“Salutations to the Goddess who abides in all beings as power, mother, love, compassion”

By: Dr. Sanchita Ghatak, Associate Editor-ICN

LUCKNOW: A nine days’ celebration of feminism, power, motherhood, affection has just come to an end. Navdurga or Navaratri, as it is called, is a festival celebrated to worship the feminine form of the Supreme Being. What attracted my attention these days were the two different paradoxes- one filled with negativity and  another, almost choking with positivity.

The first set of images flooding the social media were  of a woman hiding half her face with half mask of the goddess symbolising power and the other half  filled with wounds caused by ripping and scratching of men. Another was of a woman standing half dressed up in the attire of Durga and half in  tattered clothes with men ogling with lustful eyes. There was yet another with an idol of the goddess and people standing with devoted folded hands and an old woman in rags and a humped back begging for alms.

The second set was  of “Kumari Puja” or “Kanjak” where a girl before she reaches her puberty, is worshipped as she depicts the chaste  form of the Goddess herself.

All these images were floated to show the irony that exists herein, with one end of the society  in festive celebration and the other end of the society, full of atrocities against women, irrespective of age.

This we all know and probably debate upon every now and then, that though in Hinduism, we worship The Supreme Power in feminine form, of her power, motherhood, piousness, valour yet we are into so much of crime against women.

Rape, female foeticide, molestation and acid attacks are to name just a few of the manifestations of assault on women. Then, why such a huge contradiction in the society? Who has created this and who are following this and who all are preserving this in the society?

Now here arises the dilemma. There was definitely a time when women were considered mere objects, to be owned, exploited and flaunted. However, with the passage of time and the evolution in the status of women, they are  now supposed to stand empowered. But the point is, are they really empowered?

Society still doesn’t accept a rape survivor; none want their sons to marry one. Society detests an acid attack survivor and if they find a rape survivor, the blame of the incident is totally put on the girl. A girl child is killed before even she sees the world outside; a woman whose husband is dead is considered impious, shunned by society and debarred from participating in several religious festivals and wedding rituals.

The society still tries to dictate what women are supposed to wear and when not to go out and what to consume and what not to consume. It’s even tougher when a pregnant woman is expected  to produce only a male child, since the woman has no control over the gender of the child. Thus, where is the empowerment of woman?

The most shocking is the story behind five days of celebration of Durga Puja by some communities. According to the parable, Goddess Durga travels to her mother’s home, once a year. The five days of her stay at the home of her parents, King Giriraj – The Lord of the Mountains and Menaka, are celebrated as Durga Puja. They believe that a daughter should not overstay at her  parents’ place. This norm is applicable for the Goddess as well. When Mythology believes that a married woman should stay at her mother’s place for not more than 4-5 days leave, what about a common woman taking the decision of overstaying at her parental place without her in-laws’ consent? Is then Durga really the Goddess of Power, an epitome of women empowerment?

So who are we to blame? Are the societal  culture and traditions or religion or the ones following these traditions religiously, the   actual culprits behind the crimes inflicted upon women? When will women really get empowered?

Is #MetToo really a solution or an instrument creating another set of problems for the society? When some could be using it to not actually voice protest against violation of their dignity, but rather as a revenge weapon for the lost opportunities of their life, shouldn’t it be a cause for concern? Is #noconditionsapply, a campaign on Durga Puja for the ritual of ‘Sindur Khela’ going to truly initiate a change for women, irrespective of social status or is it merely another publicity stunt “by the celebs, for the celebs and of the celebs”??

Still needs a lot of introspection!!

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