Imprisoned

She couldn’t call it her abode. Living there was an inflicted penalty on her. His venom was turning her pale every day. She was becoming suicidal and depressed. He never trusted her. Any minute conversation with a male coworker or a vegetable vendor, ignited suspicion in him. Daily her character was assassinated for no apparent reason. A fear started creeping in her that her son after growing up won’t respect her either. Someday he may even ruin someone else’s life like his father. One morning, she decided to leave him for a dignified life ahead with her hope, her son.

P.S. Many insecure men put restrictions on women to roam out freely. Such men are not normal but sick. For their insecure and weak minds assume that women in their lives have no strong character. Women continue to live with them, sometimes under social and parental pressure, despite being financially independent.

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 the piece of fiction strictly in 100 words.

Getting labeled for getting dressed…

“Did you hear that news?” I asked him. 

“Which one?” he inquired. 

“There are people who never get tired of labeling women with respect to what they wear. When we wear traditional attire, they call us behenji. When we dress in contemporary fashion, they blame our clothes for mounting rape and molestation incidences. Why such mindless generalization? It is nauseating that someone daily has something to comment on our attire. Recently a Botany professor in Kerala made that preposterous comment stating that women who wear jeans, shirts and dress up like men give birth to transgenders. Everyone there protested against him.”

____________________________

P.S. It is surprising to see on one hand scientists are making new discoveries and on the other hand, some educated people (with limited facts) are trying to blame women for everything they can think of. 

P.P.S. Women across the globe are marred by such generalizations, with a culture or religion police on their head.  In many countries women are also banned from using red-lipstick among other things.

Even in normal families, we can find objects like this professor, commenting and talking about what women should and shouldn’t wear. 

Read full news on Kerala Professor

------------------------

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 the piece of fiction strictly in 100 words.

Frown

“Beta, can you cook?” Mother of the boy started conversation with an old age question. Today was the formal meeting between two families for the alliance of their children. 

Feminist father of the girl replied, “No, she cannot. You see, we never pushed her in kitchen.”
He paused, turned his face towards the potential groom for his daughter, smiled and inquired, “What about you son, I hope you know how to cook? 

DNA information imprinted on Y-chromosomes was taken aback, X-chromosomes present there were perplexed too, something that has never occurred before just happened. Every creature present there was frowning...

कभी पूछ ही लेते 

शाम की चाय के लिए 

 ताउम्र तरसी हूँ मैं 

किसी और ज़ायके के लिए ।

--------

P.S. Cooking is not gender specific and hence not the sole-role of women. In many homes situations are changing but in many homes time is stagnant. Couples are happy where things are changing, husband might be happy where time is stagnant.

P.P.S. Cook for the women in your life (especially mothers) if you have not yet, they would cherish those special warm and fresh meals from you.

------------------------

Drabble is the piece of fiction strictly in 100 words.

Educating her...

Lightly rolling her hands on the bulge of her stomach, she smilingly said, “everyone says it will be a girl”. Her face was pale, eyes were dry, she seemed tired yet somewhere in tranquility. In 6 months pregnancy, she was coming on the job of cleaning utensils in households.
“Are you happy?” I pried.
“ It’s God’s wish, but girl or boy, I will teach my child. I want it to become something, not like me.” She took a sip of milk from the steel glass in her hands and looked far away with golden sunrays falling on her face.

Image courtesy : PoetryLikers

P.S. According to All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), India has registered its best performance on the Gender Parity Index (GPI) at 0.94 in 2016-2017 from 0.86 in 2010-11. More women are educated than men in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Kerala.
However, in many traditional families, living majorly in backward states or rural areas, women still struggle with their basic rights to get higher education to empower their lives. The dogma behind not educating girls in many backward households is that educating a girl is waste of money since their ultimate role is to give birth and take care of the entire family. In some areas, people fear their daughters’ security will be compromised, since schools and colleges are far from their homes.
What is the situation of girl education in the place you live? 

-------------------------------

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. 

Desire a daughter, not dowry…

“You are twenty-five, if you want to study ahead, you can do it after your marriage. It is a good family”, exclaimed her parents. 

“What if they are not okay for it papa?” she asked.

“Then it is your destiny.”

“I want to study.”

“We can either afford your education or marriage. In our community good homes ask for lot of money, we don’t have funds for both.”

“Forget about my marriage, I will only marry in the self-respecting family who have no demands. Else I won’t. Please papa, let me finish my studies and let me be something.”

P.S. Later, that lady finished her MBA and supported her wedding expenses without any dowry. She had set an example for many women to not to support dowry in any circumstances.

Why bride’s parents must pay to the groom’s family to marry their daughter? Are parents getting rid of their daughters with those huge pay checks? Or groom’s family is so poor that they cannot provide for one more member in the family? Were they not using any refrigerator or furniture before their son’s marriage? 

Will you as a woman pledge not to marry in a family who asks for dowry of any kind? Even if you can afford demands, can you stand to set an example for those who cannot?

---------------------

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. 

Career and compromise: women story

Sir, as we said earlier your daughter can work, we are open minded and understand she has a career too. But she disregards home, she comes late, many times doesn’t even cook meals. We told her she should be back by 6 p.m. and should pay some devotion to home. Sometimes she even comes later than our son. Last time she brought a maid on our head. We do not eat food prepared by cooks, nagged parents-in-law of the daughter. I think you should tell your daughter to pay attention to home, we won’t mind if she leaves job.

P.S. She spent same time studying like him, worked hard like him, then why they never expected him to cook when she was late? They never expected him to come home early?  If he wants a career, it is more than enough. Many women face this discrimination in their homes. Are they at fault for making a career or choosing to get married?
A man and woman should share the responsibility equally. If the man is not career oriented, its okay, he can take care of the family. A woman should be treated as a human, and not superhuman. Simple adjustments can be made, and no life should be compromised.

---------------

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. 

Drabble is the work 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.  

Frustrations

She was beautiful, golden-colored, 5.6 inches tall working woman. Many boys were referred to her parents for matrimonial alliance. But on her first dates with them the slim guy turned fat, educated became illiterate, good-salaried dropped down to mediocre-salaried. With these subsequent lies, frustrations started creeping.

One day her dearest uncle asked her to meet a guy, who he told was very tall, handsome and well-educated man of 29 years.

She went to meet him in a coffee joint.
She: “Hi, is this Rohan?”
Rohan stood up: “Hey”

She was looking four inches down from her two inched high heels!!!

F is for Frustrations on April 5, A-to-Z-Challenge

Do you know any such instances of first blunder dates, arranged meetings, or any such lies?

P.S. This is an Indian story of arranged marriage. I had posted a fiction about the same issue from a male point of view long back. Here is the link: Matrimony (you may enjoy it).

P.P.S.: I am not stereotyping about dating shorter guys, I am voicing out my opinion against lies that are a common occurrence in arranged alliances.

Drabble is a piece of fiction strictly in hundred words.

Other Side of the Bridge

They both knew that hiding the truth, dodging questions, answering in lies will make it more difficult for them to cross the bridge of their egos. But they chose to put curtains of practicality upon their desires. They yearned for the presence of each other, but feared the disclosure of their vulnerability. Their intense emotions were making it difficult for them to breathe during the exchange of greetings on virtual world. No one knew any way to unlock the doors that they had closed behind. He decided that he will cross that bridge only if there seemed a substantial hope.

Drabble is a piece of fiction strictly in hundred words.

Last Drabble I wrote: Sarah

Sarah

She turned twenty-three. Postman delivered gift from her best friend living faraway. Unwrapping it, Sarah recieved her favourite - a book, classic this time. She hurried to her room and fastened the door. After reading few initial chapters, she desperately wished her life to be different. She looked at her fingers and a thumb and wished they were her wings; her black Burkah, her long tresses. She didn’t dream to walk or run today and get liberated from her prosthetic leg. Instead she wanted to hover high, breaking all the barriers around her leaving world underneath the vast galactic sky.

Image Courtesy: Tumblr

P.S. This is Author's first attempt at Drabble.
P.P.S. Sarah is Urdu word that means pure.
Drabble is a piece of fiction strictly in hundred words.