Is it a curse to be born as a girl child?

On the occasion of International Girl Child day, I could not stop myself from sharing my thoughts on Female Foeticide in India. India is a land that boasts of  having the maximum number of Goddess and it also boasts of the killing of maximum number of foetus of girls. The foetus is being killed or destroyed when its still in its mother's womb and is yet to see the light of the day. What an irony of facts!!! In many Indian families, still its being considered a curse to have a girl child and the mother is often being treated badly for that though she has little to do or almost has no hand in the birth of a girl. Genetically, its the man who is responsible for a girl child because of the X-Y chromosome factor.

Traditionally it was being treated that male members of a family are torch bearers and they would carry forward the name and legacy of a family. They would have the surname with their name and also in the event of death it would the male would perform the last rites. A woman after getting married is no longer considered a member of her family of birth. All these aspects led to the support of a boy over a girl. Moreover, it is the old females in a family who want male child in spite of their being females themselves. They make the life of a woman horrible if she gives birth to a girl child. But who has created all these rules, this same society that can mend any rules to favour it. Moreover, girls nowadays can keep their maiden name even after marriage. And there are many families where girls have excelled more than the boys of that family and they have become the torch bearers. And killing of a life even before it could start its life cannot be justifiable in any sense.

The more educated and developed we have become, the more dogmatic and doomed, have become our views. Perhaps the most developed states of India have high incidence of Female foeticide. The overall sex ratio is also very poor in those states. The National Capital is leading them all in having a low sex ratio in the country, a shame to many. Education helps us to gain knowledge but this knowledge can be both ways and it also lets you know the ways to detect sex before birth. Government has also tried to implement laws to prevent pre natal detection of sex but without much success. The Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 could not be of much success as only few cases have been reported under it.

The other factors like dowry is also an important cause for families supporting male child over females. Dowry in South India, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is very much prevalent. And the more educated and better employed he is, the more is his rate. Also, in some states of North India, there different set of rates earmarked for different jobs, IAS, Doctor, Engineer has separate prices set for them. The education provided to a girl is of no value when considered with this. All these systems prevalent have been responsible for such crimes being committed by parents because parents consider that with birth of a girl it brings an added burden of dowry also.

The government while looking into the issue of Female Foeticide also needs to look into the other issues that are responsible for this. And unless we could eradicate those issues, it would be very difficult to stop female foeticide. Moreover, men should also start realising that if such killing of female foetus goes on then they would be the only ones staying in this world and that would be their last generation.

Men like Flesh and Dogs like Bones

I always pondered what is that Size 0 that makes so much of fuss in the modelling industry but never made any conscious effort to know much about it. But lately, I came across some materials about all those skinny and Size 0 models. I don't want to go about with the vital statistics of Size 0, but to me, what seems is that its nothing but starving to death. Young women for the sake of having such skinny figure starve themselves because Size 0 can never be natural and its only possible when they don't have any diet.

Do women like being Size 0?

A question, I may not be the right person to answer but still I would like to give my point of view by saying a big 'NO' from the perspective of women (exceptions are always welcome). As, I see all around me the ladies who look beautiful are not the ones with Size 0 but flesh. By flesh, I would never like to mean the obese ones, that's again a disorder. And also being Slim and being Size 0 are two completely different things. Being Size 0 is definitely not being healthy as it can only lead to death through starvation. And it doesn't settle into my mind how & why the fashion industry is having so much of fascination for them. The dresses that they will showcase won't fit to any naturally good looking lady. Their whole lot of effort and money goes to waste.

But to be on a humorous side, Size 0 ladies are doing some good to the people of this world. As, we see so many people in African, Asian and Latin American countries starving  to death, not having enough food to eat, there will be some ray of hope and cheer in their minds. At least by virtue of these starving ladies, the governments of the nations can provide food to the ones who really need them. For these the ladies deserve all the kudos and encouragement to carry on about with their mission of starvation.

What do I like?

Does it really make much sense with what I like or don't like? But what I like would also be liked by many others and that I suppose make some sense. To me 'Men like Flesh and Dogs like Bones', again I would say, as above, exceptions are always welcome. Men can never be happy with bones and only the fleshy ladies can be beautiful and acceptable to a man. Bones are more of a dog thing, they are happy running away with that but not men, who like to feel.

Woman: A life not a day………

Today I was talking to a friend of mine over phone, I was just praising her or rather the whole women fraternity for some reason and in reply she asked me, am I doing that because today is woman’s day. And what she said is definitely thoughtful. I did not give notice to it at that time but later I realized, somehow she was telling the truth only. She was telling what it happens in reality. May be while I was saying I didn’t consider that.

Over the years we have seen the condition of women. Though our culture places them in high position but whether our society does the same is a question that needs to be answered. Over the ages we have been telling that women are the form of goddess, they are our mothers but when it comes to performing the same we falter. We hardly give their due respect and position in society. Our society always considers them to be an object or a material that is to be exploited from time to time. Though with modern education, we are saying all those stuffs about equality but still gender bias exist.
Still a girl child is not welcomed in most of the houses. Whenever a girl is born, her parents start thinking about her marriage and all the money that would be required during that. She is always thought to be someone else’s property. So general idea is that give her little education, make her know some house-hold works and get her married. The condition was such even hundred years back and the condition is same even today, may be a little improvement with relentless work of handful of reformers. But on general terms it’s still the same.

There are still cases of child marriage, sati ‘pratha’ which is the most inhuman and barbaric of all. Cases of female foetecide are still prevalent in India. And even the so called high class society is not away from that. The number of girl dropouts from schools and colleges is at an alarming high rate. Even though we have passed laws banning dowry decades ago, it is still widespread in most of the Indian societies. We do get cases of unnatural female deaths within months of their marriage. The number of rapes and other anti social acts on them is on an increase and every day after opening the newspaper the front page is full of such news.

So what we require today??? I definitely don’t think by allocating a day to them we have done enough. Participating in various lectures and meetings on that day and talking all the good things about women upliftment and emancipation will not solve the purpose. Doing nothing and forgetting them for the rest of the year, it’s not at all required. We have been hearing all these years about 33% reservations for women. But are we serious in that, if we would have been serious it should have been passed in the top most Panchayat of India since most of the parties are supporting it or at least the two largest national parties are supporting it. Then why there isn’t a law till now. It’s nothing but a vote bank politics. Our leaders are more interested in garnering votes than to do something for the welfare of the masses. They talk about consensus but I want to ask, do we require consensus to pass and make any other laws. Then, why in this case. Have women got their due share in the society?

My question to every body is that why do we dedicate a day for them? They don’t require a day but a life of equality, peace and happiness. They don’t require such people who say about them on this particular day and forget for the rest of the year. Work must be done at the lower level to see that every girl, every woman is getting equal justice and benefit from the society. if we can’t do that then after another hundred years the condition will be nothing but the same.