My Women's Day

Symbolism. Bags of it!

Like all you gorgeous ladies out there, I too woke up to many sugary sweet posts on social forum, today. A few blush-worthy messages in my inbox would have made it a divine morning if only the water-tank of my house had chosen some other day for its drying up ritual. O, yes, of all the days, today, we had no water supply in the morning and there I knew it’s my God telling me; We have scarcity of things ,theoretically as well as figuratively, so, don’t expect much from the day, Darling!   I didn’t. I never do.

It is rather chic to speak and write all first-rate stuff on public forums and every dumb head has a word or two to add to join the fashion band. No harm in being good but Illusionary righteousness is sickening because the moment you step out of your house, the paradox begins to mock at you. Our reality is ugly. No skin of sham civility can change it.

I was at a gov’t office today. Not a good place to be at, if you want to celebrate but, what else do you do when you are stuck in a ‘Naa Khuda mila, naa Visal-e-sanam’ situation! Of late, my stars have been making sure, I don’t celebrate. I give them quite a hard time but on days like this day, they win. So, in this gov’t office, our ugly reality struck me hard when I saw a clerk, brazenly,  asking a senior female official to leave the only chair in front of his table as his friend, a clerk, had come from the secretariat. A clerk from the civil secretariat! Yes, that tells the whole tale. Brothers from two different mothers with the same genetic makeup, needed to discuss business. Brothers of the kind, who understand each other’s language, which no one else does. Brothers, who carry out under-the-table business so well that quite often the tables turn upside down and we stand staggered.  But, what about, ‘chivalry’? There has to be some if not a lot? What about, ‘lihaz’, we keep bragging about? None at all? The lady , unable to decipher, what the hell was going on, quietly got up and the guy, shamelessly  jumped on the seat. Needless to say what followed. The usual sufarshi gupshup. This gushshup is holy in our land, holier than ...just anything. Happy'whatever' day you may call it,kindly spare us the generosity.

Talking about this office, I have a confession to make. It is doing me good.  How? Today, I spent my entire time (like a couple of days in the past week and may be a few more this week) inhaling the gusts of smoke coming out from the cubicles of clerks. Now this, from being someone who normally starts throwing up at a mere sight of a man with a cigarette in his hand is quite an achievement. Bravo, self and Happy women’s day, world ! Told you, I manage to annoy my stars occasionally.

I don’t believe in generalization, I am sure everything hasn’t broken yet. There is still hope and a lot of it in Kashmir, actually. But, please let’s not restrict this goodness to social forums only. Let’s act. It’s time to wipe out patriarchal attitudes which are repressive for the fairer gender.  No woman expects every man she meets to be her knight in the shining amour but, a little chivalry toa banti he banti hai.

And, Ladies, it’s our day, our world only if we all agree with Alicia Keys (new Levis ad). I love the way this husky damsel says, ‘All women are born badass’. Hell, we are! (Oh, don't bother with the shouldn’t-use-slang lecture. I am NOT in that mood).  Don’t wait for the flattering words, girls. Let your hair down every morning and live your uniqueness. Prize it and every day is our day. Cheers!