Discrimination in India - Daily Life

A word from me on genders and my prerogative on it. I am a equality believer, yet I respect and wish to adhere to the rules of a gender.

Nature has defined certain aspects as masculine and society has amplified the gory truths behind these definitions. If physical strength was masculine, beating up a woman was a crown. If endurance was masculine (physical), then holding on baseless belief systems (useless or otherwise) was allowed (Ego). It was not a case of one man creating a rule, but of the exaltation of an entire gender. This elevation has almost given, I repeat – almost given a semi-demi ruler blanket to men.

Women were glorified and made to rescind – to make some way. It is an easier option to call her Ganga, make her sit on a pedestal, dress her in ornaments and perform austerities. In a way, I believe women were made to be worshipped. All the literature that speaks on women as Gods ( I hate the usage of Gods to people, baring this instance) are means to keep Her away from the evolution process. When you glorify someone to an unimaginable extent, make her as a statue in time – she is not allowed to grow. In my opinion, that is what has happened in this country. As a nation, we have learnt to keep the woman within doors not in the pretext of dominating her but by playing a physiological phenomenon as glorification. If physical adoration restricted authority, the emotional bondage restricted fruition of the mind. It is to be noted, that mythology and literature speak on why this practice of “shielding” was followed – it also spoke on how relevant it was. We have moved far from this “shield”, yet we continue to take solace in its relevance. This is absurdity. When we have evolved in thought, acceptance and generations to allow women to do what she wants to - we simply have to move on from the old relevance of shutting her down emotionally and psychologically.

When nature showed her intrinsic capabilities of bestowing feminine characteristics in men, it confused us. Ascribing tendencies to a gender is not under the capacities of a human. It is a law, and it has to be obeyed. It riles me every single time I see a person being typecasted for the sake of being born into it. If we only learn to accept that a gender is not a mere classification, but denotes a sense of unification with the world – our lives are bound to be better.

When a man becomes a woman, it is beautiful. I have read a semi-autobiography of actor Prakash Raj and in that, he speaks on how lovely it is to experience motherhood. He writes on how he spent his college days reaching home late and on never being questioned on why he was late. There have been days when he has not returned home as well. On all those days, he says dinner was always kept for the son who may return home. It has taken him years to feel on how the mother has felt during those evenings. To her, it did not bother that her son was late. It did not bother if he ate. What bothered was her call as a mother, to keep food for him. I do not advocate this paradigm, but the most important part to read between the lines is her nature to do what she does best, irrespective of how the receiving end is.

As a generation, we have forgotten acceptance. It could be due to the constant fight of survival, or rather upliftment. In a non-natural, self imposed cycle – moving from a defined masculine tendency (earning, working, being the head of a family etc) to a once again, defined feminine tendency ( caring, nurturing, looking attractive) is derogatory. This is the vicious cycle this entire generation is flooded with. In the earlier times, there was no such movement because it was a set rule, a defined space to live. Today, we see a lot of acceptance and a lot of movement. Yet, it has to grow.

We need to realize that there is a law which regulates us, and it is not created by anyone here. It is natural, it was, is and shall be there. Understanding the basics of where we are from and agreeing to the growth is the fundamental step towards movement. It has to happen. Either the men and women of today shall learn to adapt it gracefully and live their lives to a satisfactory experience, or they let the change pass by and look back in awe at what the world has become when they kick the buckets.

Arch

 

Riya,

I think this system by itself was oppression. How could a person be typecasted for his profession on a lower level? Who defined that a brahmin ( who learns, does pujas in temples) is more superior to a Sudhra ( one who works on a field) ? I am sure it was done by the learned, and not the working class.

Arch

 

Jyothi,

Thanks very much. I did read through all the links that you put up there. The state of inertia, as you mention is not a scenario created by the men or women in the society, as it is popularly believed. It is a group of belief systems, changing - evolving as they change.

From what I understand - were these demarcations created, for ease in administration? If yes, why did the shift happen to take it as a celebrated status?

Riya,

As much as I agree with you in the apathy of the situation, I stand to disagree on the reason behind the same. I do not think it was a nation ( read politicians, bureaucrats, caste heads etc) who created the divide. It was the people who took advantage of it. As I mentioned in my previous post, we have forgotten to accept reality but have found comfort in staying with the crowd( Read established rules)

Let me elaborate it a bit here ( of course, in a manner that may cause a slight disturbance). A student who belongs to BC category had access to excellent education and secured over 80+ percentage in his school finals. He applied to a college( which believes in equal merit, but is govt.funded). He had to compete with 85+ scorers of a FC category. The BC guy gets the seat, because his quota is available and the college cannot deny the same. In this scenario - who is to blame for the divide? The guy who scored 85+ but did not have the knack to get in, The govt that created the caste based education quota or the boy who scored 80+ and took his rightful seat?

I would blame the boy who scored 80+ and took his seat. Quotas are created for people who do not have access and are restricted to studying in primitive methods. It is for a person like that the government wishes to help. He is the deserving student, and not the one who has all access and decides to score only 80+. Do share your thoughts.

Arch

 

Flowerlady,

It is not region specific, but is society specific. Certain groups of people believe it is right to be that way. This group can be a religion, a caste, a state or even a following group. Discrimination on colour happens even in India. Why else, would you think Fair and Lovely is so famous?

Arch

 

Sujatha,

Yes it is necessary.

Arch