Perceptions....

THANKFUL

I am a woman and an Indian, currently living in a relatively small town, but when I look around I feel I have many privileges, many due to the family in which I was born, because of those ideas drilled into my head—now a part of the individual which is me.

I, on my part, deserve few of these. I had no control over the circumstances which I landed in and hence these privileges. I did not earn them, but I enjoy them.

To begin with:

1.I had complete schooling; I was not expected to drop out in order to earn money for the family or do housework etc.

2.I studied the subjects of my choice as I grew up with very little consideration to the fact that some professions are mainly “male jobs”

3.I wore clothes that I wanted to, I played the games I wanted to

4.I was provided with a good house, 24 hours of running water, a television set for my entertainment and all the basic necessities. Never in my life did I suffer extreme climatic conditions due to lack of clothes, shelter etc.

5.Though I lived in a conservative place, I attended all social functions and returned home as and when I felt like.

6.I have always had access to emergency services, like a hospital, a provision store etc.

Now that I have grown up,

1.I have a job that I like and I know I will stop working whenever I personally want to without having to worry about basic necessities like food, shelter etc.

2.I walk into a pub, a theatre wearing clothes that I like to wear and at a time that is convenient for me.

3.Many times I am alone, people stare at me giving me an “are you mad kind of look”, but I don’t care.

4.I get back home at a time that I want, not bothering about the time of the night.

5.I travel a lot, since my work so demands, I hardly care which part of town or what time of the day is it. I just do it, because that’s the need of the hour.

6.I married a person of my choice.

7.My caste/religion/nationality does not give me freedom to do certain things, but I customize them to suit my convience.If need be I have the confidence to fight back.

8.I don’t feel guilty when I have a hard drink or party or smoke, if I so desire. I don’t care what the person sitting next to thinks about me.

9.I fire and fight with an auto rickshaw driver, the vegetable vendor and threaten to take them to the police station, without any fear, and am sure of a respectable behavior from them and/else know how to protect myself.

10.The concept of privacy and sexuality exist in my head/heart. I don’t think that “I belong” to my husband and think that my body belongs to me and only I decide what is right or wrong, without consideration to what the “Indian society” might think for a women.

I don’t think I should be thankful for this list, because I am human being and these should as a rule be a part of any human beings list. But I feel extremely thankful to many people who made this list possible. The reason the way I feel so, is because I see people with far fewer privileges across all sections of the society. Somewhere I feel I owe it back to the society, to make it better, in my small way and this thought overwhelms me again and again.

posted by shikha @ 2:48 PM