I write because I feel!!

by Ravia Gupta THEY make me work, they make me slog, they make me learn, they make me relearn; together we both make our lives difficult. My students always find new challenges for me each day! It was yet another attempt to have a better understanding of the “You Live Only Once Generation”. First I laughed, laughed out loudly, thinking it was too funny. Then I thought what to answer when they asked me, “Is getting married easier than going to work? Whose decision should it be? Whether or not a woman should work post-marriage? Who decides what career she must opt? Besides, why is it that husbands who encourage their wives to work or have a career in the first place, then turn back and complain when she starts enjoying what she does? Suddenly, the fun was over and soon as I started explaining them that getting married and staying home was much more difficult than going to work. Not that my marriage is too old or troubling me, but if you want to have a good marriage and a stable ho...

By Ravia Gupta Many voices, one world; many debates with no result----“We are the hollow men, We are the stuffed men, Leaning together, Headpiece filled with straw. Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass, Or rats' feet over broken glass, In our dry cellar, Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion…” (T.S. Eliot) WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? Party, certainly not for me, as I prefer to stay home before its dark. Don’t be such a bore, after all you don’t stay in Kashmir? Yes, you are right, but I genuinely don’t feel safe, be it Kashmir or Delhi. But what is the reason? Simply, because I am a woman. Time and again I have been told that I have a ‘Lakshman rekha’ and I must not cross it to avoid unwanted consequences! Society reminds us that we are females and that we need to put efforts to ensure that we don’t present ourselves as targets to be raped. Though, my parents, over the ...

Many voices, one world; many debates with no result----“ We are the hollow men, We are the stuffed men, Leaning together, Headpiece filled with straw. Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass, Or rats' feet over broken glass, In our dry cellar, Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion…”   WHERE’S THE PARTY TONIGHT? Party, certainly not for me, as I prefer to stay home before its dark. Don’t be such a bore, after all you don’t stay in Kashmir? Yes, you are right, but I genuinely don’t feel safe, be it Kashmir or Delhi. But what is the reason? Simply, because I am a woman. Time and again I have been told that I have a ‘Lakshman rekha’ and I must not cross it to avoid unwanted consequences! Society reminds us that we are females and that we need to put efforts to ensure that we don’t present ourselves as targets to be raped. Though, my parents, over the years, have trained me to protect...

Home-maker, a cooker, baker or may be a sandwich-maker for some. And for many others a care-giver, who opts to stay at home to bring together the roots of the family and also take care that these roots grow deeper and deeper. Well, home-maker may just be a name, and like they say what’s in the name? But who would have thought that with changing times, when people are becoming more sophisticated, there is no end to learning and education is touching a new high, there are a few out of this well-educated elite class, who would coin terms like “ home-bird ” or even worst “ home-lizard ” as a synonymous for “home-maker”. Ahh I just hope and keep my fingers crossed and pray that these new “creative terms” hopefully do not enter into my mum’s ears or else she is sure to sulk. Sulk the pain and agony of devoting her whole life to the family thinking that one day her worth will be well understood or may be not. She is indeed very sure of the choices that she makes for herself rather for her ...

Calling up mom, especially when away from home, is so much fun and without failure, each time you call her up, you end up feeling so much "special”, being loved and cared for…Thank God life gets going when mama is on the roll!!! Today, when I called up mama in the morning to tell her that undoubtedly she is the Queen Of My Heart and wished her “Happy Women’s Day”…she first smiled (like she already read my mind) and then very softly asked me an “innocent” question…What do we do on Women's Day? I was quiet for a while, not knowing what exactly to say, but then some how collected myself and said: “We wish all the known and unknown women for being so special and just enjoy the spirit of the day”…and so fast I was done with the “seemingly easy question”, she smiled yet again as though giving me another chance to think? The conversation ended on the phone and now my mind started the “talking”. I started imagining (like I always do), a woman who believes she is good, a woman wh...

Their desires, hates, and concerns have been silenced… Welcome to their world of “dark chronicles of broken heart…” Just before you pity them for what they are and decide to teach them how to be real, practical and less selfish…think again!!! They are the chosen ones to bring life into this world, love flows in every drop of their blood, for most of them it’s “U” that comes first then “I”. So what if with changing times their role seems to be reversed, as they have decided to step out and be there with you (men), for you, to match your steps, to prove to you, or to prove to themselves that they are special … Women….perhaps the most lovable creations of God were and still are craving for love, protection, being provided for, and are seeking security. Their feeling of insecurity is so strong that they are convinced that it is also objective truth. A woman's great need is to fill up that emptiness. Sadly she thinks that a man will fill it, which is only partly true. ...