Vipanchi

I just returned from the hunt, The wild boar left bruises on my body. The jungle is not a fair place to be, Just like life, forest is full of mystery. Beauty and danger co-exist like a deceptive blend. I am trained to look like a hawk, hear like a bat and hunt like a lioness. I am trained to wield sharp weapons and fight fierce battles. I am the warrior queen of a land, heard about, across the seas. I am the ruler of a kingdom expanding ever since the dawn of human kind. I looked into the mirror, I saw a girl standing before me, Coy and beautiful! She's clad in muslin, her hair set loose. She looked like an ancient Arab princess waiting for her king. I snickered at my innocent longing for a knight king. Warrior queens, they say, are not destined for a normal life, rather, not destined for love. How is an inherent human emotion a hindrance to anybody's existence? I believed, Love gives me courage to fight fiercest of the battles, Love gives me energy and ...

These so-called 'protectors of culture' never bother, nor even notice that wearing a pant and shirt was never "our tradition". When confronted, they say, its about convenience, no question of convenience/choice to the 'other gender' though! It is time again to debate on the 'safety of women' in our society. With  # METOO campaign kicking off in India, an opportunity to revamp our workspaces and the social sphere has come. An overhaul of how we perceive gender is the need of the hour. Not so long ago, it was okay to tease someone as being a 'Gay', it was okay to gossip about the perceived gay/lesbian couple in our classrooms/ workspaces. It was okay to taunt a boy to 'wear bangles' if he is not very bold or active. A girl is called 'boyish' if she is bold. We have mastered the art of assigning gender roles. Our social spaces continuously assign, manipulate gender roles in our minds so much so that we stopped noticing someth...

"Gandhi was a tough man. He would let every thought flow through him but never let them wreck his own convictions" I grew up learning Mahatma Gandhi as 'The Father of The Nation'. I remember giving alms to old people and kids dressed up in the dhoti with a glaring silver paint on them almost looking like the ubiquitous statues of Gandhi in India. Yeah, I have seen him on currency notes and heard at least a road named after him in many towns. As I explored a bit deeper, I was awestruck by the stature of Mahatma world over. The British who must be his prime contenders have constructed his statue in the parliament square. They see him as the symbol of peace and non-violence. Then I asked myself,   How much do I know about Mahatma? Is he relevant to modern India? Modern India can be comprehended into an English speaking , Market-driven, society laying fast track trains, living in bustling cities sending humans to the outer space on one side,...

Every morning as I open the newspaper there is at least an article on a girl, molested in one or the other part of India. sometimes in a city, some other in a village. Sometimes an infant, sometimes a septuagenarian. No state is an exception, some states lead anyway. Temples and schools, houses and workplaces all are same for the 2nd gender! This is a very pathetic state for us as a society. Agreement of this is unequivocal. Then, why are we as a society unable to solve the problem? This is the question I try to answer here. I will address this by dissecting the issue, part by part. Stringent punishment - a deterrent: Many people have this view,  " punish the rapist cruelly so that boys will fear to rape a girl".   Most of them rally on the streets to get this done. They are those who really empathize with the victim. But as research shows, punishment is not a deterrent to crime. However, the lack of punishment is more adverse. So the criminal justice sy...

We(common people) to be alive, have to think, to think, we need ideas, for ideas we need conversations, for conversations we need people with ideas!!! Sometimes I get no idea to think or write on. Then some people come as a blessing, they leave an idea in their conversation and that triggers my brain to think, analyze and conclude on that idea. This time it is, a boy's career is more important than a girl's career because girls anyway can get married and they have no social obligation to work. A boy's life itself becomes tough without a proper job. He can't get married or he will not have any social respect. So, boy's career is a question of survival. Analysis: The question of survival: Yes, in Indian society a boy without a reasonable job is compared to nothing.  His prospects of getting a bride are almost null. Societal respect will be a far cry. Life will be miserable for a guy without a proper job-in fact well paid or well-respected job. However, an ance...

Hi, this is me. You see me as your Mom, sister, lover and a friend. I love my parents. I have a brother. We are twins. My parents love us equally. We were sent to the same school. I was a tomboy then. Everything seemed all right for a while. My teens Physical changes did not seem too much to me but change around me made me feel that not only do they matter but they dictate my life! I was no more allowed to play with all of my friends. My mom told me to stay away from boys. In school, we were taught a class on menstrual cycle and sanitary napkins, WE here don't include boys though. I could see my mom worrying about my brown skin, she was extra cautious about my beauty. My dad was then busy planning to join me in a reputed girls' college -to take AIIMS coaching. They wanted me to become a doctor, but I somehow got into an arts college. A mockery When I was in the final year of my graduation, they said, they found me extremely beautiful and proposed a marriage with their...

Happy women's day!!! Today when I was surfing through google my eyes got struck by this quote- " be a girl with a mind, women with attitude and a lady with class".  I felt the beauty of this quote and thought, I must definitely interpret this one. Girl with a mind: Here is something really interesting and something that is really needed. Many of the girls, teenagers especially, miss upon improving their skill set and focus excessively on their beauty. It is not their fault, of course, society wants them to do that. Though things are changing a bit, there are huge masses who emphasize the beauty of a girl rather than the ability of her brain. The beauty of brain is seen secondary. But it is to those girls whose mind is sharper and whose heart is stronger- Puppies too look cute, but what differentiates between a dog and a human is her mind!!!  So you know what you are. Women with attitude and a lady with a class: When you are a woman, you need a great character to o...