Blame him, not her

They were plaguing their daughter-in-law for their miseries. They always said she corrupted their son. She was accused of every misery and pain he had brought to them, when he ill-treated or abused them. None of them understood that he was an equal adult as she was. He was more in command than she was. Never anyone criticized him since he was theirs, and no one took her side since she wasn’t. Why she was more culprit when they invested their youth on him not on her. Like always its someone else’s daughter who was a criminal, not their son.

P.S. Are women to be blamed for everything, even if they haven't done it? They are being blamed for wearing inappropriate clothes, for not following traditional rules of the family, sometimes they are even blamed for laughing loudly and seeking attention. While real flaws in men are ignored and considered to be normal. As they say, you should not complaint, men are like that. It is time to address this issue. Blame him, not her.Do you know any such stories? Have you held liable for the things you haven't done? Did this post give you new perspective of looking at things? Post your views, if any.

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For this year's April A to Z challenge, I will put forward 26 women issues from 26 alphabets. These issues will be inspired by "real-life events" and will highlight social issues and other faced by women.  Some of these issues might be globally prevalent. 

With AtoZ challenge like all- bloggers worldwide, I too pledge to write on each day of April, except on Sundays. 

Drabble is a piece of fiction strictly in 100 words. 

Abuse: the tale of an independent woman

She was extremely beautiful, said he. She was more qualified, whispered her achievements. She earned more, mumbled her paycheck. Post their wedding, marred by complexes, he asked her to leave her job to take care of their family. She was disheartened but still agreed with him on his decision. Soon she was tortured and beaten, she was called names and was introduced among friends as a bucolic, uneducated, good for nothing home-maker. She was constantly ripped off of her dignity. She was punished for being a woman who once did better than her egomaniac man.  

मेरी पढाई भी उतनी,
औहदा भी उतना,
इज़्ज़त भी उतनी,
तनख्वा भी उतनी,
तुम्हारा बड़ा है
तो अहंकार,
और छोटी है
तो तुम्हारी सोच.
-------------------
Translation: My education is same,
so is my designation,
my respect is same,
so is my remuneration
what you have big is
your ego,
and have small is
your thinking…
P.S.: The right to get respected has no connection with education and remuneration. Even a less qualified and less earning person has an equal right to be respected with equal dignity (men and women alike). In many homes, independent women face the wrath of their men and submit themselves to their male-ego and inferiority complexes.
Abuse of any kind is not normal, raise your voice against it. 
Do you know any such stories? How can we fight with this issue? What can be done if we know such a man and such a woman? 

___________________

For this year's April A to Z challenge, I will put forward 26 women issues from 26 alphabets. These issues will be inspired by "real-life events" and will highlight social issues and other faced by women.  Some of these issues might be globally prevalent. 

In #atozchallenge, which happens every year in the month of April, bloggers world wide challenge themselves to write on each day of April except on Sundays.

Drabble is a piece of fiction strictly in 100 words.  

बंजर धरती

पास पड़ी बंजर धरती से
सड़क किनारे खड़ा किसान
एक दिन यूँ ही पूछ उठा
सोच रहा जो खड़ा खड़ा :

"तू यहां कब से पड़ी है,
किस्मत तेरी रूठी बड़ी है.
क्या तुझे कभी ऊब नहीं होती
उस पार हरियाली को देख
तू  दुःख से व्याकुल नहीं होती
क्या ईर्षा कभी तुझमे में आती है
जो तुझमें फलने की आस जगाती है
साँझ  का तुझको भय नहीं होता
सूनेपन से तेरा ह्रदय नहीं रोता
कैसे आते हैं तुझमें विचार
कैसा होता है तेरे भीतर हाहाकार?

धरती मुस्कुराई
पर दुःख से उसकी आँखें भर आयीं
छुपाना चाहती थी बहुत कुछ
किन्तु समय ऐसा रहा
कुछ छुपा नहीं पायी
दो पल सुबकी छुप-छुपकर
और कुछ कंपाई रुक-रूककर
फिर ह्रदय एक सा करके
अपने भीतर मज़बूती भरके
वह आखिर बोल पड़ी
मन की कड़ियाँ खोल पड़ी
"सुन किसान तुझको राज़ बताती हूँ
बरसों से चुभती व्यथा सुनाती हूँ
मेरे अंदर भी ऊब होती है
पर बंजर धरती शायद ऐसी ही होती है
क्या जलायेगी मुझको  ईर्षा
भिगो नहीं पाती मेरा तन  बाढ़ और वर्षा
हे किसान, दिन में मन मेरा खाली होता है
रात को फिर सन्नाटे में  चिल्लाकर रोता है

एक समय मैं भी हरी थी
इस बाँझ की तब गोद भरी थी
मैंने भी सुख से खूब फल उपजाया
उस किसान को अपना पुत्र बनाया
वह जितना बीज मुझमें भरता था
उसका दुगना अंकुर मेरी मिट्टी में  फलता था
फिर एक लाचारी हुई
अनाज बहुत था
पर ना  जाने क्यों
भूखी मारा मारी हुई
तब.…
मेरी बेकद्री हुई
और बेटे की बेकारी हुई

स्वयं ही सोचो
जिसने बीज लगाया था
खून-पसीना बहाया था
वो ही बना भूखा लाचार
चूल्हा उसके घर का हुआ बेकार
तब पुत्र मेरा, वह किसान
बहुत दुखी और हताश हुआ
मेहनत के छले जाने से घोर निराश हुआ
वो एक दिन झूल गया पंखे से नीचे
पास पड़े थे उसके बीवी बच्चे
पीड़ा से व्याकुल हो मैं रोइ बहुत
सोचा काश आ सकती मुझको वह मौत
जो नन्हे हाथ मुझको सहलाते थे
मिटटी में दिन भर लोटे जाते थे
वे भी दूर चले गए
दुर्भाग्यवश कितने जीवन हरे गए
कौनसी माँ देखना चाहेगी ऐसा मंज़र
इससे  अच्छी हूँ मैं अब होकर बंजर।।

P.S. Wrote this poem long time back, for some unknown reason it stayed there in my personal diary for a long time. It is disheartening when farmers of our country work hard to grow food and themselves die of hunger and life-threatening struggle they go through to earn a living for their families. We often hear the news of mishandling of food, bad and ignorant ways of storage, people hoarding, black-marketing and thus creating unnecessary shortages to gain maximum profits. On top of it, there are natural calamities and new unknown technology for them to deal with where many of them have no back-ups to sustain the loss. An online site showed that nearly 4 lac farmers have committed suicides since 1995. Its heart-wrenching to see people who work day and night to cater to our hunger-needs, which is a necessity for survival, suffer so much. With this poem, I tried to present to agony of farmers.
Please let me know your views in the comment section of this blog.  

Let it come today...

It is a legend about the life of one of the ancient Indian emperors Vikramaditya, who was famous for his valor and generosity. One day during his excursion in his empire, he saw artisans with beautiful idols constituting various gods, goddesses and human figures, sitting idle. Upon asking them about their work, he realized that these people with exquisite talents, were reluctant to pursue their artistry due to lack of interests from buyers. Not being able to sell their art, they were unable to fulfill the needs of their families and were planning to become construction laborers instead. Next day, the king made an announcement to his empire- if any artist was unable to sell his work in two days, the king will buy it on the third day. His generosity and respect for art began attracting artisans from other kingdoms as well.

Time passed, and one day a man from a faraway kingdom came to his palace. He had a huge statue with him hidden under a satin cloth. After the king came to know about his arrival, he called for him. The man told him that he was from another kingdom. He told him that he saw a dream of a god and he made a statue based on what he saw. It took him three months and three days to make it, but no one in his or any other kingdom was ready to purchase it. The king gave him his word that he will give him the right price for his creation. He removed the cloth, it was the most beautiful statue of Saturn (Shani) God, he had ever seen. The king was in awe after looking at the statue for some time, but soon he realized that it was not considered good to keep this statue in a home. The man told the king, that he heard about his announcement and with high hopes he came to him. 

The kind-hearted king gave him the money and asked him to keep the idol with himself. Upon which the artist told the king it is okay if he didn’t want the idol, but he cannot take money as a charity. If the king doesn’t want to buy it, he will not sell it. The king, sticking to his words, bought it and kept it in the basement of his palace. Next day he dreamed of Shani- a Hindu god considered to be the lord of planet Saturn*. In his dreams, god told him that he wanted to come to his house to stay and asked him whether he should come today or 20 years later. He further asked king to consult his wife and then answer him.  Vikramaditya ignored his dream, but he saw it again for next three consecutive nights, each time it was exactly same. He called his advisors and priests to seek their advice. Some told him to get rid of the statue, while some told him the ways to ward off evils and bad dreams. After some contemplation, he came to a decision. He went to his wife and told her about his dream. She thought about it for some time and then asked him for his opinion. Her told her, he wanted to invite the god tomorrow rather than 20 years later. She told him that she is fine with his decision and will prepare for his arrival then. 

Later that night, in his dream when the god came again, he told him that he can come today. The god of evil influences smiled and told him, he will then come in the morning.  Next day, a neighboring king attacked Vikramaditya with the help of some unfaithful associates in his kingdom. He lost the battle and eloped with his wife and son, into the forest. He started roaming around in forest with his family and found a shelter at a wood cutter’s home. They spent seven years in forest, living a mediocre life eating whatever they could gather. After seven years, Vikramaditya found his loyal chaperons and united with them. He called a war on the new king and won his kingdom back. The time of the Saturn god’s stay was over. The entire kingdom rejoiced again to get their popular king back. After getting back his empire, one-day his queen asked him why did he call Saturn god today instead of tomorrow.  He said, “dear queen, when he asked us if he should come today or tomorrow, I chose today. Today we are healthy and young, we are strong to face anything. Twenty years later, we will be old and weak, hence the hardships will feel more. It is better to face hardships today than tomorrow. The queen found a peace in his answer and she was proud of her wise king. 

Image: Google

After words: If there are happy times, there will be struggles, sooner or later. Some people have difficult youth, while some have difficult old age. If you are facing hardships in life today, always remember today you are stronger than tomorrow. There will soon be a sunshine with a beautiful rainbow. 

This story has always helped me by providing another perspective of looking at tough times. I hope the philosophy it carries, is as inspiring for the readers reading this post.  

P.S. I have jotted down this story from my memory, and there could be minor variations in it from the exact legend. The gist, however is the same. Awaiting your views

*Shani dev (god) i.e. lord of the planet Saturn, is believed to be the lord of evil influences who brings bad luck and monetary loss in his span according to Hindu Mythology. Read more about Shani

April is for Mom...

She called my name in panic and then joggled me hurriedly, "Wake up, you did not tell me you have your economics exam today. Why are you are still sleeping?"

"Please Ma, it's day after tomorrow. Let me sleep." I turned on the other side of my bed and hid my face under the comforter. Last night I had studied till 3.00 am. 

She was annoyed and losing patience, "Your friend is sitting in the living room, waiting for you. I don't understand why you are so careless!", she reprimanded me pointing at the clock "Get up, you should have left by now." It was eight in the morning.

She shook me again,"Get ready in 15 minutes. I am going to prepare breakfast", and she left hastily.

My eyes were wide open in panic- from last few days I had been practicing for my accountancy paper and she said economics.

I rushed from my bed, and ran downstairs to confirm with my friend. I hardly had any time. I would fail, I was in extreme panic. After reaching the living room, she wasn't there.

"I walked towards the dining hall and found my mom gazing intently at the newspaper. She put down her reading glasses and lowered the newspaper, "She is in the washroom." I went near washroom but door was open, and still there was no clue of my friend. Finally my attention dawned upon my sister who couldn't contain herself anymore and started laughing hysterically. She had been fooled an hour ago with the same prank. Now our mom joined in laughing and jumping like a teenager and shouting "April fool, April fool."

This incidence is still vivid in my memories of 1st April among many others. Our mother being a morning person always managed to fool us in sleep or even otherwise. And none of us in the family are spared from her pranks, not even our father

P.S. This year due to my travel plans, I won't be taking part in April AtoZ challenge. Though you can check my previous years' participation posts of April challenge here:

A to ZChallenge, 2014

A to Z Challenge 2016