the window, the room was turning yellow. I decided to take a break and walked out. Grabbing a cup of tea, I walked near flower plants. There was a beautiful butterfly, a rare one with shades of white, red and black.
When I thought nothing could make my day better than that, there was a small sparrow right behind me staying silently. For one moment, I felt that my childhood had come back. There was a small guilt inside me that my mobile was radiating, which could have been hurting the small beings. I realized how cruel I was to walk with such an evil device inside an ecosystem, where every living being lived harmoniously. They might not have even realized that I was the demon in their lives.
I was lost in my thoughts, my heart felt heavy, and my legs pushed me away from those innocent beings. As soon as the sparrow saw me moving away, it took a steep dive downwards, glided towards the flower, caught the butterfly, and flew up to another tree.
Aren't we all like that?
We think women are living a far better life today than ever before. Men say that women are like goddess and have to be respected to the most. A majority of them believe that a woman's life is more precious than that of a man. That's why there is a universal celebration of Women's day compared to the ignorance about when Men's day actually is. Every man (at least in this country) would say that women are like the butterflies that make our garden beautiful. Probably, that's where it gets dangerous. A butterfly is loved by everyone, but does this love ensure safety?
We need a government to provide strict laws to protect a woman from harrasment not only by strangers, but also from relatives, friends, and colleagues. Don't they really deserve trust from their loved ones? At the end of the day, the victim of cruel intention gets blamed for friendly or casual behaviour. The rapists walk out proud, but the victim will have to carry a shame throughout her life.
We think that civilization has ensured the necessary safety to women by collectively making the human society a lot better. We think that women are safe in the hands of the society as long as she doesn't invite problems by indulging with the wrong people. Aren't we all fooled by the virtual inexistent safety net around a woman?
One day, a girl was early from home and waited for train in Nungambakkam. The next moment, she was killed on a broad daylight. She definitely did not bother anyone. She was minding her own business and avoided unnecessary contacts from her life. But, these protocols didn't save her.
The other day, she was peacefully riding her bike. She followed all protocols. She obeyed traffic rules. She didn't cross a red signal, she didn't ride on the wrong side, she didn't overspeed, she didn't change lanes or ride hazardously. She was dead within a few minutes after a hanging board (of a political leader, who promised to protect her) fell on her.
Not many days had passed. She took her bike after work and thought of returning home. She noticed the tyres were punctured. She thought that the Commissioner office was just a km away, and the nearest patrol vehicle was a few hundred meters away, and it wasn't close to midnight (considered to be the excuse time for rapes). She was still scared even when so many vehicles were moving around her in the busy road. She was kidnapped, raped, tortured, killed and her body was burnt.
The protocols that were set by men for women to ensure their safety: wearing traditional dress, being sober, avoiding interactions with men, returning home early, staying away from unsafe places, following traffic rules etc. nothing, literally nothing could ensure minimal safety to a woman's life.
Nature is dangerous, especially the human nature. Women are mere butterflies here. Everyone loves them only to possess them and taste their flesh. Men are all monsters. We see a sparrow in men. We don't realize that a sparrow shows no mercy to a butterfly.
We have created an illusion that avoiding a war, not joining armed forces, not entering an hostile environment would ensure a long life to us. In reality, we are already in a war. Here, men are fighting for their greed over the possession of women, and women are fighting for their freedom, just for their mere existence.
For so many years they had fought for equality. One incident, just one incident, to an unknown lady, in an unknown city, would make her lose all her freedom and go back to the cage.
When I thought nothing could make my day better than that, there was a small sparrow right behind me staying silently. For one moment, I felt that my childhood had come back. There was a small guilt inside me that my mobile was radiating, which could have been hurting the small beings. I realized how cruel I was to walk with such an evil device inside an ecosystem, where every living being lived harmoniously. They might not have even realized that I was the demon in their lives.
I was lost in my thoughts, my heart felt heavy, and my legs pushed me away from those innocent beings. As soon as the sparrow saw me moving away, it took a steep dive downwards, glided towards the flower, caught the butterfly, and flew up to another tree.
Aren't we all like that?
We think women are living a far better life today than ever before. Men say that women are like goddess and have to be respected to the most. A majority of them believe that a woman's life is more precious than that of a man. That's why there is a universal celebration of Women's day compared to the ignorance about when Men's day actually is. Every man (at least in this country) would say that women are like the butterflies that make our garden beautiful. Probably, that's where it gets dangerous. A butterfly is loved by everyone, but does this love ensure safety?
We need a government to provide strict laws to protect a woman from harrasment not only by strangers, but also from relatives, friends, and colleagues. Don't they really deserve trust from their loved ones? At the end of the day, the victim of cruel intention gets blamed for friendly or casual behaviour. The rapists walk out proud, but the victim will have to carry a shame throughout her life.
We think that civilization has ensured the necessary safety to women by collectively making the human society a lot better. We think that women are safe in the hands of the society as long as she doesn't invite problems by indulging with the wrong people. Aren't we all fooled by the virtual inexistent safety net around a woman?
One day, a girl was early from home and waited for train in Nungambakkam. The next moment, she was killed on a broad daylight. She definitely did not bother anyone. She was minding her own business and avoided unnecessary contacts from her life. But, these protocols didn't save her.
The other day, she was peacefully riding her bike. She followed all protocols. She obeyed traffic rules. She didn't cross a red signal, she didn't ride on the wrong side, she didn't overspeed, she didn't change lanes or ride hazardously. She was dead within a few minutes after a hanging board (of a political leader, who promised to protect her) fell on her.
Not many days had passed. She took her bike after work and thought of returning home. She noticed the tyres were punctured. She thought that the Commissioner office was just a km away, and the nearest patrol vehicle was a few hundred meters away, and it wasn't close to midnight (considered to be the excuse time for rapes). She was still scared even when so many vehicles were moving around her in the busy road. She was kidnapped, raped, tortured, killed and her body was burnt.
The protocols that were set by men for women to ensure their safety: wearing traditional dress, being sober, avoiding interactions with men, returning home early, staying away from unsafe places, following traffic rules etc. nothing, literally nothing could ensure minimal safety to a woman's life.
Nature is dangerous, especially the human nature. Women are mere butterflies here. Everyone loves them only to possess them and taste their flesh. Men are all monsters. We see a sparrow in men. We don't realize that a sparrow shows no mercy to a butterfly.
We have created an illusion that avoiding a war, not joining armed forces, not entering an hostile environment would ensure a long life to us. In reality, we are already in a war. Here, men are fighting for their greed over the possession of women, and women are fighting for their freedom, just for their mere existence.
For so many years they had fought for equality. One incident, just one incident, to an unknown lady, in an unknown city, would make her lose all her freedom and go back to the cage.
