Friday, 11 March 2016

Pinkie pinkie what colour…..


The office lift was full with people adorning pink attire. Any rightly so…. it was 8th March…International Women’s day!!

The state government had issued an order requesting the employees to wear anything pink for this occasion; symbolic of supporting the gender equity. To many of us it seemed to be a Tughlaqui farmaan.  Will things change by adorning pink clothes for one-thousandth of time in a year? I heard few interesting statements throughout the day:

Sarkaari adesh ka paalan toh karna hi padega (have to comply with the government order)

Ek din ke liye gulabi shirt kaun khareede, faltu padi rahegi (why waste money on pink shirt just for a day)
Madam aaj apko kuchh keh bhi nahi payenge, aapka din hain naa (won’t say anything today, it’s your day)


Indian society has very deep routed gender discrimination, most of the time it is passed as social standards. A male Gynaecologist and female Surgeons are still a rare commodity in this part of the globe. Women are socially labeled as bad car drivers and a house-husband (oops … is it not a male version of housewife??) is still a shameful responsibility. To top it up we have modernized the stigma by accepting pink as feminine and blue as masculine colour.


The same day I was screamed at  by a person who was himself driving on a wrong-side. The lady officer in my bay (who was also wearing pink clothes) was ridiculed behind her back for being bossy …aaj mahila diwas chadh gaya hai madam pe (madam is intoxicated by women’s day). Newspaper reported that a man sold his wife on Facebook to repay his debt, a minor girl was raped by her family member.


In the state which tops the country in violence against women, isn’t this wear-pink-bring-gender equity-formula an eyewash? What we need is a social raking and infuse an enlightened thinking in our new generation. We need to teach our girls how to behave, yes of course ………but more so to our boys.

A Marathi poetess Ms Anuradha Mhapankar has aptly written:
Baipana che aaj majhya kautuk tumhi karne nako
Kartutva che aaj majhya vajan tumhi tolne nako
(Don’t flaunt my womanhood just for a day, don’t judge my ability just for a day)



Few years back on a women’s day the chief guest (a bureaucrat’s wife) said: “I’m waiting for a day when we shall celebrate Human day.” (applause)

4 comments:

  1. When we dedicate days to God's,why can't a day be dedicated to better half world(better half is not in sense of married womens only,its about womanhood).so to me it's a good initiative.
    One thing which i would like to draw attention is she is the only string who holds family institution in its real form(which is getting weaker as days passing).
    Since i consider myself migrant &sufferer from village to town,still feels,missing roots.
    Good writeup Aboli,keep living yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Forgot to sign,
    It's me Jagat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. When we dedicate days to God's,why can't a day be dedicated to better half world(better half is not in sense of married womens only,its about womanhood).so to me it's a good initiative.
    One thing which i would like to draw attention is she is the only string who holds family institution in its real form(which is getting weaker as days passing).
    Since i consider myself migrant &sufferer from village to town,still feels,missing roots.
    Good writeup Aboli,keep living yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lazying around for four days, i finally feel a little motivated to tackle witg the womens day trauma after reading this. Pinkiness is a disease; very clearly communicated hereI am glad I know such people who can ask #subah chai kisne banai? You get me :-)

    ReplyDelete