Listen to our plea…..

 A post by Smita Salins

As me and my daughter stood at our window yesterday morning, admiring the freshly rinsed green leaves and smelling the wet mud from the first rains, the old auntyji from the building next to ours, passed by. She was taking her daily stroll. She stopped for a moment to chit-chat with us. While we spoke, she suddenly happened to ask me about my ‘other child’. All this while, she used to think I had two kids. And when she got to know I had just one, that too, a daughter, her mouth opened wide, like the cave of ‘sim sim‘.
Then, the barrage of words that fell out of her mouth, stunned me. With her eyes wide in bewilderment, she started expressing her so-called views to me; like how its very important to have a boy child, how it’s so essential to have a minimum of two kids etc. If that woman would have been fifty years younger, I would have showered her with the choicest of words, but I held myself back, only out of sheer respect. I just silenced her by saying, “My daughter is equal to ten boys, and I’m very happy with just one”. She moved away slowly, head shaking from side to side, still not ready to accept my explanation.
Although, the entire scenario might seem hilarious to a few, this thought process which stems from centuries of brain-storming by our ancestors, still poses a threat to the very existence of a woman. And the worst part-women themselves tend to believe so. It has always been imposed that a woman is inferior to man. She is supposed to be his slave, bow down to his every command, do as he pleases, when he pleases….and she is not supposed to complain. So, they do not complain, do not raise their voices. They just die a bit everyday. They are made to believe that its their fault, that they deserve this treatment. We all know of someone or the other who has suffered like this, going through hell; child marriages, rapes, molestation, marital rapes, slavery, acid attacks and so much more.

All these women are helpless, and there is nothing much we can do about it. But then, I thought, “Maybe I can write about it”. My contribution might just be like a needle in a big stack of hay, but I hope it turns out to be a powerful needle; something that will prick when it needs to. I decided to write a story about my friend, and the hardships she went through for thirty years of her married life. The cherry on the cake was that the story got selected to be published. Another step in the direction of change, in the direction of hope and in the direction of freedom from all atrocities. Protest must begin from somewhere, and what better start than this!
The name of the book is CRUMPLED VOICES and my story is titled, “Indira’s story“. Mine is just one story among 21 heart-touching, real-life stories covering a wide range of social issues. Through each of the story in this book, we have tried to highlight the unimaginable crimes in society. Our government has been quiet for quite long. We have been quiet for too long, but not anymore. Its time to wake up, time for stringent laws, stricter action…to deter the perpetrators of these crimes.
You, as a reader, can contribute in a small way, to help get the word out, help us get closer to our goal….which is the liberation of every woman in our society. These women want to be heard…and its our duty to listen. Our book is available on pre-order at a very special rate. So please do make sure to order it from the following link. Come, be a part of this revolution.
http://www.homeshop18.com/crumpled-voices-shades-suffering/author:ila-garg/isbn:9788192960937/books/fiction/product:31834997/cid:10916/

Images courtesy:
http://www.skepticmoney.com/possible-nm-bill-makes-abortion-illegal-as-destruction-of-evidence/rapevictims/  
http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130421/news-current-affairs/article/minor-rape-victims-hit-mental-breakdown
http://theriskyshift.com/2012/08/wanton-destruction-acid-attacks/
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/23/domestic-violence-can-a-perpertrator-change/
http://clashdaily.com/2014/06/question-honor-killings-wheres-honor/