Monday, October 14, 2013

Dussehra: Are you happy Maa ?


Vijayadashami or Dussehra-the day to celebrate the victory of God Ram over the ten-headed Ravana, of Maa Durga over Mahishasura and other demons like Chanda-Munda and Shumbha- Nishumbha; that is victory of good over evil. We, the religious ones do ‘Havans’ and a lot of ‘Daan-Dakshina’, and some of us even invite little girls (Kanya) to our homes and wash their feet and arrange a grand feast for them. The girls are given return gifts and are guided safely to their homes. We go to visit Durga Pooja Pandals with family, bow to the mother goddess and pay reverence. We ask for health, wealth, success and luck for the coming year, eat ‘Prasad’ and go back looking at other beautiful ones on the way home. 

We ritually believe that there is no greater power than that of a Woman, the mother goddess, and at the same time we do not forget to turn our heads to take a glimpse of the women standing aside. We close our eyes to sink in the divinity of the deity, and open with pleasure at inhaling the ladies deo; we mesmerize at the beauty of Maa Durga, and the same ‘we’ finds excuses to see the curves of a woman next to us praying with closed eyes. We praise the Goddess for saving the world from devils like Mahisasura and Ravan, and happily nurture the demons inside. Maa, are you really happy at you sons? Or you are eagerly waiting for the Bisarjan to hide your helplessness? I think that’s why the cyclone Phailin came on the Astami Day to make the dry lands full of water so that you will find a nearby place to be dumped at. 

We don’t get tired while praising the power of mother goddess, and then we spend the rest of the year expecting that a beautiful baby boy will come out of our pregnant wives ‘this-time’. A part of us, the flag bearers of ‘Khaap Mentality’ looks out for ways to justify female feticide, rapes and molestations in the name of tight fit jeans, skirts, movies, chowmin, mobiles and what not except the ‘male-urge’ to dominate. Some of us will even challenge the right to education for a girl child. We burn the spare candles from kitchen supporting cases like ‘Nirbhays’, but keep a mum on the question about acceptance of a rape survivor in the society.

Dussera night, and we will feel proud after burning the effigy of Ravan cursing his evil spirit, and evidently flaunting our presence at the occasion with newly owned cars or bikes, jewellery and neatly pressed perfumed suits. And then the next Navratri and Dussehra will come and, we the same people will flock in Pandals again asking for health, wealth, success and luck for the coming year. Maa, are you really happy at us? 

Maa, it’s your country, India, where ‘women’ are worshiped as ‘deities’, and at the same time the hunger for a boy over a girl leads to countless coldblooded murders. In a country where a woman represents the goddess of wisdom as Saraswati, literacy rate of women is nothing to be proud of. In a country where a ‘woman’ is the goddess of wealth (Lakshmi), of power (Durga), of satisfaction (Annapurna) and of Spirituality (Gayatri), the very women are getting raped in different parts of the country is not infrequent news. Are you happy at us? 
We can blame administration, police, politicians, system and on and on…but ultimately it is all about the mind-set that cooling its heel inside our frontal lobe. Killers of the female infants are from amongst us. Rapists are from amongst us. Those who don’t believe in the education of the girl child are from amongst us. They are not criminals; they are the product of society’s collective apathy in stopping them.

What will we do? Simply wait and watch? Show sympathy? Shout for the right of the women at the dining table gossip? March rallies to bunk the office than to support the cause? It’s true, the women are shy and physically weak, but they are never ever without power. They are like the mother Goddess who has not lost hope even on demons like Mahisasura and had allowed to rule the paradise for sometime anticipating a change. We are at the same position, and are happily exhausting our lifelines either by committing or supporting or by not protesting the crimes against women. I am sure the time is not far for the women to rise, find and punish the demons within us.

It’s never the late for walking on the path of change and hope. This Dussehra let’s get rid of male chauvinism, ego and fake pride. Let’s hope for victory, not over others, but over the ones comfortably playing inside us like Lust (Kama vasana), Anger (Krodha), Attachment (Moha), Greed (Lobha), Over Pride (Mada), Jealousy (Matsara), Selfishness (Swartha), Injustice (Anyaaya), Amanavta (Cruelty) and Ahankara (Ego). I hope, Maa Durga surely hope us to get Vijaya (victory) over the Ravan inside us. Let us make our dear mother Goddess a bit happy.     
Happy Dussehra!!!

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Very true.. Awesome..
Happy Dushera..