I am so glad my friend Carol-Ann made an interesting cultural difference comment on my last post., about the Doctor incident.
India is a land of paradoxes , enigmas and riddles.Maya...what appears is not really there.So we interpret life through our cultural and personal experience eyeglasses.
But if we women don 't stand up for our rights we can get dragged through the mud.In a land where the woman is worshipped as a goddess, she also gets burnt for not bringing an adequate dowry to her husband 's house, female unborn and newly born children are killed, illegally,and as a widow she is marginalized to put it mildly, but if she sacrifices herself at the funeral pyre of her husband she is hailed as a goddess (Sati), which is illegal again.In many societies the boys of the family are given a better education and special privileges among siblings, as they will be the future bread-earners of the family.And in many homes the wife eats last after feeding her husband and children.The wife does not call her husband by his name as it is disrespectful.The list goes on and on...domestic violence , rape. There are so many crimes against women...if a girl refuses the romantic advances of a boy he can accost her on a street and throw burning acid on her face to scar her for life...if I can 't have you, so can no one else.
I have painted a very gory, ghastly, negative, dismal and bleak picture of the Indian woman.Let me emphasise that things are changing vastly on a large scale.But we have a long way to go babies.
Every woman has to stand up for her rights.I did that at a crowded bill counter at the telephone office once. In many public places there are separate counters for women to conduct their business, but many times we are prevented from doing so by men.
There was a mile long que at the bill counter and the men tried to prevent me from exercising my woman privilege. I just turned around and gave a short Gettysburg type speech to the crowd. I got immediate support, the Red Sea parted and I was able to pay my bill.
10 Fertilize my soul:
That's the way - stand up !
Having spent a lot of time in India in the last 2 years, I know a bit of what you say. I particularly remember little things, like letting ladies no matter what age or apparent economic status to go first, was greeted by even professional women as a novelty.
:o}
i'm not sure where Sid took the photo of the field :]
Hello, My Dear friend. I just got an e-mail from my MILove telling me of your post. She is one of your greatest fans. It is so wonderful that you stand, in so doing it is true that you are taking a risk. But not to stand risks all for so many.
As a lion, roar!
Amrita, Hi, our paths have crossed before at Becky's blog. Now we've met once again at Inspired's. Hello dear sister in Christ!
Wow, about what happens in India. I knew things were tough, but that is an eye-opener to me. Keep praying and I will lift you and your country up in prayer too. We have friends who are native Indians and have for years run an orphanage/school in Mysore (did I spell that right?), helping children find shelter but most of all the safety of having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
By the way, I will be posting the words to "In Times Like These", Lord willing on my blog on Monday.
God bless!
Thank you friends for encouraging me to stand up against the evil in our society.Our land is democratic and we have freedom of speech but we just want to hurt people 's sentiemnts, that 's important.So make your statement without insulting or hurting anyone.
There is such ethnic and religous diversity in my country...the colours jusr merge into each other. Its hard to explain.
JUst yesterday our Prime Minister made a very good speech about
women empowerment. He said the Indian government"seeks to impart a new sense of urgency to the task of ensuring gender equality in our society" The PM said that gender equality is a very powerful and effective weapon against extremism,fanaticism,fundamentalism and political and social violence.
Thank you Susan Kelly for visiting my blog.You spelt Mysore right. The Mysore Palce is one of the most beautiful buildings of India. You must come and have a look.
Dear Donetta, give my love to your MIL. If she has a blog I would like to visit her.
From your blog i gather she is a very special person
Sorry in my previous comment i wanted to say we DON 'T want hst anybody 's feelings , missed that improtant 4 letter word
In India we always worship female power, though in many areas the women are tortured. Still I will say, the ancient culture and civilization taught us respect Mother India, Ma Durga and the power in general.
"...I just turned around and gave a short Gettysburg type speech to the crowd"
Made me smile. Way to go!
Dear Amrita,
Some of these posts of 2007 are very powerful. Especially this one. I like to talk about the ethnicity of our country and the social structure. The plight of women and just to mention, even the most down trodden amongst women here in India, is only physically weaker than men, emotionally is is far stronger. She is also very smart. I have heard that many of them use their husband's desire for their bodies in the night as a bargain to get anything she want - like a new sari, jewellery etc, etc and then I think, I wish I was as smart as her! Not giving my heart to the man who loves my body!
Yes, we are such a complex mix of things, it would take sociologists forever to understand the Indian woman. Fascinating!
Julia
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