I am a woman in Indian society and I am not yet free...

// I am a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, a theist and an atheist. I am 20, 30, 40 and 50. I am single, married, divorced and half the country. I am a mother, a daughter, a wife and a prostitute. I am a stereotype, a trophy and a prisoner of patriarchy. I am a woman in Indian society and I am not yet free. // - Kalki Koechlin at India Today Conclave (link)

Please watch this passionate and touching poem written and enacted brilliantly by Kalki at India Today Conclave (link):

This inspired emotions similar to what I experienced when I watched Queen (link) and Taslima Nasreen's interview (link). There is always hope...

Related posts:

Taslima Nasreen in Ideas 2014: Every minute worth watching!! - link

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Aahista chal zindagi - A new year treat

As a new year treat, I am sharing this beautiful poem written by an anonymous poet. I actually came across it on Whatsapp during last new year when it was being circulated. The forward says it's written by Gulzar but I couldn't trace any source to confirm this, and any original source to link this to, so I am just pasting it here - It doesn't matter who wrote it. It is as beautiful as it is touching: Aahista chal zindagi, abhi kai karz chukana baaki hai Kuch dard mitana baaki hai, kuch farz nibhana baaki hai Raftaar mein tere chalne se kuchh rooth gaye, kuch chhoot gaye Roothon ko manana baaki hai, roton ko hasana baki hai Kuch hasraatein abhi adhuri hain, kuch kaam bhi aur zaruri hai Kuch rishte ban kar toot gaye, kuch judte-judte chhoot gaye Un toote-chhoote rishton ke zakhmon ko mitana baki hai Tu aage chal main aata hoon, kya chhod tujhe ji paunga? In saanson par haqq hai jinka, unko samjhaana baaki hai Aahista chal zindagi, abhi kai karz chukana baki hai So how...

Guide to marital bliss - Find out what feminists fight against!!

If you've never really understood the evils of patriarchy ( link ), believing that feminists blow things out of proportion, may be you should open your eyes to this. Let me show you what's wrong. Below are the guidelines for women translated from a Telugu book on marital bliss which was being distributed at a wedding last week . We need to take this seriously - because our rituals are not evolving with our mindsets. The book advocates this code of conduct for today's women to restore values in today's society of Kalyug . We must not let anyone defend this sort of inhuman abuse under the name of Indian/Hindu culture/values . I'm giving scanned images of some of the guidelines along with the English translation of these guidelines. Adding my response to some of the guidelines in red . 1. Every task performed by a wife must be upon the husband's order . Are we talking about a wife or a slave here ? Or worse, the book doesn't see any need to...

A long wishlist: Reflecting seven years later

Seven years ago, I blogged about a long wish list ( link ) penning down many of my desires at the time. Lot has passed in my life and in world since (one word - COVID!) - I'm on the other side of 30 now and a mother of twin girls! One of the reasons why I love to blog, is that it is very interesting to look back and reflect on what we've written about. I'm now revisiting this wish list for fun, to see what has changed, in another long post, be warned :) The ones that I can tick: 1) Writing a poem for my special person: I ended up doing it the same year as his birthday present - Here is the link if you're curious to read :) What's special is I still stand by it and my feelings haven't changed, which is something I'm very grateful for. 2) Learning music: With the constant narrative that all cool things in life end at 30, and especially after becoming a mother, I would have never imagined that I would start learning singing (Carnatic music) again after giving...

Yours Sincerely

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