RAPE - Rise Against Punishable Eccentricity

Silent fear, a part of your life,

Strength you find in keeping mum.

Leering eyes learned to be ignored,

Indignant words, pretended to be unheard.

Every step, a little death inside,

Eulogy to those moments, never given.

Wings grew, but fluttered helpless,

Trials of flight meant losing walk.

Respect taught to the respected,

Lessons to the disrespectful never preached.

Hollow words in school you heard,

Practice in reality never seen.

Crushed by wrong, right was left behind,

Picking up pace, but stamped upon.

Hurt was seen, eyes turned blind,

Bloodied hands, hidden and painted red.

You screamed a thousand times inside

The others screamed right back at you.

You looked at that brother, that friend, and thought-

Why can i not live like him?

The 'wo' of a woman was never wooed,

Force and display of strength looked easier.

Every gesture gave you a million death,

And forced life into your womb.

Star of your eye, a constant pinch,

Memories of the unfortunate never goes away.

That howl, that whip, that constant prick,

Just like another breaking of twig now.

You stopped voicing your voice,

You stopped crying those tears.

You accepted misery as fate,

You died wishing never to be born again!

(Watch this 4:43 min long video before proceeding with the post please.)

Women, especially in India, have grown up mostly with 'cultures', 'values' and 'morals'. The same which apparently do not apply to men. How can something be right for one gender, and not for another in a world where every single person is a human first and then a man or a woman?

Imagine the scenario, where women gather in gangs at the corner of your street, and mock, pass comments at guys passing by. As wrong as it is, be it a man or a woman, the society would blame the girls for being so MANLY! Do we take this action as a quality of manhood? Or should we even accept this? When the scenario is reversed, what happens? The girl comes home, getting teased on the street and is screamed at by the family for not having a dupatta covering her face. Either asked to come earlier than that, or asked to take a different route.. while the real culprits rejoice their misused freedom.

But WHY is the question! A scenario is either wrong or right. It cannot be right for someone if it's wrong for the other. With increasing harassment women face, be it in villages, towns or cities, an action is needed. An awareness is a must. We have grown in a society which has made us accept certain rules for granted, which when defied tags you to being uncharacteristic/shameless. And we have gotten used to abiding to it so much that we have forgotten that it is wrong! We have forgotten that we do not have to abide by these absolutely illogical rules and regulations. 

Here, the awareness is to be spread in men and women alike. A man has to learn to respect the sanctity of a woman. She deserves every single thing in life that he thinks he himself deserves from this life. A woman has to learn to be strong and stand up and demand for what is her's. It's always the survival of the fittest. If you are not fit, try to be. If you're trying, then go ahead and be one!

Many women are either scared because of their circumstances or the atmosphere they have been brought up in. Maybe you will not see a change in your life. But for your posterity, be willing to be the collateral damage for a greater good! Be that hook in the chain that transforms the black beads of despair to the white pearls of freedom.

Be it one little step at a time, but take it! And don't go back. God could not have given a life to anyone if he thought we did not have the strength to work it out for us. When the ball is in your court, seize the day. If not, then seize the ball..!!!

And for all the men out there who are fighting along with us, the women in your life will cherish you, respect you, bless you and love you. And to those who are still sick, ailing with the terrible unfortunate illness of being a male chauvinist nitwit that you are, We, the Women, still wish well while we say to you - "Get Well Soon!"

The video is a part of the movement we have started as a part of KnowYourStar for transforming the life of women. Dwar is not just a movement, but as the name itself suggests is The-War against all the social ailments our society is suffering from and needs immediate eradication. This virus has spread to the roots of our society and we need the cooperation of every person living, to help in destroying it.

This particular series of videos in Dwar - Winning Women is a part of our RAPE initiative.

Visit this link to know more details about this initiative - 
RAPE : Rise Against Punishable Eccentricity 

How you can contribute? Pen is mightier than a sword. So,

Why Don’t You Join The Movement…

1. Write an article/poem related to Women & Women Empowerment and post in your blog.
2. Link back to the article at this link - http://knowyourstar.com/rape/ with a hyperlink so your readers and friends can join us if they are interested.
3. Enter your name and link into the Linky widget. (It should be the post link, and not your blog link in general. In your blog, click on the post title. The URL in the address bar would be the post link.).
4. Read and enjoy as many of the other writers as well. When you read more, most of them return to read yours.
5. Don’t miss this golden chance to impact the society! Let’s change it for better!

 

You can visit our site here - Know Your Star - Every Saga... a Spark for Your Success!

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Dad, the only way i can be a Princess is if you are a King!

It was magnificent, the bed-room i was in. The huge bed, the jewel studded clothes, the tiara, the accessories! I was in a daze. The grandeur of this room stunned me. It would be an understatement if i said i was amazed by the royalty of the whole palace, the Mysore Palace. I was nine years old when i first visited this place. It was one of the places in the itinerary for the South-Indian tour we had gotten ourselves into with one of the reputed Travels in town. It saved us the trouble of researching into the places we should visit. They took care of it all. All we had to do was enjoy while they made sure we had a great time.

Courtesy

With all this comfort lined up for me, my father was happy to have provided his little daughter with some merriment, some fun, some frolic. He looked at me admiring the princess' room and it reminded him of the 'Soja Rajkumari' lullaby he sung to me as a baby. But his peace was short-lived when his girl took one more look at the magnanimous chamber, turned back to him furiously and started crying!!!!!

Yes.. i started crying. Not tears of joy. Those were furious tears. When asked the reason,i snapped back at him, "Why aren't you a King? If you were, i would be living here!" It was followed by a few moments of silence which was broken by a guffaw by dad. As i stared back puzzled, i realized there were more people laughing who had probably overheard our conversation. I was maddened! I hated it when elders never took youngsters seriously. (I don't blame them now! :P)

I continued, "I'm not kidding. The only way i can be a Princess is if you are a King. Now i can never be a Princess in my life!" Seeing more tears on the way, finally daddy dear stopped laughing and told me i'll always be his lil princess. He also told me i could always marry a king and be his queen. But i didn't want to be a queen now, did i? I wanted to be a PRINCESS, plain and simple! Not a Queen, a Princess! Nothing would calm me down. I stopped crying later with some persuasion. But that day stuck with me for a long time. I was obsessed with the whole concept of being a Princess.

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As a kid, it was connected to having all the comforts. The best clothes, maids, jewellery, tiara, palace etc. I read more and more about princess stories. Their delicate nature, their beauty, their grace. When i watched The Princess Diaries, i sooo wished some day someone would tell me i'm a princess too! But that day never came and i knew it would never come. I found my own way of treating myself as one. I called myself 'Princess Pranita' for a loooong time. Even my Orkut profile carried that as my profile name! LOL.

As i grew, the obsession grew. But along with the obsession, realization dawned too! With every passing year, i predicted Princess in a different way, til i reached my present decipherer of being one. For a long time, i've lived my life being a damsel in distress waiting for Prince Charming to save me. I've wanted to be the sleeping beauty, waiting for my prince to kiss my hand and save me! All those fairytale princess stories are very beautiful to read. But i recently realized that's not how a princess is supposed to be in today's times.

This is the generation, where we fight for equality of men and women. So why should i wait for a prince or anyone else for that matter to come and save me. Being a princess is about having the power. With great power, comes great responsibility. I'm not a princess. I'm not born with a golden spoon either. Being a princess wasn't something i could help, but acquiring the power, being responsible and acting the way a princess should, that i can help myself with.

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I can always live my Princess dream. Being one is not about being delicate, it's about being strong. It's not about depending on others, it's about being independent. Isn't about having maids work for you, it's about working for the people. Not about making your materialistic life comfortable, it's making this world a happy place to live in for all. It's not wanting people to love you, it's about caring for others selflessly. Being a princess is not about wearing a tiara and showing off, but keeping your head high with dignity and modesty. It isn't about being the damsel in distress, it's about being happy and bringing happiness to others. It isn't about being beautiful from the outside, but from within.

With this realization came peace. I finally am close to realizing my childhood dream. The meaning, the image has changed, but that lil girl from the Mysore Palace still remains with me, reminding me to pursue my dream.. to never give up!