Today the college is organizing the seminar themed “women, shame and societal taboos”. this timed the responsibility to represent the college is handed over to Nysha and Siddhant .though these two never get together ,for college prestige they have spent two sleepless nights to write paper on the theme and prepare the exquisite presentation.
The chaos is in on the campus. Arrangements are
checked, re-checked. Everybody is busy doing something or the other they probably
don’t have idea about.
As usual Siddhant tries being smart with Nysha
knowing that she has the habit to read newspaper early morning. He comes with
usual naughty language skills .he says “hey Nysha today I read the complete
newspaper.”
Nysha was quick with her riposte and exclaims in
speed “COMPLETE NEWSPAPER .what are you saying man. What are doing here, you
should be in Putin’s army, he requires person like you to unite soviet.”
Siddhant feels why in the hell he said something
like that to her and with apology in his voice says “Mam I take my words back”.
Nysha further advices him “hey please don’t waste
your energy in unnecessary things; we have been paired to do greater things
this day.”
Both feeling frustrated in each other’s company
still are together like those two
passengers in the train who dislike each other to death but cannot escape till
the destination arrives.
********************
It’s around 10:00 am. Preparations are almost done.
The moment so awaited will land on the campus .these kinds of big events make
clocks’ hand travel faster than they use to other ordinary days. Suddenly Nysha
gets the bad news, as out of nowhere she gets her periods which have spoiled
her dress. She murmurs in her mind “menstruation are nature’s fury for women to
keep her women on big events where she can be the rock star”.
Somehow she manages to hide her frustration through
her wits. She walks towards the washroom located at the end of the corridor. In
between her way two men who are to present paper repenting one of the top-notch
institutes in the country. They laugh at her blood stains over her dress and
share among themselves off-color jokes.
Nysha never gets offended with the lewd comments
from men. Rather she approaches both of them, despite pain in abdomen and
cramps in the thighs and bluntly says “see you guys in seminar. Blood is not
down by pants, but is running furiously in my head as well .get ready to have
splashes of that blood over yourself on which you laughed at.
Naughty smile disappears from their faces. Their
faces reflect reverse osmosis as if water has been ejected out of the resins.
*************************
The seminar is spearheaded with usual monotony .clichéd
concepts of the feminism. Some of the rhetoric sounds so redundant that even
chairs and tables in hall begin to suffocate. So –called feminists who are deep
patriarchs at the heart are talking of women empowerment and shedding taboos
.the false claims they are making is making conscience guilty. They are the
ones who have in morning made their wives run in the house to make them ready
for the seminar. Their wives must have run for breakfast, their iron clothes,
handkerchiefs and the shocks and list is listless.
Nyssa’s eyes rest on two men only. Her scary aura
has portended Siddhant something is terribly wrong with the girl. Meanwhile Nysha texts Siddhant “hey pls
,don’t play slide while I speak.hav othr plan in mind
Ps: luv u (if u agree) “
Siddhant replies with angry smiles “ hell wid ur
plan.u jerk.
Nysha replies “pls its important than paper hav to
giv men a lesson”
Siddhant mutes.
***************
Soon after arrives Nyssa’s turn. She travels the
distance to the Dias from the back of the chief speakers table. She approaches
the mic with usual command in her walk, adjusts the mic. Nysha begins with
scorn in her voice “the great morning to genuine feminists who are amongst us, disastrous
morning to those fake feminists who just came in to show their oratory skills
and get certificates for gloomy portfolio.”(Nysha’s words are directed to those
two men)
She continues “please take offenses of what I say next.
My apologies to you Siddhant”
Siddhant glares at Nysha, with irritation in eyes,
he says to himself- yes you go on girl wherever you want. But do not come back.
“Today when I came for seminar, in between I got my
periods and stained my dress. Two men who are there in seminar caught those
stains while I was approaching the washroom. They laughed and passed the lewd comments.
What a paradox, coming for seminar on women and societal taboos and laughing
out loud on woman’s natural processes.” Nysha speaks with anger in her voice.
So I think reading the redundant paper is not of use.
The question is why they laughed? Why a woman and her identity is always ridiculed
and laughed of?
In fact men deserve the ridicule as it is men who
are shameless. How often we see a man standing on the road, unzipping his pants
to take out the organ of power and arrogance to pee to the lengths. I just have
this fantasy when girls will go and laugh on men peeing on roads.
I do not know from where this concept came that men
will stand and pees while woman has to sit to urinate.i think this is what
gives rise to dominating patriarchy and submissive womanhood.”
Men who laughed at Nysha are now wetting their handkerchief
with sweat on their face and body.
Nysha brings another taboo relating to periods by mentioning
of religious tantrums “menstruation has other stigmas too; a woman is always made
scared not to enter temple, not touch religious deities while she is menstruating.
Because that time she is considered impure, I do not understand how the blood
that is when in body of a pregnant woman nourishes the embryo (new life)
becomes impure when it comes out in form of menses. If indeed it is impure,
then whole humanity should be declared untouchable and should not worship
religion at all.”
This time Nysha’s words flame some women in their
menopausal stage who have been marred by assaults of patriarchal theorems of
purity.
“By laughing at me, you both do not become real man;
let me tell you the story of real man Arunachalam Muruganantham
who initiated safe menstruation revolution for women. He manufactured low cost sanitary
napkins to make it affordable for women of low strata .he was abandoned by his
wife and family for this feet. He is the real man. Men, who will still laugh at
girl with stains over her dress, please go and drown in the deepest lake in embarrassment.”
Nysha gave this felicitous lesson
to all those who still stigmatize menstruation as dirty, cheap flow of women’s
body. Then Nysha with pride in her stature walks down the seminar hall with
still visible blood stains over her dress and nobody dares laugh.
*************************
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