I am a Mother; a mother of children who are as alike as they are different from each other. My children are spread all across from north to south and east to west. My children are the citizens of India; I am Mother India.
They dress me in spotless white and hold me in high regards. Then why does my heart weep? Why is my gleaming white attire soaked in tears of blood for my daughters? I grieve at the plight of my female progeny as they are molested; tortured and exploited right here in my bosom. My children pledge never-ending love for me and claim to save me from harm whatever the cost but don’t they see with the degradation of their morals and their treatments towards my daughters I die a silent death each day?
‘Vande Mataram’ they sing. I bow to thee, Mother they say. But they realize not that their mother will one day disappear; crushed under the burden of their sins.
What sins you ask? Sins that makes me loathe the children I bore; sins that demean me as a mother; sins that even put the devil to shame; sins that make the air toxic and the water venomous; sins that cause the decay of a nation!
Look towards my bosom in the city of Nashik my 14 year old daughter is being gang raped. She is crying for mercy; pleading but are they listening? Every scratch on her body becomes a wound on my heart but my children seem to be unaware. Their mother bleeds as they take the innocence out of a child. She is scarred for life and I am drenched in her tears and gasps!
I bleed through my arms in my beautiful desert state of Rajasthan which boasts of beautiful palaces and forts. My eight month pregnant daughter is being tormented by a hot iron rod by none other than her husband and in-laws. Oh the inhumanity; she is with child! She tries to protect her baby but she is unable to. She is being punished for they fear her bearing a girl child. I see the terror in her eyes. I feel the burn in my skin; I feel the heat sinking within. I feel plagued by Female Feticide and apathy towards girl child. I die a little with each touch of rod on her body; yes I die a little!
My heart skips beats and I feel nauseous as my shoulders bleed in my own city of Guwahati as my teenage daughter gets molestedin wide public view. She is hurled around by her hair and her clothes pulled apart. Why again you ask? Because she dared to protest against lewd remarks passed at her. As she begs for help from one onlooker to another; I feel her helplessness. As she tirelessly tries to escape the monsters; I feel the fear in her. I fall down as does she. I lose the faith in life and the goodness of people as does she! I feel feeble and vulnerable as I look around and see grotesque realities exposed; as I see horrific true faces of those!
Look at my favourite south, my legs feel numb as I witness a heinous act in the city of Bangalore. My son poisons his infant daughter as what he wanted was a son. He laces her milk with poison and feeds her. She flutters her eyelashes and gives an innocent doting smile as she drinks the poison out of her father’s hand. Oh the shame! As the poison starts to affect her organs she gradually slips away to eternal oblivion; I feel impaired and paralyzed. I feel violated as she is killed within days of opening her eyes.
I hear their silent cries; I feel their pain; my daughters are suffering in vain. In the guise of my daughters being liberated; biases are still nurtured. If nothing else, my daughters are forced to move heaven and earth for the husband’s family leaving their very own. When they do that silently, they live in regret and sadness lifelong. If they don’t, they are touted as bane to society all along. All this; these very acts of prejudice against my daughters are cancerous growths and with each passing day I move a step closer to my fall.
Stop! Look Around and Wake up! I don’t want to soak anymore in such brutalities. Enough is enough! Stop the blatant crimes against women for I, your mother, am one of them. The girl being raped is I; the woman being thrashed for bearing a girl child is I; the girl being beaten to death is I; the bride being burnt for dowry is I; the girl being eve-teased is I and the woman who works nonstop for you at home is I too. When you hurt even one of my daughters you push me towards my end; you pave way for your Nation to die!
My Daughters, rise and soak no more in the torture and the pain you have forever bore. If none change; you do and say yourself ‘I shall soak no more’!
Some Statistics:
In India, 1 crime is committed against women every 3 minutes.
1 Molestation case every 15 minutes
1 Sexual Harassment Case every 53 minutes
4 out of 10 women have experienced violence at home
I urge all women to speak up and stop tolerating any form of non-sense even if it with regards to how you should dress or if you are forced to cover your head and sometimes face in the name of respecting elders. It can be anything from a tiny speck to a huge concern but unless you stop enduring; your plight and the predicaments of your daughters shall never change. We women often chose to ignore issues as they seem too small to rake up a storm for; change that and you shall change the course of the way women are treated in the long run. Say it loud and clear ‘SOAK NO MORE in FEAR’.
This post is for The Surf Excel Matic #SoakNoMore Contest by Indiblogger.
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The Guwahati case made India touch a new all time low. It was horrendous how the 'new age' India kept quite and took advantage of the poor girl.
Also This is a brilliant post. Mirroring suppressed thoughts of so many readers, I am sure.
OH! And I hope you win too. =D
I agree Stuti that the Guwahati Incident was an all time low!
And thanks a lot 🙂
A very good interpretation of "Soak no More", you convey the message strong and clear… You wouldn't believe it when I say this is exactly what I was contemplating writing about for this contest, I guess I will have to find something else to write about now 🙂
Ohh that's interesting Amruta 🙂 I guess we think alike on some levels 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Very important change we need has been brought out by you here Nabanita. Wonderful post and something we should seriously think about. Loved it very much…
No doubt this is an excellent post…does all this fall on deaf ears,the crimes do not abate…moreover,i suspect that those who perpetrate these crimes do not read these posts…it has come to a stage that egged on by 'in your face'sexuality openly being displayed';those who are weak in character & lack socially sanctioned outlets to their libido,claw at the first vulnerable victim.
Many may not agree with me,but in such a scenario dressing up decently-as in not provocatively-is a wise option…there is an old saying "khaiye manbhata,pehaniye jagbhata" which means wear what is suitable for the surroundings…..if society en masse is not liberated enough to let a scantily clad girl go by unmolested,then it is better to be safe than sorry.
I am well aware that not all molestations result from scanty dresses& even tiny babes are not spared,but it pays to be cautious.
Thanks a lot Farida Ji .. Glad you liked it 🙂
I know Indu that no one who actually commits those crimes will read this post and have a sudden change of heart…. And I agree its always better to be safe but I just can't swallow the fact that just because a man cannot control his urges we women need to change the way we would like to live…Why does it have to be that way 🙁
A heart wrenching post. My confidence in India is going low 🙁
Today people just assume& take it as a given,that men's hormones are overpowering;& women ought not to express their attraction towards the opposite sex….but this was not always so…as a small child i remember hearing or maybe reading mythological stories wherein a woman would openly accost a man & say she was attracted towards him & wanted to have sex;can you imagine this happening today? the times have changed in so many ways & we have to conform to today's customs & traditions….but as you say it does put our antennae up.
Really This is a disgusting condition one side we look girls as god and other side we use to rape them etc.. these are some things which are really very disgusting in our country.
I know Indu that can't happen today at least not without the girl being called'names'!…the sad part is I do not know what you and I can do that will actually amount to something… All I can think of is if I have a son I will make sure he is a perfect gentleman and if I have a daughter I will make sure she won't be the woman men can take advantage of.. But I know that is not enough!!
Mine too Puru 🙁
Absolutely Mitesh 🙁
Well articulated. It is sad that such kind of horrendous incidents happen and still people don't care. Life moves on as usual. I am not sure why we have become so cynical. Do we fear ourselves so much that we can't face up to a crowd when a woman is molested?
well said! these crimes are making our country vulnerable place to live for the fairer sex! All the best for the contest 🙂
well written Naba mam! and wow new template of ur blog professional lagchay & all the best for the contest 🙂
You are the aamir khan of blog-o-sphere. You are able to invoke people's emotions well towards social issues.
I think we do Sabyasachi or maybe we have stopped feeling anything at all!
Thanks 🙂
Thanks Saurabh !
Thanks Kajal 🙂
Thank You, I take that as a compliment Sir.. really humbled 🙂
Very touching post nabanita . . Sure the issue needs to be highlighted more often than its being discussed now a days . . Somehow the pandemonium around a new dreadful incident gets dampened in a day or two . . And the talks return only when a similar incident shoots up in some other place in India . . Very pitiful . . Kudos to people like you who keep the topic alive through such posts . . Hope it reaches more people around us . .
Regardsmaliny
mothers of mother India, teach your sons to see you in every female. let them see you stand up against their father when necessary, so that they will realise, women are not meant to be soaked. apart from the struggle,campaign, plege… it is the mothers and wise fathers of this generation that can save the next!!!
Thanks Maliny… I also hope that it reaches more and more people…
Wonderful!
And a couple months down the line, we hit an all time low all over again. Our all time lows seem to be surpassing their own records with every such incident. I can feel and relate to your pain and anguish. But I feel more helpless than ever. The situation feels hopeless. Because for every one step in the right direction there are people like the esteemed scientist Dr. Anitha Shukla and Dastidar, Abhijit Mukherjee who make it worse. For every step forward we take, we have bans on skirts in schools and such. Closet women even more, will that help men stop such acts? No, they would just take it out on children. Beastiality doesn't seem far fetched anymore too. Its such a disgusting situation. Well written Naba, extremely well articulated! Very well deserved win!
PS: Now that's an excellent first POV 🙂
Thanks Deepa…
I agree with every thing you just said.. I just wish what I had written would just be fiction and not a reality… Really sad to be living in such society!