Is it not a strange coincidence, we seem to insult and abuse every thing we refer to as our 'mother'! Mother nature is at the receiving end of our rampant exploitation and it seems she has lost her cool and taking us to task by tormenting us with earthquake, floods, tsunamis, forest fires, landslides and droughts. Ma Ganga just got tired of self cleansing herself but we kept on polluting her disregarding all rules and regulations. Mother India today stands ashamed with high maternal and infant mortality rates, unequal opportunities and remuneration for her daughters, unrecognised and unappreciated work her daughters do while home making, domestic violence they face at home and communal, caste and sectarian violence in the society and to top it all her one daughter is raped in this land every 16 minutes!
Why am I reminded of all this today? I do so because we are once again celebrating Navaratri, an invocation to Ma Durga, our durgati harini. Not only does she slay the evil Mahishasura but she is the embodiment of Shakti, the energy at the root of creation. Shakti inspired Shiva and it was their union that brought about 'creation', 'preservation' and 'renewal' thus justifying the ultimate image of the creator Ardhnarishwar. If the all powerful Shiva is powerless without Shakti, how can we mortals think of progress and prosperity without respecting their daughters?
For far too long Shakti has been confined inside our temples and limited to our prayers. We have failed to get past feudal patriarchy, skewed sex ratio, caste power play and religious and cultural misogyny. We are unjustifiably putting up behavioural and social barriers around our daughters but not disciplining our sons and not teaching them to behave. If 50% of our population is scared of the remaining lot then how can we prosper?
When Draupadi narrated the horrors of her humiliation in Kuru sabha to Lord Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu vowed to her "The heavens may tumble, the mountains may be razed; the oceans may dry like a corpse's bones; earth herself may rupture, but I shall keep my oath to you. To avenge the crime against you there will be war to end all wars." Lord Krishna not only kept his promise but for Bhishma, the greatest warrior who had the boon of 'iccha mrityu' (he could die when only when he chose to) he arranged a painful bed of arrows for his last days because he kept quiet and did not use his bravery to protect the honour of a woman in the Kuru sabha. Contrast this to the death of Jatayu in Ramayana - old Pakshi raj knew he was no match to Ravana but he fought valiantly to save Sita and died smiling in the lap of Ram, with tears of this Vishnu avatar bidding him farewell.
The society needs to do some serious introspection about how we are treating our Shakti, our daughters and sisters and wives. Rapists are not coming from any other planet. They too have parents and if they see their own mothers and sisters being treated unfairly they think that this is the norm. This has to change. No government, no court and no laws can bring this change. Families have to change and our sisters and daughters have to be educated, confident and self reliant. They have to imbibe the Shakti and bring out the Durga in them to challenge the Mahishashurs both inside and outside their homes and the law of the land should stand firmly by their side. This will be the true Durga Puja and every day will then be as auspicious as Navaratri.
Extremely valid. But educated and confident daughters face lot of discrimination at hands of the colleagues— who in fact must have supported their own women. But when it comes to professional front women are ignored and not treated with inclusive mindset.
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