Skip to main content

On Womens Day : A Thank You Note

Every year, as the month of March draws near, the world around us goes ballistic over International Womens Day. Talk shows, telethons, concerts, panel discussions, debates and their likes seem to prop up on every television channel. The multitasking woman of today is lauded and celebrated, the downtrodden are encouraged with charity drives and movies like Monalisa Smile and English Vinglish are given generous primetime viewership.

I have always wondered how the men feel about all this. As the newspapers and magazines and social media at large would like us to believe, every other man out there is projected to be the woman-bashing types. The men are supposedly either too narrowminded to let women work, or are too lazy and egoistic to help their partners juggle responsibilities. I shudder to think what would the world have come to if all of it was really true.

This is my Thank you note. To the men in my life who have been with me at various stages in this incredible journey called life...for allowing me to be the opinionated and independent woman I am today, and for sparing me the agony of being judged.

My father was hardly ever around while I was growing up, his job didn't give him the luxury of being home. He has always been shamelessly indulgent with me and spoilt me silly, maybe to make up for his absences?... I don't know. But his indulgence is not why I admire him...it is the free hand that he gave my Mom to bring us up that has earned my respect. He accepted the fact that we'd always be closer to Maa than to him, and he never fought that. My mother has shaped the way I think and approach life, and I don't think I can ever thank my father enough for allowing her to do so.

I have been more comfortable with guys throughout my school and college years. Girlfriends have come and gone, but I don't blame them for ditching me...I had nothing to contribute to discussions about hair, makeup or nailpolish colours. Till date, my closest friends have been guys...and they have been phenomenal as my support system whenever I have needed it. I have made stupid mistakes in life like we all do at some point or the other and these guys have steadied me and made sure I don't mess it up even more.

Sure, there has been betrayal and heartbreak. There have been the awkward silences and sudden outbursts. But I have also found love and acceptance for just the way I am, no questions asked. And that is what gives me, or any woman in general, the confidence and the freedom to go live our dreams.

Thank you to all these wonderful men in my life...and to all the likeminded men out there...for giving the various women in your lives the freedom to be themselves,irrespective of social norms. Thank you for not judging us, for giving us reason to believe that its a beautiful life, after all.

P.S- Happy Womens Day, everybody!

Comments

  1. Aroha7 March 2014 at 23:23

    Ohh!! i loved it! this evening, i saw a video on fb..dedicated to women..wherein a male voice takes you through the video as it progresses through the timeline of a boy's life, appreciating the roles of different women in his life..mom, grandmother, sister, girlfriend, wife and then daughter...when i saw this video, i thought exactly this..that how do guys feel about all that happens around them as around celebrating womanhood as 8th March approaches..do they look at it as an act of defiance, does ego and arrogance come in picture or are they appreciative of it or do they think that actually it is unnecessary because there is no threat to their identity in the first place...i don't know..but as i read your article, i searched a li'l closer...looked at men in my life and yes, i am most definitely thankful to them for being so being so encouraging and supportive and going an extra mile (like Papa breaking away from a dozen traditional ways to support my decisions!).. :) you expressed it all so nicely Pooja! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pooja Chowdhury8 March 2014 at 13:08

      Hey Aroha...I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for taking some time out to read this...I guess it's all about being mutually understanding about each others role in life,really...if only people got that sorted, maybe we wouldn't need a special day in the calendar to remind half the world how great the other half is!:).

      Delete
  2. payal8 March 2014 at 21:00

    Wooowwww!!!! Pooja d it was really nice...

    ReplyDelete
  3. drlinda8 March 2016 at 19:22

    Wow..nice and fresh perspective..

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sisterhood of Medicine

"Sister, when will the Doctor be here?", asked a middle aged man. I turned from my examination table, where I was examining a six year old boy, and replied, " I am the doctor, how can I help you?". The man looked at me doubtfully - I was in a salwar kameez with my stethoscope around my neck - and repeated - " No but Sister, I need my child to be seen by a Doctor  Sir".   This is only one of the many incidents that I- as well as most of my young female colleagues at work- go through on a daily basis. Young female doctors get mistaken for nurses all the time, although the nursing staff always has a specific uniform. The young male doctors, however, do not encounter any such confusion. I have no idea whether I can label this as casual sexism or pure ignorance, but people across social and economic spectrums tend to address female doctors as "Sister" as opposed to "Madam". The men, however, get to be "Sir" throughout.  S...
14 comments
Read more

(Dis)trust your Doctor

  This morning, while on a phone call with my mother to check up on a family friend admitted in hospital with Covid-19, my mother happened to casually remark –“He is on ventilator since the past few days, you know how they simply keep patients on ventilators anyway for days on end…” I immediately retorted, “What do you mean, they keep patients on ventilators? You think they have any other choice when dealing with a critical patient?” This off the cuff remark, however casual, just reflected the deep mistrust most of people in this country have for doctors, especially the ones who practice allopathic medicine. Following the surge of Covid cases in India this year, the ICUs filled up fast and quick, more rapidly than anyone was prepared for. What we witnessed was no less than a tragedy of epic proportions unfolding before our very eyes, on our TV screens- or as far as doctors are concerned- everyday at work. That we were unprepared is no secret, and amidst the cries calling for acc...
2 comments
Read more

I Object(ify)!

For about a week or so now, there has been a huge outrage in the Assamese community concerning a particular "news item" shown on a regional channel which passed moral judgement on women based on what they were wearing. The said piece went from being riduculously stupid to simply bizarre ....comparing girls dressed in short skirts and shorts to monkeys! As expected, the channel had to withdraw the video and issue an apology. The outrage still continues though. My facebook newsfeed is full of satirical memes featuring the so called journalist and I have seen flyers of lectures and discussions being planned in colleges to protest the moral policing. As a person who swore off watching Assamese news channels years back for its regressive content, this kind of "reporting" didn't really come as a surprise to me. In fact, it was a similar segment I saw in another one of these channels a couple of years back which actually made me skip watching these channels in the f...
5 comments
Read more