The Black Veil

The first thing that I want to state is that in this post I am questioning a belief and a practice and not attacking it.

The black veil intrigues me. It disturbs me and brings a lot of questions for which I need answers. I am not supportive of the practice of women wearing burqua and I have my reasons for it. It is a fatal combination of religious practices and patriarch culture. I do not have a historical understanding of why women were made to wear a hijab and its connection to the present day. As per my knowledge, women were kept under the veil because they were considered as sexual objects and men did not want them to run around flaunting their beauty and bodies. From what I understand, a veil is not just a physical covering but also sets a psychological boundary which is not supposed to be crossed. Here, by psychological boundary, I aim at the various social constraints that a women is supposed to follow to keep her virginity intact which includes proper dressing, manner of conduct, body posture, walk etc etc etc. The burqua is not just supposed to conceal the woman’s body but is also symbolic of how a woman is supposed to confine herself , her feelings, her emotions and her life according to the ways as defined by the men of the society for them. For me, the hijab signifies confinement from expression of the body and the self. It curbs the sexuality,freedom and individuality of womanhood. It might be done to under the name of protection from stray eyes but did no one think of curbing those stray eyes??

Strangely, according to Islamic practices, black is the colour of mourning….why is the burqua black in colour…does this symbolize that women are evil to the society that they are to be wrapped up in a black cloth all the time??

When I look out into the world,I see many many women who have left behind these cultural practices and have ventured into this modernist world with a sense of freedom and an individuality that anybody dare not doubt and point a finger at. But this does not mean that the practice is a long past. It is very much existant in our villages, in our cities and in this big world. We talk about existentialism, we talk about modernism and post- modernism. But my question is do we have a right to talk about all these 'isms' when millions of women in this world that we live in are not even aware of what individuality means. What it means to nourish your own self and your soul....or for that matter do they understand the meaning of the word 'self' in the truest sense of it......????

And the seasons go on

Well my student days have come to an end but those college years have been a lifetime of fun,masti,emotions, stupidity, fooling around things and so on….m happy that there will be no more slogging with books and exams but there’s much more that I’ll be missing on…..
1. those so many failed attempts at proxy attendance.
2. that rushing from bus stop to college to save the attendance for the 8.30
lecture.
3. non stop dirty talk at the lawns.
4. woh canteen ki chai, samose aur idli sambar.
5. the trips…
6. 8 of us stuffed in 1 auto(resource crunch!!!)
7. copy pasting projects and assignments…
8. some projects seriously done in just 14hrs…or I night at the max…!!
9. those times when we were thrown out of class and we laughed our hearts off!!!
10. the big break ups n make ups…80% of conversations were circled around this…
11. the college fest….esp the euphoria nite….mmmmmm
12. the chit chats at the metro station…
13. the plays that we performed can’t be forgotten
14. the nights before exams….fadu nights!!
15. the so many front row movies that we enjoyed..:)))
16. summer vacations and how desperately we waited to sleep our assess off through the day.
17. the groups that we had…and the hiding notes and the cold wars.
18. I can’t forget the first time we tried marroing sutta!!!
19. chit passing during lectures and the fuss created when caught.
20. the fun with clothes, naughty t shirts with slogans, mast jholas and piercings!!!
21. going broke giving treats!!
22. internship sucked the blood out of us…but we all came back smiling!!!

Well these were the days which made us laugh will now give us wet eyes. And will laugh over those days that we spent crying and anxious over stupid problems!!!

Thats college I guess……

on the move...

driving down the road
on this beautiful moon lit night
m thinking of u
sitting beside me
trying to hide what is evident to both
we just let go
holding hands tight
with our fingers entwined
the breath out of sync
sparks in the stomach
the gentle yet passionate touch does wonders
to both the heart and soul
making the desire to melt in your arms
rising high inside
we stop in a dingy lane
to make that moment ours
and let the fire take us
into the depths of each other....