Re-instate her Right to Choose

In ancient India, which I will continue to call Bharat, risking criticism from Anglophile modernists, the woman had the right to choose. And the ancient tradition of Swayamvara bears testimony to that right.

Even the flawless, God incarnate, “maryada purshottam” (human examplaire – even English has its limitations) Lord Ram the son of an illustrious Dasharath of Suryavansha had to queue up for Sita and the garland in Sita’s hand was symbolic of the choice that she had the right to exercise.

Today, a degenerate Bharat and resurgent India have come to be a diametrically opposite society, oppressive perhaps, not only to women, but also to all weaker sections without exception. Many believe, the society is cruel to women, but I can tell you - and you could double check with Suhail Seth and Chetan Bhagat, both omniscient commentators on all that can be - that Indian society is cruel to all weaker sections, and that women just happens to be one of them.

Geopolitics, a science, that Kautilya tried so hard to teach and propagate, India never really understood. And her own people connived to let invasions succeed and invaders stay on their land, much to the detriment of the indigenous value systems, social order and economic health of the country.

With invasions also comes the value system of the invaders. And due to the awe and aura of the victory, the value system of the invaders always prevails upon that of the invaded. As invasions continued, a prosperous but disunited India not only wailed under their onslaught its social fabric also warped. And we became a confused mass of protoplasm struggling to figure out what we stood for.

In the total turmoil that ensued for several hundreds of years, the woman continued to enjoy a place of importance at home, but she lost it completely outside home. The mother was respected, the sister worshipped and protected, but only till she stayed at home and slaved for the family. While she was adorned at home, if she stepped out un-chaperoned, she was scorned. She wielded immense power if she complied, but would lose all it and even get labeled if she did not comply. And of course was she was denied the right to choose.

Marry the man that is chosen by your parents, meet the man that the brother approves of, and you taste power that is unforeseen. Exercise your choice and get sullied, face abuse and get labeled.

I believe, in majority of Indian households despite lesser education, woman is not a minnow but a matriarch, who has the matronly overreach on the family – the lowest social classes where physical abuse is a rule excepted. My grandfather named his house after his wife, and so did my father name the house that he constructed on his. There are just two points in case.

I have a feeling that rapists too respect their mothers a lot, and would hate to see them defiled or abused. They love their sisters as much, but it is the other mans wife, mother and sister that they do not respect. This phenomenon is not uncommon in India. We disrespect others time, profession, property, space and sensibilities. While we fiercely want to guard our own.

This is a very deep-set rot in our society. And in causing this rot, the intelligentsia and elite both are as culpable as the hoi polloi. The masses see this as a class struggle of have-nots against the haves. The intelligentsia has its own blinkered view. Hussain paints Saraswati in state of stark dishabille, but paints his mother fully clad. Charlie Hebdo may caricature Allah but may not show the same degree of irreverence for Christ. And the intelligentsia rallies behind such irreverence in the name of freedoms for which the concomitant responsibilities they turn a blind eye to.

It is also imperative that we develop a deeper insight into social issues. We must dissect situations, analyze the root cause and develop strategies to address them holistically. We must make robust plan of action with experts in tow, put them on a pilot test and implement if the result of the pilot is predictive. But on the contrary, we huddle in subject agnostic people to come on TV to debate on issues they have scant domain knowledge of, bicker and scar each other, and the problem stays as defiant and hydra headed as ever.