The Indian Culture kept growing day by day. The riots fought for our voices to be heard loud enough to reach the people's ears. But they chose to hear it once and in the name of “ what will the society say?” they accepted it at a point. Yeah! Education is the key to success, but you know it's a key for a girl to get married in the richest house?
Today, the year 2023, is the moment to go back to the question, Do our betis have the freedom to educate the way they want and how they want? In the age of economic inflation, girls- education has received its tax. Looking deeper into what a Middle-class Girl thinks of her right toward education.
Being an Indian is a huge responsibility, but when it comes to you being a girl, the responsibility immediately doubles. Still, a girl is taken as a burden for her father! her family, and her society. Still, those insecure conversations are heard. Of that if: “when she grows up, she asks for a part in our property? The answer is No! Because she is a belonging of someone else.” “what if the dowery asked for her more?” “ what if she gets educated and is out of our hands?” “She is going to be against us” Rise of such insecure questions is still passed on from generation to generation. When will this stop? When will the generation learn to walk with an open mind? When will they learn a girl is a human? Not a puppet of their hand. When will a girl learn to know her life?
I don’t think my Father was the happiest when I was born. He expected a boy child. He wasn’t that fortunate to see me. Throughout my life, I have been on every step I have taken. I have been warned not to do certain activities. I have been caged for a lifetime under huge expectations of society and parental and gender norms. Going out for my dad was a vulgar action.
For him, it was like showing an act of being a spoiler of the family's reputation. He believed, “ladki ko ghar ghar nahi ghumna chahiye, na ladki ko bhar jaada jaana chaiya. This will spoil her”
With that thinking, he kept pointing to my every single action as a bad thing. I totally craved his love, care, gentle behaviour, and strong support to fight against society's gender norms. Haha! I never knew he was the one encouraging such bullshit norms in society until I turned 18th this year. I could see his behaviour changing as I grew and started learning about such shits. Our Family conversations were slowly about marriage and handling another man's life. It's never about what I should be doing after my undergraduate. It's moreover about what society would say rather than why society would say it.
Honestly, saying it clenches my heart when I look up to such action. My dad was once my role model, and now he is nowhere in my life. I now never look up to being like him. I rather love myself far apart from him. Every single day I curse my existence on this planet. I curse for being born.
My education is not my right to freedom, it's a gambling game for the patriarchal society.
The more educated the girl, the more money I win in her exchange. If the girl learns to defend herself, that means the more money I lose in exchange for her. Why is it like this? Do I have to think twice about taking a step in my career? I never signed a treaty of when being, in my teenage, I will learn to cook and learn to serve a patriarchal family.
Why must I learn to serve that useless man and his family? Can’t they look after their own mess? Why aren’t they taught to sign the same treaty as I did? It is not like they were bringing gold when they walked in on this planet, and I brought fire when I entered this place. Now the only thing I look after is the quality of change in my dad's thinking. That going out on internship is not selling my respect for him! Me educating or looking for a big goal is not my attitude or ego.
I wish they had ever heard me. I wish the tears shattered writing this were fruitful if they knew what their daughter wants them for. I wish I get the support to fight and not serve an idiot. I wish I could show this society how foolish they are. I wish the number of tears I cried today is something I don’t want my child to ever cry about. I want her to live the life she wants and not be a caged animal. I want her to take her education as her right and not as her degree of being a servant. I wish my dad would have walked up to accept his mistake and change my words against him.
I wish 2024 to be a year to be proud of being educated with a smile and not with a burden.
Featured image is for representational purposes only.