An Yell in the Night

Time would have been between three and four in the early morning. The city was in deep sleep, so were we. Suddenly an yell form down woke up all of us.

The yell was like somebody loosing his life. Oh my god! Has any body got murdered? Has anybody got electric shock? The scream was of short duration. It was like somebody crying on run. It raised to its high pitch and diffused into the night's silence. But it still ringed in the ears. 

The reverberations generated some uneasy thoughts in me. The temporality  of a human life came haunting. I sensed the plea of a helpless man wailing at the face of the death. Where is all the wealth and fame hard earned or ill earned in the life? Nothing can rescue you from that moment. 

What security do we have in the life? We may build concrete masons, lock it with two three doors, still there is insecurity. Immediately my thoughts went for the less privileged humans living in shanty houses or in the street. What security do they have? If any riot is occurring in the city they are ones who gets butchered. I wondered how they sleep peacefully every night. That may the reason they are very tough and cynic to what the politicians and government tells and do.

The yell can be of a caught thief, got beaten from behind. Poor man. My sympathy went to the thief. If a person is defying his biological cycle and awake in the night to steal, there should be enough reasons behind it. He who was taught this job by parents or masters; or who in dire need of money; or who is disenchanted with the inequality in the society;  or simply person in conflict with himself. None of the above can be solely attributed to him. The society at large is responsible for creating the thieves. Why should a person looting public blatantly sleep in security in this huge bungalow while the victims of the looting sleep bare on the roadsides? Who will punish the wrong doers? Who will bring justice? Let all the looters be robbed by thieves. But only the poor thieves will get beaten in the dark.

The whole neighborhood woke up. Lights are on. Some people are talking loud down. They are narrating the story. It was a robbery attempt. Nobody is harmed. It was the yell of our watchman, who noted the  thief in the shade. The half of my life came back. But the insecurity provoked by that yell did not allow me to sleep. The fear for the life of myself and the loved ones gripped me. And its repercussions took three-four days to quell.

The Missing Women in Public Space

I was at my mother in law's house, in a small village of Telangana. It was past 6 pm. A group of girls come singing bhajans. It was surprising for me because it was first time in my life I have seen a group of small girls going out their home un-escorted after 6 O'clock in the evening. In ,Kerala, my home state, one cannot even imagine this situation. So secluded are their girls in so famed developed state with world standard educational and health indicators. It may be a wonder to the outsiders that the public place is closed even today for a girl or a women here.

The state has succeeded in overthrowing the Brahmin domination, un-touchability etc , but failed liberate and empower its women.

Even though the society is matrilineal, patriarchal norms are dominant. The women is almost excluded from the rituals. In other states the situation is better and for every function or ritual the women are included. They have a role even in the funeral rituals. But here the women are only to cry and stay indoors during the final ceremony. Even the most beloved ones are not allowed to see the cremation ceremony. 

These exclusions were very embarrassing for me as a child when my male cousins were given all the privileges and freedom. And they used to show ego to us on the basis of these undue importance given to them. Similarly in the temple festivals, the ladies are only allowed to perform pongala (the rice dish). But I can see ladies participating in the festivals carrying head gears and pots and divulging themselves in ecstasy and dances in other states.

The professions that a girl has to choose is also dictated by the society. They are seen suited to teaching and care giving professions.  This can be reason for the overwhelming number of the Malayali nurses and teachers working in other parts of India and outside India.

Even when women are venturing into male dominated fields such as politics, there are always considered as subordinate. Kerala have not yet had a woman chief minister or in other crucial ministries of home and finance.

The missing women from the public spaces can be seen as another form of discrimination that is manifested in worst form of missing girl children.

The Wish Tree

This Christmas I was in a super market and came across a wish tree. The unprivileged children in one orphanage have written their small wishes in the pieces of paper hung on that tree. If you are a middle or upper class citizen, you may wonder how small their wishes are. They long for dictionaries, crayons, shuttle bats,  wrist watches, a set of new dresses ... The wishes are so modest to make you humble. These articles cost not even a percent of what you purchase and waste every day. But the same exists only in the dreams of some children and they hope X'mas Pappa to give them as the Christmas gifts. 

I stood there and read all the wishes. Many wishes for a dictionary.I have some old dictionaries in my cupboard. These dictionaries I seldom used because they came late to my life. I had none when I was in dire need. That was some twenty years back.

I was in sixth standard. My class teacher who was also the English teacher asked me to refer a dictionary. I forget the context she asked , but the I still remembers the conversation . 
"I do not have a dictionary, teacher "
She was astonished. There I stood in front of her as a consecutive winner of the proficiency prize for years in English medium. 
"You do not have a dictionary at home ?Wonder!". 
"I wish you shall get a dictionary as prize this year". She said after a pause.
Her sincere wish came true and I got a dictionary as prize that time. My joy was out of bounds. I have envied on my classmates whenever they use a dictionary. So I can imagine the eagerness of these children waiting for their Xmas gifts.

The same was the case with the atlas. I hoped I had one. Once I just went through the classmate's atlas, but she was over protective and did not allow much time. It was costly. So I did not had courage to ask my father to buy me one. The Social Studies teacher of the other division has prescribed an atlas as compulsory in her classes. I wished I had her as my social studies teacher, so that I can also own one. But it never happened.  But now my two and half  year old daughter plays with the dictionary and atlas as her toys!

"Do you wish to gift their wishes, mam?" the voice of the sales woman woke up me from the thoughts. "Ya , I wish". "Okay, you can purchase from here and give us" . "Can I bring from home?" The dictionaries that I got as prizes after my tenth standard were in my mind.