Feminism

The time for women has arrived. Every woman is able to speak for herself. And that's fantastic. Feminism has finally come through.

But Feminism is one thing...and being extreme is another. I recently read an article that gave me mixed feelings. In summary, it spoke about various Indian (or Hindu) marriage traditions and how they affect women negatively, such as the Kashi Yatra, a ritual in South Indian weddings, where the groom"goes away" to learn more and the bride's parents have to ask him to stay. The author questions, why can't the bride go away?

Now, I'm not one who is well versed in Indian wedding rituals and neither have I witnessed many Indian weddings to comment on all this. But I found many of the arguments in this article a bit too extreme...I mean, these are all old traditions that have been in practice for years. And we all know that in the past, there was the repression of women. But today, we choose to follow these traditions in marriages. But we don't have to.

Taking on traditions from the past and bringing them up in a current era where they hold no meaning towards women and their repression is something, I personally think, is stupid (sorry, I generally don't blatantly comment on other people's work, but this one really was silly). Furthermore, I don't see the need to constantly remark on the idea of feminism. Yes, there are many places where women are still repressed...but I think we've come a long way since 2013. There are so many NGOs, celebrities and even regular people who help towards women empowerment. We have reached an era where women empowerment or gender equality is not a major issue in many communities. I do agree that it has not been completely eradicated.

Writing articles on rituals that have been in practice for a long time, that don't even matter today is pointless. It's important to focus on real issues - child marriage, rape, women abuse...

And if this still does not convince you, get a court marriage done. But don't criticize your own (or other's) traditions and rituals. The actions of it do not matter anymore. Many rituals die out after sometime. No one is asking you to bow down and follow them. You can choose to do so or not. And on that note, Mom and Dad, you are most definitely invited to my wedding. I want you to see me go through all these traditions and laugh through them as we do so. Because they're just rituals...and after the wedding, it shall all go back to normal...because I will be a working woman...something that was not so common eras ago.

The Perfect Daughter

Every single girl of the modern world wants to have a size "zero" figure; a trend started by all these famous actresses. I have only one question, where the f**k is this rule of "slim and trim" girls written?! Of course, one reason to exercise, is to remain healthy. Now that, I support. On the other paw, if you want to look good, I suggest you add a little toned flesh to your so called "body" which I would call, "a pile of bones".

Photograph by: Lakshmi Subramaniyam

I've never been a health freak. In fact, I don't care about my health, because I know am healthy. Do I wish I was slim? Yes, sometimes. Only when I hear my mother telling me, "Why don't you wake up a little early and go for a walk?" or when my relatives comment, "You've gained weight!" or my sister tells me, "It's difficult to lose weight when you grow older." At other times, I convince myself that I may not be beautiful, but I have one hell of a fantastic personality! Sure I won't get the attention of guys, but who cares?

I've never been the perfect daughter. But then again, no one has. There's no such thing as, "the perfect daughter". The weird thing is, I am very good in my studies. But am always picked on for my weight, my laziness, my ignorance for more important things in life, my constant usage of technology rather than doing something more productive and lastly, my ignorance for my weight.

Photograph by: Lakshmi Subramaniyam

I feel this way because I live with my parents. All teenagers feel irritated when they are with their parents at this stage. However, you'll only realize their value when you are far away from them. I know that what they're telling me is for my own good. But right now, am only mature enough to write that in my blog, and not in my mind. I'll surely realize the value of their scoldings when am older, and may or may not regret it.

All I can say now is that, even though they're constantly on my back for one thing or the other, I sure as hell know that they care. And that's why I love them to bits.

© Anupama Subramaniyam