Being a "FEMINIST"

"You are a feminist" Those words should

evoke a sense of pride, acknowledgement

sadly they are used as an insult

insult to all people who dare say

something different, different to defined norms

"You won't celebrate karwa chauth"

what feminist bullshit, says one

"You wont cover your head up?"

tell this feminist nonsense to anybody else

feminism is/was/will be against the patriarchy

not against "Men" or "society": Please Note

and against patriarchy is a fight of ALL

it harms men in an equal measure if not more

Feminism is not a fight about RELIGION

for it fights against dogmas of all religion

Its NOT a fight of women, or by women

its where all in society participate against the unjust

its for liberation- thoughts,ideas and actions

its for women to speak, do and think

as desired not as per conformance

to the "designed" rules of the society, religion

Its for standing up for yourself,

claiming your rights and living as equals

which sadly our religions say is not so

but what if that line was erased?

what if that is something that god desired?

what if the holy book that I read

my interpretation told me so?

Feminism is something that is a cause

a cause to say a woman's life is NOT

about marriage, children and husband

its about HER, her choices

and if her choices are these only

then that is also a choice

its about a chance at equality

not for a privileged few, but

for EVERYBODY.

Its a way of thinking..

that I am proud of..

A Trip to chikmaglur

Chikmaglur..reflection of Banana Tress

When the light green leaves shines

as the droplets make them shiver

the unknown song starts to play

as the color green flows like river

Unripe green coffee beans

The dance of the rains in the monsoon

is like the unknown whispers

they tell a story known yet mysterious

they slip like sand through my fingers

Banana leaves in night

In darkness they glow like fireflies

young green against the black night

the forest celebrated the love of rain

the mountains breathe in the breathtaking sight.

Areca nut tress chikmaglur

Its Development

The breezy darkness of evening surrounded me

As I fight to write my feelings

feelings of anger, sadness and desperation

I lost a childhood friend

the friend who guided me, laughed with me

heard me out, when no one had time

who hugged me without any asks

and let me rest on it

The tree, my friend, my guide

It was cut today, for making parking space

I screamed out loud, "Its a murder"

They replied back smirking, "Its development"!

Only If..

 Only If

We gave peace a chance..

But why does it deserve anything?

Violence feeds fear, fear of everything

Fear where I don’t trust my neighbour

For caste, religion, sex, colour, eating habit

Fear that I need to be protected ..

Protected yes..but from who or whom?

From the corporations? Or individuals?

From the religious institutions or people of religion?

From the politicians or the rules themselves

From the evil or protectors? And who defines them?

Killing is never the answer, be it humans, nature or animals

Yet, even while we talk of peace

All we talk about is how to kill “those”

But we don’t define “those”

We take a blanket term and try to cover them all

While the poor peace silently walks away

And it is walking away faster now

Away from the noise and din of hatred

For it stands no chance of being heard

Above the sounds of passionate hate

For that is what we need protection against

Simply “HATRED”

For religion, caste, sex, and million other

Terms that we have tried to protect ourselves from

Only if..

Change..When I discovered a new me..

Source: www.qoutesfrenzy.com"

I stared at the offer letter for a long time, thinking over and over again; unable to decide I called up my mother. “Hi Ma, I need to talk, will it be possible for you to take an early leave from office and I don’t want to sit at home, so let me meet you at that coffee shop near your office.”

This was what I had wanted from the beginning but now somehow I was very scared. All through the metro route the only thought that plagued me was how I will survive in another city. All through my 22 years of existence I had stayed in Delhi with my parents and now with this job I will have to Mumbai and I just wasn’t ready for it. By the time, I reached coffee place in CP, I had decided that I will tell the HR people that this is not possible and they give me another role, I will be happy to do anything they say.

“So what’s up?” My mother asked, as ordered her coffee, “I got Mumbai as my location” I replied in the saddest of voices I had heard myself utter, “But why? You always wanted to work in movies, isn’t it? You only took this campus offer because it was giving you an opportunity to do so. So why are you running away?” , I looked around and with a  heavy sigh I replied, “because it’s a new city, I have never lived away from you, I know this city, it’s my city, I have friends here, there I don’t know anybody, how will I survive alone?”

She smiled and indulgent smile and then took my hand in hers, “That’s called growing up, you need to live alone, understand what it means, it will show very different perspective of life, I am scared for you too but also very happy that you are getting this opportunity, take it as a challenge of starting over. Make new friends, in a new city with your first job, life is going to get pretty interesting for you.”

I had huge butterflies at the airport as she helped with my luggage, and suddenly I raced to her and hugged her deeply, “Ma, I don’t want to go, please, I don’t think I will be able to survive, I will miss you, bhai, dad and my friends.”, she hugged me back, “have faith in your mother and take this leap of faith, Just go for it, start something new”

Mumbai, was my new best friend, It helped me discover who I am, soothed me when I cried and celebrated with me my successes, something starting something new feels like the most difficult thing ever, sometimes change helps in looking up, looking at something new, like I felt when I finally found a second home after Delhi in Mumbai!

Like  https://housing.com/ where they love change..just like in the new video of Housing.

Together..Hope..

Sometimes, when you feel all is lost without hope

When you can’t see the silver lining in the dark clouds

When there is no light in the damp dark corners

You wish, someone would come to comfort you..

I stood drenched in the rain, as the clouds thundered

Dampened and defeated, tears mingled with raindrops

The whole world had collapsed, and I was alone

I wished, someone would come with umbrella of hope

I entered the lonely room again, burdened and bitter

Why me? I asked several times as I looked again

At the termination letter, they called it pink slip

I wished, someone would come to wipe away tears

I stared outside at the gloomy night draped in rain

When the loud knock woke me from my reverie

Confused, who would come at this hour of night

I wished, someone who could tell me morning is coming

I opened the door, and my neighbor,  an old lady

Stood smiling, with a tiffin box in her hand, as I stared

“I saw you crying, from my window, let’s talk”

I wished, someone would tell me this is not a dream

We sat across the table as she laid the dinner for me

“eat, it’s the answer to everything”, “but, you don’t know”

I started to protest but she forced me to eat

I wished, the deep pain in my heart would just go away

She sat in silence as I gobbled up the food, just like my mother

“beta, sometimes we only make problems, and think,

You are still alive and healthy, just be thankful”

I wished, I could just stop the world right there

She took my hand in her old wrinkled ones, caressing

“I don’t know what is troubling you, I just know

That when you lose hope and belief that’s when you lose”

The wishes were coming true,  dark clouds were moving

And then I went on talking, telling her everything

She smiled and said, “You are like my child, the one I found

When you moved here, alone and I can’t see you like this

Whatever happens I am there for you always”

Just hearing those words, My wishes came true

“I am sorry aunty, I have not been spending time with you”

“relax beta, I know you are always looking out for me.

And I will always be here, your guardian grand mother”

And suddenly I realized, that pink slip doesn’t matter

It’s the time we spent with people, the bonds that we make

Which are not dependant on any letter or office

I hugged her tightly, as all my hope and strength came back

“this is just a small battle, beta, there will be bigger ones

And always remember I will still be there across.”

And we spent the night away talking, catching up

Suddenly the light was shining warm and bright

The night had finally ended, lighting the dawn of hope!

Just like to https://housing.com.

Housing believes in the inimitable power of optimism. #together

The Group Hug..of Hope

Sometimes when there are small steps big paths are laid down easily,

Sometimes it only takes a few drops

to lay the foundations of big lakes

Sometimes it's only a few hands joined

that can stand against everybody...

It stood there always, from my earliest memories as a child to now, protecting the smaller plants and nurturing them in its shadow. It's a small park, the only one in our small locality which still has some green colour it. To me the small flowers and the big banyan tree serves as a reminder that peace is still present around me, something that I miss in my busy corporate life.

It started out like any other day, where I was rushing to office as usual late. Quickly remembering if I have everything with me, my wallet, my phone, ID card and run to the car when I heard the argument. Dismissing as the usual thing, people today have such less patience and such huge ego, these arguments are now an everyday thing, but a few words caught my attention, “the tree is my friend”, “you can get any order that you want”, “but sir, I have orders to cut it down”, “We need parking space”.

Curious I decided to go and find out, the voices seem to be coming from the nearby park. Reaching there I found out that my frail grandfather was standing next to two smartly dressed men and shouting at the top of his voice, quickly I rushed next to him to just solve the matter, “Dadu, what is happening, what's all this?”, he looked at me with a forlorn look, like I would not understand, “Nothing beta, these people have decided to reduce the size of the park, and build a parking space for people like you since the number of cars have increased and there is no place to keep them. For that they need to cut down this tree and a few plants and make space. I am telling them that they can't do this, this tree has been with me since my childhood and I will not let it be murdered”

One of the man then spoke up, “Look Ma'am, this is an order from local municipality and you all have agreed to it, look I have signatures and its not that we are destroying the entire park, just a part of it and please its not call a murder, we are just cutting this one tree, please make him understand, else I will have to call police to take him away.”

Before I could say anything, he replied resolutely, “Do whatever you want, I will not let it cut, you people have destroyed the entire planet in name of development, my rivers, my air but this is personal and if you have to cut this tree, cut it along with me.”

With this, he went and hugged the tree as three of looked helplessly, hastily I told them, “look, why don't you come back in the evening and we will sort it out.”

And I left for office, but I just couldn't concentrate on work. The question of whether it is a murder or just cutting of another tree, kept on troubling me. I left early for home to get it resolved. Just as I was about to reach home, I saw a huge commotion outside the park, fearing the worst I rushed inside the park, thinking I will need to take dadu home, even if by force.

Inside was a completely different scenario, all the children of the locality were sitting around the tree that my dadu was still hugging and a few other elderly people had joined the hug, the two officers of the morning were standing with an angry look along with a few police officers and the angry parents were calling out to children and their parents to come back home.

Seeing me, of the angry mothers started out, “It's all because of your grandfather, look they are not letting police do their duty, its just a tree. The space is so much needed, we are buying a new car next month and where will we park it, please ask him to stop the melodrama.”

I don't know what got to me, but I saw the birds resting and the leaves dancing to the breeze and I went beside my dadu and smiled, “go home, Its now my turn to hug my other grandfather, my banyan tree, Don't worry I won't let it be murdered.”

He looked at me with disbelief, then smiled, “Thanks beta, I am so happy” and then I joined the group hug as more and more of us joined, hugging the old tree and deciding we will not let it be murdered.

We sent an application and the authorities relented, we explained to everyone why saving that one tree mattered and now when I look at that tree, as it sways with the breeze as people sit underneath its shadow, my heart fills with hope, optimism, yes there is humanity and love still left. Let's protect our environment around us, we can do it with a few small steps..of HOPE!!

Let's revisit the CHIPKO movement and hug the trees around us!! Let's renew the HOPE and OPTIMISM in humanity!!

Image source: samvedna.wikidot.com

Just like the optimism and hope that is reflected by Housing, check out https://housing.com/lookup.