A big thank you to Trupti Desai

As a woman in India in these times, I must say I feel a sense of relief, a sense of being protected; in fact I feel like all the problems of being a woman in India are finally over.

There will be no more rapes, dowry deaths, discrimination at work, no verbal or physical harassment, female infanticide – it is going to be safe to travel alone at night. I can wear short skirts or dresses and know for sure that I will not be subjected to whistles or cat calls. I know that girl children will be given education at par with their brothers, and subsequently allowed to work outside their homes, and will not be married off at a young age, and become mothers long before their bodies and minds have had the time to develop.

And all of this has become possible thanks to our new Messiah, Ms. Trupti Desai. You see what she has achieved in the last couple of months is going to revolutionize the lives of women in the country.

Because as every male in India knows all our problems began around a 100 years ago when it was ordained by our Hindu culture that would women would not be allowed inside certain temples in India.

And so started every woman’s worst nightmare. The rapes started – the most widely known assault on a woman’s honour, Draupadi’s ‘cheer-haran’ must surely have taken place soon after the first time she was turned away from entering a temple.

Similarly, female infanticide, neglect of the girl child, gender discrimination were merely consequences of this one edict.
But now that we women can enter the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar, and they are saying we will be allowed into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, I know we are finally in safe hands.

Once a woman is able to enter these temples, be she a woman whose farmer husband committed suicide, or a woman being harassed for dowry, she will not have to worry about how she will raise her children with no money, or where her poor parents will bring the money to fulfill the promise of dowry. Because Ms. Desai has assured us what women need now urgently is to be able to break down these age-old traditions.

By being able to enter these temples, women will not have to work twice as hard, in the workplace and at home, trying their best to be a consummate professional and an efficient wife and mother.

There will now be more girls taking part in sports – what Sania Mirza and P. T. Usha couldn’t bring about with their own achievements. Because after all we can now go and pray at these temples – whether we want to or not. Of course if you are among that part of the woman population who still refuses to enter these temples, it is only because you are mired in years of superstition and tradition.

When you are being handed the access (pun definitely intended) to a new life how dare you continue to be a prisoner of your upbringing?

So thank you, Ms. Trupti Desai, from the bottom of my heart, for changing the lot of women all across India. I am sure the next time I am in a crowded bus or street and being groped I will not feel terrible about it. After all, access to Sabarimala is just round the corner, right?
And oh yeah, if I get passed over for promotion only because I am a woman but infinitely more productive than my male colleagues, I can always pray at the Shani temple and all my problems will be a thing of the past.

All the widows and families of the farmers who committed suicide in your home state of Maharashtra and other states have you to thank for all the good times that are sure to come their way now.