7. HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY!

 

It’s 8^th March again, and my phone was flooded with messages wishing all women a happy women’s day. Apart from Navratri, it’s the only day women are officially respected and praised for their accomplishments. But how far have the feminists gone in reaching out to the masses on raising awareness about equality on a man and woman? I was wondering about it during my philosophy lecture, and bored of so much theory, my mind shifted to popular Bollywood beats like Munni badnaam hui and Sheela ki Jawaani. They were such hit songs in India’s playlist, but only some would have realised how derogatory these words are for women. It is in its own subtle way that womenfolk are demeaned by describing them as badnaam, jawaan or even tandoori murgi!! And all we do is shake our butts and dance to these tunes!

It’s such a shame that we talk about rights and equality in a world that treats woman as commodities! I think we should first ask them to consider us humans, and then think of demanding equal treatment.

Leaving that aside, being the Indian mythology fanatic I am, I plunged into some interesting texts on the Mahabharata and I found ‘The Palace of Illusions.’

Reading this book by Chitra Bannerjee, I realised how the world positions a woman and places restrictions on what she can or cannot do but in spite of that, if she determines to accomplish a task, then no obstacle in the world can deter her, not even if her own life is at stake.

Now this book is Mahabharata described from the point of view of a woman who was born into a world dominated by men, destined to change history. She was Draupadi- the woman who emerged from fire- symbolic of purity.

But really, who was Draupadi?

The shy girl who hid behind her brother during the swayamvar, or the bold girl who chose to marry 5 brothers, instead of the one she truly loved?

Was she a compassionate friend of Krishna, or the woman who cursed the blind king and the blinded queen of having to witness the death of all their 100 sons?

She was not in the least a normal girl like you and me. She was Krishna's weapon, the aide of the pandavas, destroyer of kauravas, the woman who would bring an end to the torment that the world was facing, she was the cause of the biggest war ever fought. But at the same time, she was a girl like you and me who wanted to dream, but who didn't lose hope when they were shattered.

She was the daughter of King Drupad, a boon given to him by Lord Agni.

However, little did the king realise about the greatness of her child when she was born. His desire for a son led him to curse his own daughter. He proclaimed with grief over the need for only a son, that ‘May this girl suffer all the cruelty of the world!’

She led a life full of thorns, but still peacefully accepted it all to vanquish the cause of agony. She was one among the few women in Hindu mythology who spoke their mind in a world of men.

Particularly after the war, a story little known, that when all one could see far and wide was destruction, solitude and women crying over their dead husbands or fathers, it was Draupadi, who stood up for all the distraught women and made a council of women to be a part of the decision-making committee of the kingdom!

How new was that! Women's representation in the council? Now this is something we’re still lacking! That was Draupadi, born to bring the change, the revolution.

She might have been a true warrior, who never feared what destiny was to unfold. She might have been really brave to choose the forests over the lavish lifestyle of a palace because she was too loyal to her husbands. She was ready to live, fight and die for them.

But somewhere down the pages of history, her story is lost. Was the world afraid of glorifying a woman who had in her to rebel against the obvious? Was the world too engrossed in just appreciating the worthy male warriors like Arjun and Bheem?

Now, I hope the upcoming generation doesn’t need to mull over these questions and would get to see a world that treats a woman like a human, and not a jhandu bam or atom bomb.