Brave Women

Pranab Mukherji calls the young gang rape victim who died , a true hero. To be brutally raped and to struggle for your life is indeed being heroic. And by that yardstick, all Indian women are heroic and brave. Heroism for Indian women is not fighting on the front to protect the country....rather it is the bravery of making it through every single day with a smile on their faces, and relief at the end of the day that they are alive and safe. The heroism is in the act of survival. 

• If a girl child manages to not get aborted or smothered on her birth, and survives, she is indeed brave.
• When a daughter loves her parents unconditionally despite being treated unequally- in terms of education, nutrition and lifestyle, as compared to her brothers, she is brave. 
• When the daughter is denied the opportunity to find her feet in the world, to work and be financially independent, and yet loves those that deprive her of her freedom, she is heroic. 
• When a girl covers herself, boards a bus to travel and assesses the threat therein, she is brave.
• When a girl is eve-teased and swallows the hurt and shame, she is heroic.
• When a daughter is molested by her family male members and shuts up, she is brave. 
• When a daughter gives up her identity and takes on the surname of her husband and submits to his and his family’s demands, she is brave.
• When a woman gets superceded at work because she is not part of the boyclub, she is heroic.
• When a woman works on despite sexual advances by her seniors she is brave. Whether she reports it or not, she is still brave. 
• When a woman is snubbed by the taxi driver, or is subject to a lewd comment by a passerby, she is brave. 

So when she is raped, brutalised and loses her life, all because she wanted to be a normal human being, a woman is truly heroic. 

Our women have always been brave. They know they are never above suspicion. They know that aspersions will be cast on their character because of the actions of men. They realise that no matter what, they need to swallow their pride and aspirations so that peace might be maintained in the family . In the very act of being sacrificing and self-effacing, Indian women are at their very bravest. 

How about educating our men and boys? And making them brave?  How about making them understand that brutal strength is not strength at all. That just because they are physically stronger than women, and can overpower them, is no indicator of heroism. How about not subjugating the woman to satisfy your ego , pride or lust? Earning money to support the family is not brave, but creating an environment where the women of your family will be safe and secure is brave. Not using sexual organs as power tools is being brave. Having the courage to stand up to someone who beats up his wife,  teases a woman or molests a woman is being brave. 

It is not about laws and legal actions. These are matters of personal choice...

Creating a world where your daughter will be more than equal to your son, is being brave.