"So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place...The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.'--- This is how 'The book of Genesis' describes the creation of Eve. The question which however remains, is, are the contemporary 'Eves' also mere fragments of their partners? Are they just appendages or do they have any existence of their own, at all?
We are familiar with words such as 'dowry', 'Sati', 'widow remarriage' etc. (courtesy: our text books) and how the social evils and atrocities against women were countered by great men and women in the past. However, a real scrutiny of the hypocrisy that we, (specially, those of us in India), resort to, when it comes to the treatment meted out to women, proves that this age-old argument will exist till eternity.
The Indian society is one of the most brazen when it comes to duality in their treatment of girls. The same people who pretend to be ardent worshipers of Durga, Kali, Lakshmi or Saraswati, do not think twice before burning their daughters-in-law alive, or resorting to an 'honour killing'. The average Indian household worships its mothers, but teaches its daughters to be 'submissive' (read: having no opinion whatsoever, in any matter).
Even while we rejoice in the glory of the success of the likes of Kalpana Chawla, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Indira Gandhi or Indra Nooyi, we still believe that a true Indian woman should be docile, should know how to cook well, and should be a typical saree clad 'Bharatiya nari'. Women are still told, what to wear and what not to wear, where to go and where not to go, when to return home and so on and so forth.
A woman is tagged negatively if she drinks at a party,is expected to make the bulk of the adjustments required after marriage, is teased by boys younger than her, is pushed and shoved by middle aged frustrated and sex starved men in buses and trains, ogled at by people,and even exploited at the workplace, besides being victimized in the scores of cases of domestic violence, rape and murder being recorded everyday. All of this exists while we choose to shut our eyes and ears and pretend to be good Indian citizens who 'respect' the so called 'good' women (read: those equivalent to cattle being fed and taken care of and then being used and exhibited as showpieces in front of friends or neighbours) and shun 'bad' women (read: those who have an identity of their own, and voice their own views and refuse to be taken for granted and being told what to wear, what to eat and how to behave).
The truth is, that the society views a 'woman' as just a 'woman', when she is in fact, as much 'human' as her male counterpart is. It is true that only a woman can realize the intensity of this evil, but it is also a fact, that it is only due to the indifferent attitude of some of our race, (who choose to depend on their men entirely and believe in the illusion that life is much easier, that way), that women are at the receiving end of such immense torture.
It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that a woman will forever be a 'woman' and not a human being, if she herself does not stop being the 'damsel in distress' in every adverse situation. It is not the 'knight in shining armour' who will help us in our worst times, but it is us, and the spirit within us, which will help us make ourselves heard. Thus, what we need is not a sham called 'Women's Day', when we will pretend to be independent and at par with men, but a strong resolve to be ourselves and not what the society expects us to be, at any point of time, today or tomorrow.
Let this be our vow, and let this be our promise to ourselves.
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