Slutty Curls

I always avoided this but as fate would have it I ended up being in Delhi, that too studying gender. I have always maintained that Delhi is the rape capital of India because of the way I was raised, always pitying the condition of my cousins in Delhi. That was till I landed here.
Rape is not just this gang rape on the moving bus, it is also happening in our homes, behind classrooms, in offices, in trains, in toilets, in subways, in shops even in temples. No surprise here that my mother back home in Himachal does not sleep, even if she has fever, till I safely reach home in Delhi every night.
So it was one of those nights again, the late night. My friend was working ‘late’. Apparently 7:30 in the evening in Delhi is ‘late’. So she was working late and I had to wait at Indraprastha metro station. Just on the very day when the Government of India decided to block the stations that would let way for the protestors. Democratic eh?
I stood there in the pink ‘women only’ area, letting train after train pass by me. When the clock ticked eight, fog came gushing in. It was beautiful and I would have loved this and sung songs if was back in Himachal. Nature charms me and I lose myself to it; but not here, not in Delhi. Between those mixed feelings of awe and panic, I plugged myself and opened my curls that were tied up in a bun till now and put on a cap. I had no muffler with me and my curls were serving the purpose. Snug.
Fog was taking over and now it was difficult to see beyond 20 feet. It was 8:15 and some men in a group of five were walking towards the pink area. I being the only woman standing there, went up straight to them and firmly said, “Can’t you see the pink sign, ‘women only’? Peeche jao!”  So they looked at the sign below, laughed and turned back. Now I know being a woman, I can differentiate between a normal laugh and an eve-teasers laugh. But can I? This place has played with my mind so much, I got confused!
If I become a silly lily at times, I laugh it off. So do men. Was that a deliberate laugh or a genuine one?  While those men turned back, I kept judging my intuition.
Finally at 8:28 my friend came in. I rushed to the train and chided her for being ‘late’.
Six stations passed by us and we got off the train.
 “Please tie your hair,” she told me.
“Why?”
“You don’t want undue attention, do you?”
No conversation after this. I obeyed. Tied my curls and put on the small hood fighting to protect my neck. We left the station to find a rickshaw that would take us back home.
I am disgusted, with men, with this city but above all with myself.

My 3 am...

Can't recall the last time I wrote,
And this time I am forcing myself too.
My actions are misleading at times,
But I love you and you'll know it's true.

This is new for me, it is new for you too,
By love, I never wanted to be chased.
I might have portrayed that love is a cage,
But that is because of the way I was raised.

It hunted us down and here you are,
Coping with a hot headed woman like me.
I can't promise to be sober in anger, I can't,
But I promise a sorry, I go down on my knee.

There is jealousy, joy and some blue,
But Red is the best when we are kissing.

When I say I miss the colour,

It is the adventurer in me I am missing.

I wanted to write a sunshine rhyme,
But what can I do, a poem I can't fake.
So all I have written is truth, my love
I leave it to you whatever you make.

I hope you don't regret what you chose,
A piece of crooked heart, it is no gem.
You will  be mine, if you want it too,
As you are my one and only.... 3 am.

No moss for me

 

No moss dear, no moss

my gatherings are rather sharp

edges and cuts are what shine on

No moss sir, no moss for me

 

A desire this has remained

and my stone heart has in fact

gathered a lot of moss

so it weeps, no moss for me

 

Moss is burden, a cover, a shell

it hides under the pretext of protection!

Have not seen light for ages

so it wants, no moss for me

I tried rolling. I froze

what is it?

the extra weight or did I forget

to roll. No moss for me

 

 

Ah trechery, the world fooled me

Or a fool I was, Moss is gold

I agreed, to regret...too late

too late to have, no moss for me

Blue Love

A deep blue bottle

I mistook for the sea

I though, the tide is high

Gin was speaking to me

Women empowerment, Arse if!

Nirma detergent's TVC shows the lead ladies getting their hands dirty while pushing out an ambulance stuck in a pit - as the men watch.

An ambulance stuck in a pit. Men watching -- some of them taking photographs and some disgusted at the sight of the filth. Four women 'knights', the all-too-familiar Hema, Rekha, Jaya and Sushma - in immaculate, crisp and clean attire - step into the pit to push the ambulance out. The famous jingle lingers in the air.


Is this really women empowerment?

Nirma has come out with a new advertisement, which has been labeled as ‘empowering women’. Sure the women, Hema, Rekha, Jaya and Sushma, are not afraid of getting into the dirt and do the ‘masculine job’ of moving a vehicle.

If we see closely, this advertisement has portrayed women to be free in their movement. Why is it so? Because the women know there is a product called ‘Nirma Washing powder’ and the stains will easily wash off.

Why are men disgusted?

This knowledge seems to be lacking in any man present at the scene in the advertisement and they do not move the vehicle that is stuck. Men are even disgusted at the sight of the mud pool. Hence, once again this advertisement has established who does the washing and who is aware of it. Men are not aware of this product in this advertisement; they don’t bother with such products. It is the woman’s task to keep a tab of these things.

Glorifying minor changes in popular gender roles:

Some of the men show in this advertisement also start clicking pictures of these women. It may seem that women here are being glorified but the truth is these men have never seen anything like this. This is why they are clicking pictures. It is not in the nature of a lady to push a vehicle and if she does so it is strange, heroic and something to be captured. Here again the advertisement is dividing gender roles. A little breach in these roles is glorified and the whole ad is tagged as ‘empowering women’.

Disguise:

Nirma ads have changed over the period of time and have become more damaging than they were before. The ads that used to come clearly showed how washing is a woman’s task. Though this new ad which proclaims to be empowering women has disguised itself in a way that modern educated upper class can fall for it.

Earlier we could still see that this ad is clearly sexist and point it out. The new ads, which in reality are sexist, but proclaim to be empowering are more dangerous.

Unlearning an Education

Not a rose of the scented garden, a marble one I want to plant

So the hail remembers seasons will come and have scent to grant.