WEAKER SEX?

With the new row about to start on Republic Day in which hundreds of women are ready to break the age-old tradition of barring women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Shani Shingnapur temple situated in a village in Maharastra, it comes as a shame to the people who call themselves to be the safeguards of Gods and Hinduism, the authority of the temple and the Maharashtra government.

In the 21st Century, when the Indian Prime Minister is batting for equality for women, launching a programme like the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, a patriarchal tradition in the garb of religion comes as a slap on not only on the PM's face but also on the face of the Indian Constitution which gives equal opportunities to both men and women.

Temple authorities are of the opinion that there are some prevalent rules and regulations of the temple and women have been accepting this restriction from a long time. But today, one woman, Trupti Desai, has decided to lead a 1,000 strong army of women to barge into the Temple, enter the sanctum sanctorum and perform the rituals.

This also comes at a time when the President of India hosted a lunch for 100 successful women a few days back. A slap, is, however, an understatement when such incidents happen in a country like India.

Isn't it time we shake off our misogynist attitude and do away with our forced ego of being the stronger sex and take up things rather like a 'mard'? Are the men afraid of taking up challenges? Challenges can come from all quarters of life. So why not take it from our female counterparts?

It is hilarious to see a man bowing his head before goddess Durga or Kali who are women if they do not realise. I guess men have died and the ones alive these days are just like those undeserving progeny of chivalrous ancestors. Am I wrong? Prove me wrong!

Which religion has asked to give less rights to women and bar them from entering temples? In India, there is no dearth of temples and so are the misogynistic traditions. Forgot Sabarimala? 

I have asked many who quite stupidly try to defend such rules but have never received a strong reason for putting restrictions on women. Some still believe that women should be barred from offering prayers to God or even enter a temple during their periods. And the worst part is, maximum women actually abide by these restrictions. Come on! You cannot put your feet in two boats. Either come out of these age-old meaningless traditions and harp on equality or simply keep shut.

For the ones who do not know, when a woman is having her periods, it is completely wrong to call her impure. Rather she does what men cannot. She flushes out her impure blood and I guess she is the purest in those days.

Once talking to a friend, philosopher and guide of mine, Debaditya Ghosh, we had come across a reason as to why women were barred from entering temples in earlier days. In those days there were no sanitary napkins and no one would like blood all over a temple floor and it just followed even after sanitary napkins were introduced. Preposterous!

We all have seen history and know it well that the oppressed cannot be kept under the feet for a long time. If foreigners who came to rule India could be driven away then we men are still but insiders and the so-called weaker sex knows our limits.

It's time we stop considering women backward.

No matter what is the outcome of the movement today, this should be considered as Mangal Pandey's rebellion against the British raj that blew the bugle of Independence movement in India.