“The day a woman can walk freely on the road is the day we can say that India has got its Independence” – Mahatma Gandhi
Introduction:
We are living in an era where life in a metropolitan city is no safer than living in a village, as harsh as it may sound, we have created an unsafe environment for the women of our society where we see them being abused and harassed at every turn in life. A woman is a living being who has either faced trauma by the face of it or by the thought of it. As a child, she never knew what a bad touch was only to grow up and realize what she had been through during her time as a kid.
Problems Faced:
Hailing from a small village in a small town, this woman comes to a big city to pursue her dreams. She eyes the prize of making her parents, especially her father proud who continuously praised her brothers for the smallest of smallest achievements but neglected even her biggest achievement. When asked what she wished for, she replied saying,” I want to make my baba proud!”. Though she landed in her dream haven, she was not entirely happy because she had to fight her way through to reach there but you always saw her with a smile on her face encapsulating all the tough feelings and pain.
She always called home to ask about the well-being of her amma and baba, always having a hearty time with her brothers over a video call. “Is my beti doing well?” was the constant question that amma asked before disconnecting the call. Though a million emotions passed through her brain creating chemical impulses, encapsulating all those she would have a common reply, “Yes!”.
Though amma and baba were told that she was doing well, they constantly worried about her well-being knowing that her daughter was alone and more over knew the way a girl away from the protection of her family was treated and looked over by society. Her brothers despite the fights and arguments would always keep convincing her to come back because they knew how their male friends looked at girls her age and how they were afraid that people would do the same to their sister.
But, all these negative thoughts come to reality one night when she was walking home from work alone in the night at a quarter past ten after missing a deserving promotion only because she was a woman and not a man. Overthinking the entire situation in her head time and again she didn’t realize how late it was in the night and decided to walk home with her thoughts under the impression that she would encapsulate those thoughts and feelings.
She gathered the courage and called amma and decided to tell amma everything about how she felt and how she was never doing fine in this city when she realizes two men were following in the weary night. She gulped down her saliva and decided to walk another way only to realize that she was yet being followed by the same two men. Scared for her life and sweat rolling down her cheek. She heard a voice saying, “Didi hold on, you are walking too fast”. On hearing this voice she turned around to see that those two boys were none other than her brothers. The relief she had and a smile drew across her face.
But, unfortunately, most of the girls are not as lucky as she was. Given another situation the outcome would have been a headline in the following day’s newspaper. It is high time that we address the issue of safety for the women of our society.
Solutions:
- Restrictions were never the answer, as years passed women are growing more independent in understanding their basic needs and wants. Thus, it is more important that with the change in the generation we need to teach our kids how to live in synchrony with people from all genders, castes and religions.
- Men as boys should be taught in school by professionals how to channel their “bad energy” into “good energy” and use it to do something more productive and beneficial to the nation and society at large.
- Educating parents and children on the need for communication and eliminating the gap that is created. Parents should be taught how to be a haven for their children so that they can speak about their issues and problems
4. Looking to admire is fine, Looking to imagine is not fine. An aspect that needs to be taught and inculcated into the male proportion of society.