'Fem' in 'FEMINISIM'

A quick search of ‘Feminism’ on Google reveals the following:

1.  Kim Kardashian- 'Will continue to click nude selfies', shows middle figure to the society, at the Emmy Awards in the wake of women liberation movement. .

2.  Urban Dictionary- Feminist is a psychotic hoe who is hungry for a dick but doesn't want to show it.

3.  House of Cards star Robin Wright went public on her demands for pay parity with her co- star Kevin Spacey.

4.  Of course I had free sex: How feminist Kavita Krishnan’s mom silenced a troll on Facebook.

5.  Delhi-Based Female Writer Shuts Down Body Shamers with Powerful Poetry.

India is a misogynistic country with a patriarchal set up which needs to be set right. Because Indian men are lecherous and do not respect female species at all. Hence, hard hitting pictures of menstruating girls, videos bearing social messages, bras and pink panties flung open on the roads, celebs and Bollywood stars (men, women and transgenders) propagating the message in their social space to drill some sense into the Indian system is LEGIT

I grew up in a nuclear family of 4, my Father and Mother and we two daughters. Birth of two daughters fulfilled my parents’ desire of ‘We two, Our Two’ and never did they contemplate the idea of having a third child for the possibility of a son. I went to a co-ed school where my teachers advocated friendship between boys and girls. Picking up law as my college degree, even when I had no law background and a flourishing family business in my legacy was appreciated and never debated. Periods, Waxing, Male Attraction and Women Anatomy are discussed in my environment with ease and without a meme. My parents have always been acquainted with my dating life and have never shamed it but have imposed restrictions if it caused me to compromise on my life goals. I am in my late twenties and am single but neither of my parents are frenzy over my ‘ageing’. They are rather supporting me in my career switch. I socialise, go clubbing, wear the kind of clothes I like and enjoy my alcohol. But this rosy picture has had its glorious moments of thorns as well. I was inappropriately touched and fondled as a child. My parents kicked the ass of the molester and made me learn a life lesson to never be a victim but a fighter. I was inappropriately stalked by a male senior at work. I made a hue and cry about it, made the stalker public. He lost his job and his name. I had a sexist for a boss who considered women counsels as adornments of client interaction only. I confronted him at every step. He despised me, I loved my womanhood more. I left my job with my head held high.

I AM THE ‘FEM’ IN THE FEMINIST. 
I AM A FEMINIST AND A VERY PROUD ONE.

theodysseyonline.com

Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, personal, and social rights for women. Nowhere does it embody men hatred and/or elevation of women to a pedestal of worship and idolism. It breathes Equality, Equality where women are positioned at the same level as men.

Feminism is not an alternative for nudity under the garb of liberalisation. How is flashing breasts/buttocks/vagina a step forward in women’s movement of equality? The whole hippy philosophy of being in sync with God’s creation is utter rubbish. Women are born with boobs, ass and vayjay, they grow with it and are absolutely aware about their functionality. And as far as men are concerned, they are more than okay with them. It’s the exhibition of the face only that they are to get accustomed with. The Kardashians can pop champagne bottles with their bum but that is not why an ass was given to us, right? You know what is right propagation of Feminism? When Julia Roberts on her first visit to Cannes Film Festival, decides to walk the red carpet barefoot, so as to raise the legitimate ‘middle finger’ to the stuffy, old male dominated whiners who run the Festival and had decreed last year that women had to wear high heels. – the pathetic sexist claptrap.  I am not belittling nudity as a form of protests, maybe I am too naïve to understand its importance but those protests come under the category of nudism and not feminism.  Feminism is when women from all caste, creed, colour and religion protest for a unified marriage law in India. Whilst some protest with burqas, some protest with a skirt and blouse.

‘My Choice’ which has no reason of sound logic, is another misunderstood territory of ‘Feminism’. Instead of talking about rape, female foeticide, domestic violence, harassment at workplace, pay gap, the intrusive male gaze or a million other issues that a woman has to deal with everyday, the rebellious answer to everything crazy as ‘My Choice’ is plain bizarre. Flaunting an anorexic body or an obese lifestyle is not an agenda for women liberation movement. Anorexia is as much a disease as obesity and needs attention. Adultery and/or having multiple sex partners is not Feminism. It is abusive and psychotic. Similarly having a progeny is not solely a woman’s choice. The egg fertilized because of a sperm. The donor of the sperm does have a legitimate say to the offspring. To copy the worst male stereotypes, leching, calling names, dominance of a gender, abuse relationships etc., and deciding that women need to do all that to come at par with men, is not Feminism. An eye for an eye makes the world blind and not a Feminist.

Another misconception about Feminism is being a Man-Hater, being a Misandrist. The term feminism is as much for men as it is for women. And inflicting pain to the entire men specie just because a few have a caged mind is atrocious. There is enough of place for you and me under the sun and my outcry about my place does not mean I need your spot. I need an opportunity to create mine. And just for the record Feminists do like men, emotionally, physically, sexually, it’s just that in most cases they prefer brain over brawn.

Any cultural norm to which men are not subjected to is considered a key result area of Feminism. I am a Punjabi and I like the chuda ceremony and might just wear it on daily basis post my marriage. It’s my choice. How does it subordinate me to my future husband? Similarly, fasting, keeping a karwachaudh, wearing sindoor or wearing a niqaab/hijab belittle women. It is a personal choice. I like it, it doesn’t barge into your happiness, how the fuck is it a problem then? Yes, if it is forced on me, then it is my movement of women liberty, it is my movement of Feminism. Feminism is creating a congenial home environment and closing a million-dollar deal at work place.

A bed of roses, with legal privileges and full authority to misuse them is not Feminism. It is being an Asshole. The Indian Judicial System has adorned women with far more privileges than men, which is legit and needed. However, if one misuses the privileges in the garb of plotted woman empowerment it is pathetic and lowly. 498(A) of Indian Penal Code is the favourite of all the vamps. Why? Because if my privileges of being a woman clash with reason and logic, I shall evoke my weapon of being a victim of Domestic Violence and charge my in laws and husband under 498(A). Feminism is not about eradicating the social structure altogether rather of sieving the vices from it.  

The aim of feminism is to ensure men and women are equal. That's the world I want. Not the one where my empowerment comes at the cost of pain to others. 

For me Feminism, is when:

Ø  When one witnesses one's domestic help gleaming bright and distributing 'ladoo' because his first time pregnant wife gave birth to a 'girl child'.

Ø  When a woman who is raped is not victimised by the society but supported to lead a normal life ahead.

Ø  When equal pay for equal work is applicable on both men and woman, at parity.

Ø  When education and career takes a front seat for a woman.

Ø  When marriage and child bearing is celebrated and not glutted down the throat of a woman.

Ø  When woman genital is not used as a colloquial word for idiot/dumb.

Fem in the Feminism is good cause for uplifting the society of its vices not for crashing the social structure altogether.

My One Million Daimoku Campaign

With Sensei’s mission for 2016 as ‘Year of Expansion in the new era of world-wide kosen rufu’, I started my 1 million Daimoku campaign. The expansion of kosen rufu is expansion of hope, capable individuals and peace. I had been battling career Karma for 8 months praying hard to get clarity on my kosen rufu job. I was sure that I am to only attract the best opportunity in my environment and just ordinary or an okay job won’t do. I am Sensei’s disciple. I am meant only for the best. With fresh start to the New Year, I was determined to fight like never before and win like never before. Indeed, I had to write my own Golden Story.

Sensei, has always stressed on the importance of specific goals and to make the struggle towards the goals as magnanimous a celebration as the victory of the goals. I plunged into gakkai activities to report complete Victory to Sensei by May 03 celebration meeting. I started increasing my daimoku on daily basis, chanting upto 5 hours a day when my life condition was low. Whilst, daimoku is an essential part of the Practice, the three pillars of Faith, Practice and Study are essentially important. I became regular with my study and have read and imbibed 15 Goshos uptill May 15th and wholeheartedly studied the study material prescribed for each campaign. The 7 guidelines of Sensei for the Year of Expansion-2016, became my holy grail. I consciously started to speak about the Practice to whosoever I met with the sole aiming of helping others seek true happiness by getting introduced to the Law. I was able to shakabuku 7 Youth Division Members and had dialogue about the Practice with more than 15 individuals. Whilst introducing new members is essential, nurturing the old is critical. I took the responsibility of the Youth Division in my District by making a clear target of home visiting all of them by March 16. Also, as our Discussion Meetings are the litmus test of our Practice, I took responsibility of being a proactive participant of the Discussion meeting and to encourage each member to celebrate the Meeting as if it’s their own. Whilst my YWDs started reporting Victories, my life remained stagnant. I would wonder, what was it that I was doing wrong. Even at these absolutely hellish times I never doubted the Ghonzon but my life condition touched the lowest world. At these times, instead of brooding and belittling myself, I sought Guidance from Senior Leaders and emerged fresh and jubilant as a daisy.

While opportunities started coming my way and I started getting clarity over my kosen rufu job, somehow something would emerge and no opportunity could be materialised. I further strengthened my Practice, doing the work of three and encouraging my members in their struggles. As Sensei says, ‘No matter what happened yesterday, a new day of fresh possibilities has dawned. You are not the same person as you were yesterday. Things are changing and you are moving towards your golden Victory’. Unknowingly, the golden wheel of Human Revolution started moving in my life. I have been away from home for last 10 years (first college and then job). And being away I comfortably nudged my responsibility as a daughter, of being an anchor in my parent’s life. Moving back with my parents gave me an opportunity of creating kosen rufu in our dwelling. I strengthened my Mother’s Practice and I am happy to report that I can see the same old vigour and charm in her. Also, my relationship with my father improved drastically and we are indeed a kosen rufu family now. My relationship with my Friends also went through a complete 180-degree change. Sensei says, ’We all need people around us who raise our standards and remind us of our essential purpose and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.’ Whilst on 1 million Daimoku, I gauged the wisdom and strength to acknowledge some parasitic relationships that I had been nurturing. And mystically the day I got to know about these relationships is the day they took an exit from my life and I continued to strengthen the relationships which help me become a better person. The true victory of the Human Revolution was when my people in my environment started complementing on being a new me altogether. My mother, who is my biggest critique, complimented me on the change and how she has strengthened her Practice on seeing a change within me. I am happy to report that even with people who were doing wrong to me for no reason whatsoever, my life condition never dipped to slander both verbally and mentally about them. Somehow, even I was amazed as to why am I not thinking bad about them.

I had been given the Guidance time and again that this Karma has happened in my life for a reason and the time that I have got where I have no job obligations is the time where I should go all out to polish my mirror. I have always loved to write but with work timings never paid heed to my talent and interest. But with time in my hand, I started two blogs and started writing stories, stories of human tendencies and victories, stories that inspire, on daily basis. Mystically, these created a cascading effect of bringing in acclaim from the readers and happiness in me.

Whilst inconspicuous benefits were adorning my path, I was still at loggerheads with conspicuous benefits. And as I started approaching the completion of my I million Daimoku target, devils became vigilant and attacked. With no movement towards my Job struggle, I dipped. Only 1.5 hours away from my Daimoku target and a shoten zenjin, in the form of a senior leader came home mystically. I told her about my struggle and she guided on how No Daimoku goes for a waste and how Daimoku always goes to the place where its more needed. The vision of the Ghonzon is bigger than reality. That Guidance uplifted my dying spirit and my last 1.5 hour of Daimoku was more powerful than any other. And as soon as I finished my 1 million Daimoku target, I started seeing movement towards my Job Karma Victory.

Even though, I did not achieve the targeted goals of my 1 million Daimoku campaign, I achieved far greater Victories. Human Revolution is our biggest Victory and the sooner we embark on that journey the better. The 1 million Daimoku campaign taught me that we should not, come what may, doubt the power of Ghonzon and as Ghonzon is us and we are the Boddhisatwa, we should never doubt our own capabilities. The struggles that each one of us is going through are because we ourselves invited them during the Ceremony in the Air so that we can prove the validity of the law by being victorious over them in this saha world.

Therefore, only we have the power to change our life, change our destiny.

Airport Humour!

"It's the journey,  lad,  not the destination",  Pip repeated to himself. Miss Haversham spoke these words to make Pip's journey in wooing Estella an adventure rather than it being a cumbersome agony. 

Airports are living classes in sociology. Human  behaviour at it's best and worst. With air travel no more a privilege for the rich and famous, people from all walks of life, carrying their own definition of lifestyle choices adorn the airports- thank God for lowering oil prices,  airlines market being in perfect competition and 'cheap'  carrier aircrafts hovering the industry. 

Airport transit gives me just enough time to do my favourite thing in the world - Observe people and draw my own inference.  No,  bitch,  not judging,  just weaving inferences in my head. So while I wait for Spicejet to make the boarding call, I shall quote from the vivid memories of past airport transits and my exaggerated observation from today.

 

So right now sitting in front of Hamleys,  I see this insanely irritating toddler crying his lungs out to coax his mother to buy him a hideous plane.  Shit! I feel like slapping the child and I am sure the mother is cursing the father of the child for not using a condom on that forsaken night. Wow! Now the child is lying on the ground, raising his decibel even louder.  Fucking hell! Spare the rod and spoil the child,  much? Why can't the mother whack him instead of getting harrowed? Oh! dear God! Why the fuck is she giving her card to attendant? Selling the child and being charged for the same? Blasphemy! Noooooo. She bought her the plane.  "Woman,  are you crazy".  Well,  then we blame Hardik Patel and the likes for creating public nuisance to quench their unreasonable whims and fancies and for the spineless Government to bow down His Highness' desires.  Trust me,  if not Hamleys,  Hardik's training definitely started at a local kirana shop when he fulfilled his whim, against his mother's approv,  to get an extra Parley-G. 

Airport Lesson No.  1- Just potty training your progenies is not important,  discipline them.  Nurture over Nature always. Remember Caliban from Tempest?

From irritating children to nympho honeymooning couple.  Not making this up,  but once on my return flight to Delhi from Goa,  I oversaw a back-from-honeymoon couple (the woman was wearing Chuda and her henna was intact)  watching porn and whispering sweet nothings, Not,  abnoxialities,  to each other.  What the fuck did you do in Goa on the honeymoon? All your carnal desires, I am sure had enough room.  Call me prude or a 'righteous bitch' but I complained about the porn watching to the flight staff and 'morning wood' of the couple was asked to sleep. 

Airport Lesson No.  2- Article 15 of the Constitution  gives you Freedom of Speech and Expression but Article 15(2) also puts restrictions to the above stated Freedom.  Watch porn but not in a public domain.

Excel,  PowerPoint,  Drafts and Timesheet fillers are the relatable muses of the Airports.  'My Boss is a prick.  May he rot in hell',  the expression on the face,  the voice in the head.  Aye,  Aye,  Captain! This clan always intrigues me the most.  Whilst, most of the spectators view them as the protagonists of Suits, House of Lies,  House of Cards, trust me, half the time they are gasping for breath under the cloud of 'created work' by the vindictive bosses.  This breed usually occupies a distant seat at a cafe, a table for two, two is for the files, paperwork, laptop bag. This Ivy School category though consumed in their 'work'  will smell a 'hot chick' from a distant.  And the frustrated testosterone will make way for the most most complex excel sheet on their laptop,  in order to attract the estrogen. Have we not learnt shit from Desperate Housewives.  The plumber gets the booty not the spectacled Investment Banker.  

Airport Lesson No. 3 - No matter how occupied we are,  sexual tension can always be used as a bait to divert attention.  Remember Maneka, the tease from heaven.

The first flyers are pure joys. It could be an aged granny whose grand daughter splurged her first salary to book a return air flight for her dadima who has never been on a plane. The pure amazement and splendour in those 'wise' eyes is heartwarming. Also kids, well the well- brought up ones,  and their button eyes becoming extra large on being on the plane or on the Airport- amusing to say the least.   On a flight from Pune to Delhi, back in time of law school days, a first time flyer Aunty occupied a seat next to mine. After fiddling with the seat belt for a minute she finally made peace by literally knotting it up and covering it with her dupatta. She attentively heard the safety announcements and checked for the safety jacket. And then started reciting Ganesh aarti. When I gave her a confused look,  she said,  'First time. Bappa cha ashirwad aavshayak aahe'. Couldn't hold my awwed smile and helped her lock her seat belt in a proper way. 

Airport Lesson No. 4 - While we take the take age old traditions,  we can totally decorate them our way.

But first let me take a selfie breed. Not denying that I love selfies but I refrain from being a narcissist in the public domain. The Airport selfie addicts confuse with their gimmicks.  "Just made to the Airport. Thought would miss my flight. #runninglatetotheairport".  With that caked face and the well co-ordinate attire your picture and title and the time consumed in taking the selfie and uploading it on Facebook,  Instagram, Snapchat are a Paradox.  

And then there is nonsensical clan who insists on taking videos at the airport. Like capturing the ceiling, architecture, infrastructure, outlets, people. Remember David Headley and his reki videos of Taj. 

Airport Lesson No. 5- The exhibit should match the written description. You can't pass the cat as the tiger.

Airport dresscode followers. So here,  guilty,  My Lords. I like to dress up properly for the transit. Like put an effort to dress up to look casual enough for the transit. This category makes up for all the invitation to the Mile High Club. Not like a Mile High Club exists in India. Atleast,  I don't know of it.  So as far as clothes are concerned,  comfy but sultry,  not pyjamas but linen pants. Casual dresses and not A-line maxis (until and unless you are flying Emirates or Etihad). Slip ons,  wedges,  block heels, Yes. Stilletoes, chappals, No. Mehr Mac, Impassioned,  Yes. Morangie, Comeon. 

Airport Lesson No. 6- There is no occasion which doesn't require dress up. No Bras and no trousers are for home. For the other occasions,  dress up like 'When in France....' You never know if someone is game to paint you like them French girls.

Tell me about your Airport Humour!