Little Women-The Classic

I’m quite proud of myself for I have re-joined the army of book freaks. A new addition to my collection is a classic called Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. An autobiographical representation of Louisa herself & her sisters written in 1869, based in New England. Struggle of 4 sisters & her mother, while their father is fighting a civil war of the nineteenth century. The story unwinds not only the struggle but also different aspects about their social encounters & their rookie attempts to fall in love. After all what’s a classic with a slight touch of contemporary romance, right?

I do have really high expectation from this classic for I’ve heard it’s one of the greatest written piece of art. Now from where did I hear about this book is a little interesting. As a die-hard “Friends” fan, I remembered an episode where Joey places his book “The Shining” in his refrigerator for he is too scared to read it further, so Rachel challenges him to get through “Little Women” as she claims it to be one of the best reads she has ever had. So, yes! That’s how I wanted to go for it & give it a shot.

So far just a chapter old & I already loved the writing as it’s simple yet so descriptive. Honestly, I do not know much about classic novels as I haven’t majorly read old work. So, it would be unfair for me to draw a comparison & judge her piece of art. However, post “Little Women”, I’m sure to devote time to flip through as many classics as possible.

Shikhandi & Other Tales They Don't Tell You-A Good Read

So I’m done with “Shikhandi & Other Tales They Don’t Tell You”. It did raise a lot of questions in my head while flipping through the pages about queerness but I felt a few stories weren’t really relevant to describe the queer presence in our mythology. They have been mentioned forcefully without much to connect to. Although I did like how female goddesses had been practising polygamy when it came to sexual desires, but with time they were denied freedom & came to be considered as sacred prostitutes.

Author Devdutt Patnaik has penned down his thoughts in a very subtle yet thought provoking manner. He has not derived to a hard hitting conclusion, rather gave a way for the readers’ thoughts to flow in a direction. Explaining the difference between transgenders, cross dressers & transsexuals has been established very well for people to understand the respective kinds clearly. The best I liked about this book was the stories from different “religions”, as we call it, so that no one can question about the facts written in their own.

Having multiple sexual partners or having sexual desires towards same sex is nothing to be frowned upon. We as humans rather individuals have the right to live the way we want to & nothing can stop us from doing what we want. Yes, surviving in a patriarchal & a hypocritical society like ours is difficult, but all we need is a fighting spirit & you’ll be ready to conquer the world. People need to understand that being a queer is not having a disease or a malfunction in one’s body, they are as human as you are or I am. LGBT protests, social experiments will not change the mind-set of individuals who still are evolved enough to understand this delicate issue. It only comes with opening up oneself to changes.

Hope the change & acceptance comes soon! 

Shikhandi And Other Tales They Don’t Tell You-The Beginning

So, I’m finally done with the Shiva Trilogy. Much to my surprise, the third sequel “The Oath Of The Vayuputras” did not match up to my expectations. Even though, it had a few surprises, but to a large extent failed me as an avid reader. Don’t worry, I am not here to give you spoiler alerts (not that are any), but want the current readers to decipher the ending on their own.

A new addition to my collection is author Devdutt Pattanaik’s “Shikhandi And Other Tales They Don’t Tell You”. While going through the jist of the material, I got to know that it’s about queerness. The author has cited examples from the Indian mythology and has explained that how something that is frowned upon in our society now, has been in the pages of our history since ages.

Just a few pages old, I have already started liking his writing style. He has beautifully & very intelligently portrayed the importance of desire, lust & fear. He has kept his thoughts straight, to the point & with minimalistic use of ‘jargon’.

Just waiting to read all the stories that have been ‘forgotten’ with time and hopefully this book would be one of my best investments.

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT?

Every morning I wake up, get dressed and look at myself in the mirror. Somehow behind all the confidence I possess, I still see a little bit of fear in my eyes. Fear of being a victim of something brutal and ravaging incident that could shake my innermost senses. And then I ask myself a question, “Why should it be so difficult for me, for women to step out”?

I just finished watching an episode of a TV show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ and I must confess that it really stirred me to the core. The cases that came and the way they were handled by the Indian government just made me feel so unwanted and uncared as a citizen. The statistics that were highlighted in the show about the rape cases were startling. But what took me by not surprise rather shock were the numbers of the pending ones. I mean is it so hard to get justice in this country. I wouldn’t compare my country with any other as I do not know about the judiciary system there, and moreover I am not interested in getting to know about their process. I care about where I am and where my future family is going to be.

Nirbhaya’s case got justice after outrageous reactions by the public from every nook and corner. But then every second day there is some or the other similar incident happening in and around us. “The latest estimates suggest that a new case of rape is reported every 22 minutes in India.”(Source-wikipedia). While I was doing a little research on this atrocious crime that breaks a woman, I came across a statement in wikipedia itself that says: “Marital rape is not a criminal offence.” I was so confused that I went further on with my research and I see this:

“Treated as a form of noncriminal domestic violence – India”

followed by two other countries which is useful to be mentioned here. After providing an established and a clear cut definition of rape, marital rape is declared as a noncriminal domestic violence. It makes me feel sad by seeing at the state of the country and the law that is so blindfolded towards such despicable issues. 

Why do we as humans need something as inhumane & scurrilous as Nirbhaya’s case to fight our battles? I am glad that TV shows are now starting to contribute in a true sense towards the betterment of society in getting these mayhems into the spotlight. But the question why do we need someone to push us time and again? Why to care of what society will think? Has society been supportive towards the victim? Then why bother to give a second thought to fight for what is right?

A woman is the one who gives birth to a man. If she can give birth, she can destroy as well. I have heard this a lot of times at a lot of places by a lot of people but now it truly makes sense. Until we unite as one, nothing will change and for that to happen each one would have to change their perspective towards this beastly crime which is even worse than terrorism.

Open your minds to a new world where we can breathe in peace as there is no perfect time to fight a crime for it’s NOW.