Subho Mahalaya!
One of my Bengali friends wished me yesterday in the office.
I heard – Shubham Aa Raha Hai, so I replied- “Kab”?
My friend – 10 shades of BLANK expression –
“Arrey, I wished you on the beginning of Durga Puja”, and we both burst into laughter…. 😛
So, this is when we get to see that how people, especially Bengalis celebrate the weeklong festival of Goddess Durga, with such enthusiasm. And others celebrate Nav-Ratri or Nau-Durga Puja starting from today for 9 days, each day worshipping 9 forms of Goddess Durga. This is that moment when we all girls feel special because of such huge respect being paid to a female deity, with the songs dedicated to her being played early in the morning and at night. Such a lively atmosphere gets created when we hear – Zor Se Bolo, Jai Mata Di!!! 🙂
After beginning the day with Subho Mahalaya, the beckoning of the woman as a symbol of power, our spirits light up in this festive season, when we also get to read such things in the news:
- Defense Minister, Mr. Manohar Parrikar, announcing that decision will soon be taken for inclusion of women in combat roles in the armed forces of our country. If it gets approved, will create a new milestone in the position of women in our society. Just imagining it makes me so proud of being a girl. Till now, I only used to see in Hollywood series and movies that how women of the US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, etc. fight shoulder to shoulder against the enemy- even in the most difficult of places like that of Afghanistan. But after this, we’ll have more powerful women in our country itself.
- The United Nations General Assembly marks Oct 11 as the International Day of the girl child, in an attempt to recognize the girls’ rights and the different challenges girls face around the world. With myriads of concerns involving gender inequality against young girls, Child Marriage is still at the top in various countries across the world, especially in Sierra Leone. Hope this move of the United Nations will play a great role in the betterment of the status of young girls worldwide,
But, every feeling in the world is volatile (the term I constantly heard during the day). So, everything has a flip side, where happiness has been overpowered by remorse, forever.
When I switched on the TV, I saw the news showing the plight of the 4-yr old Delhi girl brutally raped and sodomized, left to die on the roads. This took my peace again. In 2014, only 9 of the accused were convicted in Delhi in the cases of crime against women. This only adds up to the fear in the residents of Delhi that how safe are they in their own city. I can’t even imagine that how many more ‘Nirbhayas’ will have to suffer because of this adamant society of ours.
I hope that more and more people join hands to change the world for the betterment of girls. Many of you might have watched and loved the latest four part web-series by YRF, Man’s World, for the cause of gender equality in India as a part of the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Many scenes are so aptly represented from the point of view of a guy. I wish that these kinds of videos reach out to a large number of people who cannot even access the Internet.
In this festive season, we worship a woman in the form of a goddess of power and prosperity, but what we see in front of us is the abject state of women in our society. Hope each of us change to bring about a change in the society as a whole.
The true celebration would be to respect and empower women rather than just idolizing them. The Duraga, Lakshmi and Saraswati of our society needs a better and secured life than the idols we bring home every year. The Nari needs to grow into The Sakti, to celebrate the true essence of the festival.
