Hi :)
I'm in the middle of exams. Again. In fact, I just wrote a paper today, and since the muse is not happy, I think I'll just tell you all how my month has been...
Lets see, today's exam- it was interesting... yes, that's the word... a numerical problem we had to do got cancelled because it had no data available to solve it. Ten marks. We couldn't stop smiling.
:)
See what I mean?
____________________
My cousin's wedding is coming up sometime mid December, and I'm desperately trying to lose weight. It makes me laugh that after all the times I've wondered in that holier- than- thou way about why people do things just to fit in, I'm trying to do the exact same thing. Later, I'll probably be banging on about thin models again, but for now, a quick tip or two to look a little bit like them won't go amiss.
So what's with the hypocrisy, you wonder? As do I, actually, not because I don't know what the problem is, but because I know exactly what it is. You see, it would be nice to not be ignored at this particular function. I've noticed that with some of my family, the attitude changes with how socially- acceptable you are, including amongst other factors, your dress size. Last time there was a get together with this part of my family, I was actually acknowledged- can you believe it- and the singular comment from most people who wouldn't otherwise have bothered was something along the lines of how fit I was looking... So, yes, I'd quite like to be acceptable again, thank you.
____________________
The weather in Delhi's become even more annoying than usual these days. Earlier, we just got baked for eight months and frozen for two. Now we're served toasted in the day time, and chilled through the late evenings and nights. It's probably the reason for the bizarre cases of flu in the city, anyway- it happens to be a strain that just won't get cured. Or maybe we just keep relapsing without first getting fixed.
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I registered as a voter a while back, but have still not received my electoral card... wonder when it'll finally turn up, if at all.
Oh, and on the mention of politics, I saw a poster on the college notice board today put up by the Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA) asking the teachers to join in a demonstration to protest against the 'undemocratic' attempt of the vice chancellor to introduce the semester system into under graduation programs. Undemocratic my ass. They're just resentful that they'll now have to actually do some work and be held accountable, the deceitful, double dealing old frauds.
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My Marketing Research teacher told me today that she'd like to get our project published.
:) :) :)
...................................................
This has got to be the most disjointed piece I've ever written.
Oh, yes,
Thank you for putting up with me.
Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women. Show all posts
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Disguised Barbarianism
It was karva chauth yesterday. Karva chauth is a hindu festival for married women, and it involves the woman keeping a ‘vrat’ or a fast throughout the day. The fast involves not eating (obviously) and not drinking anything through the day.
Now this is strenuous, so why is this ‘festival’ celebrated in the first place? It’s meant to pray for the long and successful life of one’s husband… really? Why? When was the last time men fasted for the ‘long and successful’ lives of their wives?… In India, that would be just about never.
Why is it that after so many years of education, women still go through this rubbish? My mother recently observed ‘teej’, which is pretty much the same as karva chauth, and is more prevalent in her side of India. I didn’t really know she was fasting until my brother yelled at her, asking if she had gone mad to be doing something like that…
What’s disturbing though, is the fact that education is something she received as a legacy in her family. Her grandmother was a graduate, which is saying a lot since education & equal treatment for women is something only just picking up in most of India. Moreover, the lady was an educated, degree- holding woman, who was the principal of a school, which made her an educated and earning woman. This is still a rarity in most rural and semi- urban areas of this country. For this to happen, her grandma’s family would have to be a highly enlightened lot, specially noting that this was more than a hundred years ago.
It’s a legacy I am exceptionally proud of. But, as the fourth generation of educated, degree- brandishing women in this family, it seriously bothers me that my mother kept this stupid fast. Sure, it’s her choice, and all that… but I noted that my Dad was perfectly at home with both food and water that day, just like most men in this country were on the day of karva chauth.
Of course, there are many men who observe the fast along with their wives these days, but they are few and far apart. Many of them even try and stop their wives from fasting, but apparently, the ladies insist. Ladies, if this is your way of expressing your love, then I have to point how very one- sided it is. It actually just seems to be an expression of your ‘gratitude’. The very same ‘gratitude’ that society feels women should express towards men.
This is completely baseless now, of course, specially in the cities and most towns, since women now earn their bread, rent and make up.
In the end, if one wants to be treated equally, one has to- one must!- feel equal. And so called ‘festivals’ like teej and karva chauth, don’t do women any good.
Now this is strenuous, so why is this ‘festival’ celebrated in the first place? It’s meant to pray for the long and successful life of one’s husband… really? Why? When was the last time men fasted for the ‘long and successful’ lives of their wives?… In India, that would be just about never.
Why is it that after so many years of education, women still go through this rubbish? My mother recently observed ‘teej’, which is pretty much the same as karva chauth, and is more prevalent in her side of India. I didn’t really know she was fasting until my brother yelled at her, asking if she had gone mad to be doing something like that…
What’s disturbing though, is the fact that education is something she received as a legacy in her family. Her grandmother was a graduate, which is saying a lot since education & equal treatment for women is something only just picking up in most of India. Moreover, the lady was an educated, degree- holding woman, who was the principal of a school, which made her an educated and earning woman. This is still a rarity in most rural and semi- urban areas of this country. For this to happen, her grandma’s family would have to be a highly enlightened lot, specially noting that this was more than a hundred years ago.
It’s a legacy I am exceptionally proud of. But, as the fourth generation of educated, degree- brandishing women in this family, it seriously bothers me that my mother kept this stupid fast. Sure, it’s her choice, and all that… but I noted that my Dad was perfectly at home with both food and water that day, just like most men in this country were on the day of karva chauth.
Of course, there are many men who observe the fast along with their wives these days, but they are few and far apart. Many of them even try and stop their wives from fasting, but apparently, the ladies insist. Ladies, if this is your way of expressing your love, then I have to point how very one- sided it is. It actually just seems to be an expression of your ‘gratitude’. The very same ‘gratitude’ that society feels women should express towards men.
This is completely baseless now, of course, specially in the cities and most towns, since women now earn their bread, rent and make up.
In the end, if one wants to be treated equally, one has to- one must!- feel equal. And so called ‘festivals’ like teej and karva chauth, don’t do women any good.
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