A Rainy Afternoon and Lessons for a Lifetime

A few white pages with black letters, soft bound;

The lethargic pitter-patter of rain in the background;

A steaming cup of coffee, the aroma in the air;

Me and Eve Ensler, cosying up in a chair;

The first shy, excited look;

Into 'The Vagina Monologues', in my hands, as a book;

What, how, whys, filling my mind;

But she, always knowing, gentle, and kind;

Taking me through, a journey tortuous and wild;

Not for those whose hearts are too mild;

Everything in my heart, and between my legs, discussed;

No words minced, no expressions shushed;

Stories of horror, pain, abuse, and tears;

With a few bright spots of love, affection, and vaginas without fears;

Poems and prose, fact and fiction;

Blending together to create a perfect imperfection;

Stories of the plight of women, violence and gross neglect, and of the murder of choice;

Lessons of love, self-respect, and of respecting the vagina's voice;

Lessons not restricted by gender or color, caste or creed;

Lessons to create in the world, a whole new breed;

Not scared or ashamed, not silent or abused;

Instead, free, loud, and at any violation not the least amused;

So many lessons, from a book, that turned into a friend and a guide;

Took an afternoon of rain, and turned it into an emotional ride;

Read it you must, man or woman;
To know how to get the vagina to speak, while you still can...

Droplets of Happiness or Tears of Sorrow?

It started off with a loud prologue. 
Like the drums that precede the 'Baraat' or the procession accompanying the groom in an Indian wedding. Almost like a light and sound show as well, with lightning and thunder setting the stage perfectly, for the first few hesitant drops. 
The barrage followed. And just like that, it was the first rain. 
The Earth responded eagerly with that heady aroma of its quenched thirst, and the birds sang with joy. Trees and leaves, heads and tails, all enjoying and dancing in the drops of happiness pouring forth from the skies. 


And yet, there are many, dreading the onset of the monsoon in this arid part of Central India. 
The reason, when explored, links up to the lack of proper sanitation facilities in the area. Disorganized or rather, 'confused' semi-urbanized settlements like the town of Babina, and other, small, more-village, less-town, settlements in the area, combine the disadvantages of both villages and cities; and lacking the facility of clean, wet toilets (toilets which have a provision for the flushing of the excreta), they still continue with the ancient tradition of 'dry-toilets' which need manual scavenging to clean them. 


This perpetuates discrimination against certain castes, who are the only ones carrying out the 'refuse' of humanity in this part of the world. 


The impact is particularly critical on women. 


They are 'unemployable' in any other role, even as domestic help, in their own words, as the first thing people ask them is their caste, and knowing their so-called 'identity', refuse to let them enter their house for anything other than, 'cleaning their toilets'. 
Meet any woman of the 'Valmiki' caste and she will tell you how her family is called 'Bhangi', a term used to address people of the castes which are expected to carry out manual scavenging including cleaning latrines and handling dead bod es (both human and animal). 


Discriminated against, and abused for literally cleaning our, 'shit', these women silently go about their work to earn the mere, two-rotis (flatbread) a day, or the fifty rupees they are paid for an entire month of insanely difficult work. 


Made illegal in 1993, employing of manual scavengers, and construction of dry latrines, still continue across the country, and can be witnessed easily enough if one wishes to do so.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UN-HRC), at a 2002 meeting of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, said, “Public latrines – some with as many as 400 seats – are cleaned on a daily basis by female workers using a broom and a tin plate. The excrement is piled into baskets which are carried on the head to a location which can be up to four kilometers away from the latrine. At all times, and especially during the rainy season, the contents of the basket will drip onto a scavenger’s hair, clothes and body.......they are thus exposed to the most virulent forms of viral and bacterial infections which affect their skin, eyes, limbs, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. TB (tuberculosis) is rife among the community."

Thus the pitter-patter of happiness for some of us, might be the sound of sorrow for many. 

While you enjoy that cup of steaming tea in the rain-soaked balcony, cribbing that your prayers to the rain-Gods for this heavenly nectar were not answered earlier, you might want to ponder on the thought that, the delay might just have been caused by the millions, praying harder than you, for the latrines and their contents to be dry so they could easily, 'scoop them up'.

**For those wishing to read more, WaterAid's insightful report, Burden of Inheritance (http://www.wateraidamerica.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2010/m/manual_scavening_report.pdf) in a hard-hitting tone, analyzes and deconstructs the social conventions that allows this inhuman practice to continue, and pleads for strong action against it. 

The Celebration of Shakti?

Gadchandur is a vibrant, colorful town, with festivals having a special place in it's heart. With Navratras starting, the smells and sounds of celebration fill the air and you can almost taste the fervor. The pictures above, and below show the many mesmerizing and magical devis in town. 


As a festival that celebrates the feminine force or 'shakti', it is a little weird that it excludes women experiencing their monthly period from doing anything holy in this duration and this causes considerable distress, anguish, and sometimes almost the feeling of being cursed; in the affected. 


In fact, so many cultural beliefs and practices are related with the, 'flow' that a discussion could become a book!! From menstrual huts, to untouchability, and from having to sleep on the floor, away from the family, to not taking part in any 'holy' celebrations, the sanctions range from the weird to the erratic. Some say food goes bad, if touched by an 'impure' woman, and others say puja becomes meaningless if attended by her. Infact, in an interesting practice in Orissa, there is a festival, called Raja Parva, celebrated by girls, which is observed for three consecutive days from the day preceding Mithuna Sankrati, during which Mother Earth is supposed to be in her menstrual period!! It is a fertility rite, where girls pray to Mother Earth for their welfare.


The systematic use of religion to subjugate women, while worshiping 'shakti' sounds like the plan of a scheming mind! However, this is one thing that has been common across religions, regions, and cultures!!


 Not intending this to be a discourse on religion and gender, here's wishing everyone a happy and blessed pujo or puja, and a prosperous navaratri, and blessings & Shakti from the divine force herself.