Cause I’m a woman

It's quite ironic that we live at times when we get groped and molested every day, get eve teased every day, get brutally raped every day, get 'ignored' at work place and get branded as ‘incompetent’ sometimes when compared to the men folks, of course!  But this day we get flooded with “Happy Women’s Day’ messages from all quarters: known and unknown, sometimes with some free wine, free flowers, free food… so on and so forth!

Give it a thought: Why would I want to be wished “Happy women’s day on one particular day in an entire year? Absurd right? If you really appreciate me or my efforts, you will respect me every day, you will think me worth the praise you might want to shower on me every day!

Let’s face this: Women have always been the epitome of strength, grace, courage, beauty, love, care and compassion and will continue to do so irrespective of whether you give her a 'Women's Day' or not, whether you give her a free lunch or a drink or no! All of us have that ‘strong’ women figure in our lives: be it in the form of mother, sister, wife, girl friend or daughter or be it anyone! It’s an amazing trait that women naturally inherit (I guess even when they are in their mother’s womb) to how beautifully juggle things, how seamlessly and effortlessly she equips herself to handle every hurricane that comes along in her life and still remain calm and composed at all times (Of course sans that time of the month of)…

I celebrate ‘me’ every single moment, every single day; I celebrate the fact that I’m a woman every single moment. I celebrate womanhood every other god damn day and I thank my stars and my parents (because I do not believe in god) that I was born a girl, evolved to be a lady with a soul and (body of course) of her own. I dictate myself. I live my life and I’m glad I do it because that’s the only way I know to be happy. Not to forget all those many wonderful butterflies out there, who want to fly, but their wings are crippled! How does this world brush aside free, independent woman who, to me are the purest souls, who celebrate themselves every day- just the way they are- no artificial sprinklers, no fake smiles, just some pure soul, coupled with revelry and happiness and a pinch of unruliness. She isn’t fiction! She exists, she is here, she is everywhere, she is one amongst us!    

I remember our father who always fondly and proudly announced to the world, “I have two Lakshmis at home” (of course me and my beautiful sister). I always thought to myself then, “Who were these two daughters he had that we didn’t know about!”

Jokes apart, the entire marketing gimmick has raised couple of points: Women are still considered ‘different’ and may be not be ‘worth’ considering on par with their men counter parts hence, they still need to be ‘granted’ a day/ an occasion to celebrate their women hood. The crux of the matter boils down to the fact that we still remain the dumb, mute spectators to the world’s dictate that translates to, “Hey look you women folk! You must have climbed the Mount Everest, you must have won 10 Wimbledon titles, you must have spent 15 years in jail, advocating introduction of democracy for your nation (remember Suu Kyi) but we think we should still allocate you one day in a year and call it ‘International Women’s Day’ so that you can get some free booze or some food at discounted prices!

Wow! What a heavenly feeling! Over whelming it is! Thank you all you folks out there for appreciating our efforts! Really! Appreciate!

Meanwhile, basking in on the occasion is my Kaam waali bhai, “Madam! Are you not giving me leave today? Isn’t it women’s day? I drop the glass quite literally from my hands after her request and curiously ask her what she plans to do on ‘Women’s Day?” she sheepishly replies with an “I don’t know”.

In office, I encounter the house keeping lady, who comes running to me beaming. I look at her with an anxious face. She wishes me, “Happy Women’s Day Ma’m! Aren’t you celebrating today?” I chuckle, “I celebrate every day!”