What women want
NEETHI JAYAKRISHNAN
FEAR GRIPPED me, as I watched with bated breath for the news item to flash again. A 21-year-old female software engineer found dead in her hotel room. I waited for further details to emerge. But sadly they never did. Maybe it never caught the interest of the media.
This after all is not one of those spicy celebrity stories. This is just one more among stories about women getting eliminated across the country either out of choice or for not having succumbed to a choice. But it left me deeply moved. This could possibly be because I could easily connect with her by age.
An age when many among us would set out to be on our own, with the aspirations of family and friends in tow. Anybody embarking on a career involving travel will have to resort to hotels for accommodation. A marketing manager once retorted `women are reluctant to travel' when asked whether there is a bias against women managers in Kerala.
How safe are public transportation, public places and hotels for women? How often do we hear of crimes committed against women in public places? There are many like Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Sharma, a future model and latter a lawyer, whose lives were cut short. The campaigns demanding justice for their families did little for prevention of recurrence of similar instances.
Women may have stood out in numerous written examinations, defeating countless male counterparts but it is poignant that muscle power eventually subdues them. For a woman it is an ordeal to make it big in a profession out of her bastion, as she has to chart uncharted roads. Today there are opportunities before her, but threats to her attempts to lead life with dignity are many.
Constant vigil
Because you are a woman... you have to be on constant vigil while taking a deserted road, as there could be predators in hiding. You have to think twice while taking to streets after six in the evening and should let go of abuses heaped on you. In Kerala there are separate seats for men and women in buses due to unpleasant situations in the past.
The more we speak about change, the fewer things seem to change on the ground. For our country to make progress, we need to have a progressive mindset. When you slay a woman you are stifling not just her dreams but lives waiting to be born of her. There are harsh realities to face. Many a woman has risen above all odds, but for a countless number of them, struggle cost them their lives and some of them nipped at birth.
It is not consideration or reservation that we are seeking, but the basic right of being allowed to live life with dignity.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Open Page
