THE PERFECT INDIAN WOMAN

The perfect Indian woman. Who is she? What does she look like? Is she shy and coy? Does she wear traditional "modest'' clothing? Does she keep her voice down? Does she depend on the men of the house? Does she cook? Does she have any ''homely'' talents?

Obviously! She's the perfect Indian woman after all.

Dare her to refuse any of it? Wouldn't she be called a rebel then? Wouldn't she disrespect the tradition?

How well can she fit in a corner? Where's her home? Where does she live?

She is "paraya dhan" (other's property) for her parents

An outsider for her in-laws

So where does she belong?

Kitchen.

First her parent's

Then her in-law's

Then her relatives/family friends/hosts of the night.

Have you ever wondered how women automatically drift towards the kitchen even when they are guests? As if it's somehow naturally assumed for the women to never take rest? The men can continue to watch sports in the living room while the women set the table?

How often does it happen the other way round?

Long after India gained freedom and independence, the women of most Indian households are still performing on their tightrope, content with the crowd cheering for them. So focused on the applause, that she forgets she earned her rights long ago too.

The only quality Indian households measure a woman with is how much can they benefit from her? How much can she patiently absorb without ever reverting? How much can she forget her own life? How much can she manage everything single-handedly? How much can she depend on the men of the house for ANYTHING outside the walls of the kitchen? Just how much can she forget herself? Forget she is a human? Forget she has her own identity too?

How dare she think of herself before anybody else? How can she possibly even think of bettering her life? Wouldn't she be labeled selfish and "too modern"? What about the years of training? To be better a daughter, sister, relative, wife, daughter-in-law, mother? What about all the forced responsibility? Girl's mature faster than boys. Right? Always serve others first, never yourself. Always. And remember, it's your "duty", there's nothing great in what you're doing. As if, what she does has little to no meaning at all. Belittled to nothingness.

Women are only used. To serve, feed, produce.

Just look pretty and smile.

Patriarchy will never be eradicated from our country as long as our mother's still clean the house obsessively trying to prove their worth. It will never be erased as long as anything wrong with the kids of the house gets blamed on their mother. It will never leave the country as long as a woman driving a car is called a "female driver". It will never leave our generations until we stop teaching the young girls to serve and host the guests while the boys can stay locked in their rooms unmoved.

Please wake up, before it's too late.

It's the 21st generation and science has discovered women are human too, just like you.