It's not about being a girl; it's about being human. It's in our nature to be left affected by little things to big things. It is in our habits to capture moments as memories even if good or bad. This is what being human is all about, the ability to remember, learn, cherish, suffer and live the life we are granted. Under the spotlight is the mistreatment of women in India that seems to not be decreasing but only increasing. Starting from eve teasing to molestation to trafficking to rape, every one of this destroys little bits of a girls mind.
Prior to writing this article, I had the opportunity to talk to few NRI girls who have experienced one or many of these mistreatments outside and inside India. All of us girls have experienced eve teasing, initially it is uncomfortable but this is something we all learn to cope up with or plainly ignore. One of the many girls I talked to mentioned an incident that happened to her recently and that got me thinking, it's not only in India its outside India too and the irony here is that she was molested by Indian men. This is what she had to say, €I froze, I wanted to fight back, hearing them speak my mother tongue I felt destroyed. What do you do when your own people do this to you? Do I sleep peacefully? Yes I do because I'm strong and I have loving parents and friends, but do I often look at myself differently? YES! Every time I see the news reports about a girl being raped, or about trafficking or any other kind of harassment I'm reminded of how this one incident in my life haunts me every day, but this is nothing compared to what a girl who's been raped must be going through. I can't imagine the magnitude of how this is affecting her mind and soul. This is what I have to say, this memory, this emotion is going to be like a wave, the little details that you remember will only become a stronger memory and rest like this weight on your heart but in these waves that will change us, we will find our true direction and that is getting up and living the life we deserve to live feeling happy and respected. Don't become an infidel towards life, but do stop caring about what happened and everything will make sense. Get up every day to fight and protect every other girl for if today is you tomorrow it could be her.€
To be noted is the fact that, India isn't the only country with harassment against women; there are several other countries too. Then why is India scrutinised so much? The answer we NRI's have to this question is this: India is a land of cultures, traditional values and heritage that flow through generations that have lived and also generations that are to come. So when we first think of our beloved nation, we remember how amazingly citizens have been able to protect and relish through centuries of cultures and traditional values and then we come to now, when young minds like ours don't find room to appreciate the goodness that is still prevalent in India but instead point out to all the wrongs we see.
Do you get angry when someone you don't like or don't know passes a comment about you? YES! So how about when someone touches you, immorally what can that do to you? On hearing several such stories I conclude the after affects of any such harassment is a Wave of emotions. This memory never fades away completely; time doesn't heal all wounds it only teaches you to live with not being affected by it. But like a wave the memory goes down under all other good things that you should be cherishing, but every now and then it rises up like a strong wave and hits you like a nightmare and reminds you of what happened and how you look at yourself differently. Is there happiness ahead for these victims? YES there is. Can you achieve it alone? No you can't. Is this it? NO! Be Bold and be your own saviour. The fight has only begun, let it be years or decades do not stop fighting. Make a difference when you can because justice delayed is justice denied; and we shouldn't keep quiet when many of these criminals walk freely and sleep peacefully in the night. Let no one control you, you are your own master. Be that girl who wasn't destroyed in the fire but instead the girl who was built from it. Be your ray of hope, be the light and guide yourself to earning what you deserve - Respect!
Originally published at: http://theindianeconomist.com/waves-it-falls-only-to-rise-again/
Prior to writing this article, I had the opportunity to talk to few NRI girls who have experienced one or many of these mistreatments outside and inside India. All of us girls have experienced eve teasing, initially it is uncomfortable but this is something we all learn to cope up with or plainly ignore. One of the many girls I talked to mentioned an incident that happened to her recently and that got me thinking, it's not only in India its outside India too and the irony here is that she was molested by Indian men. This is what she had to say, €I froze, I wanted to fight back, hearing them speak my mother tongue I felt destroyed. What do you do when your own people do this to you? Do I sleep peacefully? Yes I do because I'm strong and I have loving parents and friends, but do I often look at myself differently? YES! Every time I see the news reports about a girl being raped, or about trafficking or any other kind of harassment I'm reminded of how this one incident in my life haunts me every day, but this is nothing compared to what a girl who's been raped must be going through. I can't imagine the magnitude of how this is affecting her mind and soul. This is what I have to say, this memory, this emotion is going to be like a wave, the little details that you remember will only become a stronger memory and rest like this weight on your heart but in these waves that will change us, we will find our true direction and that is getting up and living the life we deserve to live feeling happy and respected. Don't become an infidel towards life, but do stop caring about what happened and everything will make sense. Get up every day to fight and protect every other girl for if today is you tomorrow it could be her.€
To be noted is the fact that, India isn't the only country with harassment against women; there are several other countries too. Then why is India scrutinised so much? The answer we NRI's have to this question is this: India is a land of cultures, traditional values and heritage that flow through generations that have lived and also generations that are to come. So when we first think of our beloved nation, we remember how amazingly citizens have been able to protect and relish through centuries of cultures and traditional values and then we come to now, when young minds like ours don't find room to appreciate the goodness that is still prevalent in India but instead point out to all the wrongs we see.
Do you get angry when someone you don't like or don't know passes a comment about you? YES! So how about when someone touches you, immorally what can that do to you? On hearing several such stories I conclude the after affects of any such harassment is a Wave of emotions. This memory never fades away completely; time doesn't heal all wounds it only teaches you to live with not being affected by it. But like a wave the memory goes down under all other good things that you should be cherishing, but every now and then it rises up like a strong wave and hits you like a nightmare and reminds you of what happened and how you look at yourself differently. Is there happiness ahead for these victims? YES there is. Can you achieve it alone? No you can't. Is this it? NO! Be Bold and be your own saviour. The fight has only begun, let it be years or decades do not stop fighting. Make a difference when you can because justice delayed is justice denied; and we shouldn't keep quiet when many of these criminals walk freely and sleep peacefully in the night. Let no one control you, you are your own master. Be that girl who wasn't destroyed in the fire but instead the girl who was built from it. Be your ray of hope, be the light and guide yourself to earning what you deserve - Respect!
Originally published at: http://theindianeconomist.com/waves-it-falls-only-to-rise-again/
Source...