Peasant Girl

  3000 Years of Subjugation   As the whole nation was celebrating the 75th  Independence Day, the small village Surana in Rajasthan was mourning the death of Indra Meghwal, a nine year old student who is the recent victim of caste-related violence. The little one allegedly touched a pot of drinking water for which his own teacher thrashed him brutally on 20 July 2022. After a long struggle of 24 days for dear life, he succumbed to injuries on 13 August 2022, two days before India celebrated “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”. One can't but generalise the situation that outrage against the lower caste is woven into the fabric of the social environment of the nation.  The stratification of caste into watertight compartments has been at the core of Hinduism since time immemorial. ‘ Manusmriti ’, the seminal work describing the rules of Hinduism dates back to 1000 BCE. The book considers the caste system as the defining factor of social order. As it is the case with many other re...

When Death Culls a Dear One When Death culls a dear one, That too an absolutist, given to abundant love for all, Unfettered by selfish thoughts, When the sweet sweet one cedes to the final call, What are we to make of it all? The tree of life bloomed and bloomed, To birth a delightful creature as she, But when did the play of the genes turn chaotic? When did the malignant cells multiply to seize her strong self? When the cells inside her go mad, When her organs shut down one by one, When the river of life dries up in her, When she says, "Let me go, I can't..." At the peak of her pain, What are we to make of it all? When her beauteous body is desecrated by cruel Time, When the story of her life is scoffed at by careless Fate, When her life becomes an unfounded story, When her time on earth merges into eternity, What are we to make of it all? When random moments bring back her memory, When cherished memories are surrounded by a deep chasm, When a silhouette belies her adora...

Yuval Noah Harrari unequivocally posits in his Sapiens that all the institutions, ideologies, rules and values are constructed by the 'civilised' society. The argument is presented with unquestionable evidence in the book. While going through the captivating lines in the book, I began to ponder on the stereotypes in the female gender. I started to imagine the slow and steady process by which gender roles and stereotypes were formed in microcosmic communities. It is intriguing to observe that there are striking parallels when it comes to gender stereotypes in all communities. Perhaps this is because gender roles are directly connected to the biological symmetry of the species. I began to trace the position of the contemporary woman in the whole scheme of social life. As she juggles multiple responsibilities, it is apparent that the governing principle in the life of the female is the prickly guilt. There is the constant need to 'fulfill the responsibilities' failing to d...