Women’s day special!
Empowerment.
Even though it wasn’t my first encounter with the word, nobody had actually asked me a question like that before, forcing me to take notice of my, let’s say, status (not the social media ones). So, some random guy asks me in a mall if I felt empowered and it wasn’t because he was crazy, he just wanted me to jump on whatever bandwagon he was on – expecting my valuable contribution towards the cause he was representing. All I remember was hesitantly answering a ‘yes’ because back then, I was awaiting my engineering results and though I knew I would pass, it was a weird stage where I had too much time on my hands getting wasted along with my life, and I was as far away from being empowered as was possible. Fast forward to some months later when I was living alone , speaking a language only familiar to me because I heard it on TV and managing a bank account (this is always the highlight), that was when I felt truly independent and it wasn’t that enjoyable because the sudden realisation of being an adult hit me hard. I was called a man by my roomie for taking on responsibilities that involved managing cash on a working day (and not the weekend) – again something to do with the bank (they really should teach basic finance in school so that we don’t have to struggle figuring out everything from the Internet and being clueless on calls with bank employees) – and I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a compliment because then it would be offensive to my gender and according to the standards set by the society, it was impossible for it to be an insult as well. Then there came travelling interstate all alone in India and luckily finding only helpful individuals and somehow giving my Mom the guarantee that since I can walk around in an alien land at midnight, I could travel anywhere now, especially within Bangalore (my home!), and Dad the satisfaction of having been right in letting me perform the daring stunt in the first place. It’s the classic issue of being an only child – having to be both son and daughter – which includes a lot of emotional blackmailing as well as cautioning to be careful which are contradicting concepts, I know, but that’s how it is. Just being a normal girl in the present world and having to calculate taxes and nodding yes while Twinkle Khanna mentions the same in her book is what life has come to. Now that I’m back home for good and my Dad dumps a huge bunch of insurance papers on me to read and understand which would take up an entire weekend to be less dazed by, I’m not sure if I like not being treated as a kid. It’s a limbo state really, where in most cases, I’m still only a five year old in the house, being protected from everything that has the potential to cause me the slightest discomfort and in others, I’m my actual age and acting it and being allowed to do so as well!
I accidentally wore pink to office on women’s day and instantly regretted scoffing at the women in sari who were helping the commercialisation of the non-holiday event because I involuntarily strengthened a stereotype too. I’d be more supportive if I got a day off instead of being forced to participate in the hullabaloo that made me stay and work longer than usual in the office. When we are still being termed entitled for no reason, in such situations, my only wish is to eradicate stupidity and empower sensibility. Having two X chromosomes suddenly becomes a big deal only on this day while atrocities against women continue to occur and even elevate to attain new forms so excuse me for not being a big fan of this day (or of Mother’s and Father’s and wait for it, Friendship day, because every day is supposed to be about all these people). Even so, I can’t help feeling slightly happy when among the many women’s day messages I receive from the wonderful women in my life and great spamming retailers who make it a point to suffocate my inbox and let me know how much they want me to spend my money on stuff I’d never use, some extraordinary gentlemen take the time to wish me too. 🙂
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