For
me, it has never been a fight for gender equality. It have been intrigued and
frustrated by the difference created, sustained and preserved, un-pronounced,
in the society generations after generations. I say it aloud, I am not a
feminist and it is not about creating “rules” that promote both genders equally
and give them enough opportunities.
Then
what is it about?
Hmmm…
I feel (strangely!) that I belong to an era (or planet!) where the basic
existence is beyond genders. There is no female and male energy. It is all a
play of yin and yang there.
In a
lot of religious places, I see men and women sitting in separate sections and
at a majority of celebratory functions as well. There seem a few places where
the two genders mingle socially for a good time. Perhaps in school/ college
days or at the max, early days of a first job. My vision may be constricted
here, I admit. I have been party to Indian systems all my life, so far and
being brought up in a metro of a “fairly” liberal family. I have always wondered,
why don’t the sexes mix up and remain as a group; instead they divide like a Y
the moment they enter a social gathering! Doesn’t this sound strange!? It does,
to me. Are they only meant to be together under their one roof and that too, with one partner… shhh!!! Am I
propagating polygamy here… No! No! No!
Why
has gender become an integral part of our identity? Why are we classified as men and women? Why do we
still hear, men are not supposed to da da
da… and women are meant to ta ta ta…
In the words of Rumi, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there.” I think that he meant a paradise that perhaps we
have all experienced at one point or the other, where there is no identity,
it’s only I and that equals We. A place where genders and relations of role-
play never existed. The existence their is that of unconditionally…
Unconditional love, being and just beings of love…
“Out beyond our ideas of ourselves and the world there is a field, I
will meet you there…”
