to Chennai Park arrive now?" "will my friends, Myank, Pati and Nishant make it conveniently here?".....humming "En Idayam ... Hossana
...Hellllo o o..." "Helloo o" "Hello o". "Hello Sir, excuse me!", she said. "Could you please tell me where the Police Station is?"..."Oh! There", I pointed out. She looked at the bi-lingual board, and apparently was taken aback. "Oh! Okay. Sorry I did not notice it." I saw her deep round eyes as she batted them for a while, seemingly embarrassed at the omission. Then in a brisk, sudden movement she turned and started walking toward the building she was looking for. In a couple of minutes her puffed black form was shielded from vision by the opaque concrete walls.As I turned I thought.......
Doesn't a woman's being "in wraps" endanger the relative position of others in the society with whom she interacts or converses? For instance the girl who talked to me yesterday, knows how I look, what exactly my features are, what wristwatch I was wearing, how my expressions are, whether or not I have a mustache, how exactly I sound (my sound is not muffed
, unlike her's) etc. If you consider that we both used the same amount of time and effort to speak to one another, it seems naturally unfair that she should have a natural relative information advantage just because she is a woman and a Muslim together. She could file a more accurate information report about me than vice-versa. So even while talking to you she remains disguised, covered and concealed and hence she does not allow a level playing field in even a potentially harmless natural conversation.In a public place a "purdahnasheen" woman has no identity. She is can not recognized, identified or described. She, even in the real world, lives a virtual entity. She does not have a face or features. She suffers what can be the most blatant and perverse kind of sexual objectivity. She lives in a world where she is treated as a shapeless, formless creature where the only thing that she lives by is the identification that she is Muslim and a woman simultaneously.
I ll keep back my comments till I receive feedback on what has been told till now.
You might also look this post up.
6 COMMENTS:
Another one of those things I have wondered about, been vaguely irritated about only to come to the conclusion that each to his own, whatever "his own" might be :-/
Though I am sure that you wrote "his own" on a random basis,Vaishnavi, that exactly is the point. The Muslim man has dominated the woman so much that even her very identity has been wiped out forget any other means of oppression. Not only is the burqa backward, discriminatory but it is a stealth weapon that secretly annihilates the minimum social presence that is the right of any woman or for that matter any living being.
The Muslim men have, over the years, done what has suited their position and stronghold best. And much of that in the name of religion (incidentally, though the point in question is the Muslim man, this kind of oppression was prevalent in most religions, but is slowly getting wiped away; the Burqa though blatantly continues the hypocritical tradition even today)
All I am saying that let the system change to " each according to HER own".
I agree with your view point.... might be I can put it as a perfect view point of a modern day guy.... My comment is that through time in history, for every tradition we follow, there is something behind it.... It may or may not fit in to the context of present day but, there is something deeper ....
Now putting myself in a different cube of thinking... Actually I used to think that are these ancient rituals and stuffs valid for the present day ...???? They might sound archaic and kind of out dated..... but digging deeper.... they have something to say and which is valid even today....
Burqua is something which was introduced in islam, where the beauty of the woman is confined only for the visibility of her husband
It is said in quran
"O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their outergarments (jilbabs) close around themselves; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle."
This issue of Burqua has been dragged across ages through time into history... may be if we want to ease the rules.... we can make it a bit flexible..... but who cares ... we are not the guys going to decide the course of time and space .... better not waste time.... lets get back to work...!!!
But, lets follow the traditions.... for our forefathers were not so jobless to put in something for us to follow...!!!! Lets create a better world to live in....
PS: Nice article sreejith....!! kudos to u....
2 point agenda..!
1.) u noticed her(burqa lady) only cause u wanted more of her ...! very acceptable- exploration is human nature..! she was different.. so thats why she got a place in blog aswell as your mind...!
2.)if we take the con of what you expressed about women identity... strippers dont have an identity either... no one remembers their names or faces ..once the job is done ...!
" personna of a woman is radioactive .. burqa cant stop it from reaching to others "!
you need to meet more burqa women..! i would be more than obliged to help you in this matter...!
sreejith dude .. u need to grow up of women geography ...there is a lot more...![;)]
P.S. : this is my first comment ! (take it in a progressive way..lol ..as the welcome note says)! i still like the way you think..! keep blogging..!
@ Praveen: Thanks for the detailed comments. Though the pattern of your thoughts were logical as reflected through the comment you posted, I do not understand why you turned back to preconceived notions and dogma to give a totally incongruous conclusion.
If you say that in Islam the beauty of the woman is confined only for her husband, is it any different for Christians or Hindus or Parsis?
Though you agree that rules can be made flexible because they are too restrictive and stringent, it is sad that you desire to play safe by sticking to old outdated traditions. I admit our ancestors were not fools but history also shows numerous examples of dubious practices of our ancestors including the gory killing practiced by the Romans, the tyranny of the British clergy...etc.
Osama Bin Laden will also become somebody's ancestor someday in future, and going by your logic all ancestors do has to be right. So terrorism is justified is it? Come on...
All I am saying is that I think it is a practice almost degrades women almost to the extend of treating them as items, and it must be done away with as it is being done in France and mulled about in various other EU nations.
@ Parvez: Sat Sri Akal and Welcome here!!! It is encouraging to find you commenting on issues like this and I will definitely look forward to your signature tangential thought process finding an expressive opening here. Thank you for the compliment included too!
I agree with most of what you have said, but would like to excuse myself in two "sub-agendas"!!
i> I hardly know about the world, lives, problems of strippers and would not like to comment on them. Anyway I think that Muslim women are a totally different league altogether, most of them being ladies whose character can not be even questioned and with whom blatant skin showing or other erotic and shameful acts are clearly disassociated. Still, I would not dismiss your point. Instead if you would like to enlighten me and my readers about something that I am totally ignorant of, please do so. This forum does not restrict discussion on any topic what so ever and I would like to be categorical in saying so.
ii> Your point "It's different" was indeed true but my argument is that it is not good enough to be different, the difference must be positive in nature too. I am sure that lots of women (including the woman I have written about in my post) would care much less about getting some cheap publicity through a blog like this if they were given the option of total freedom. And even I would be happy to report a positive move rather than discuss a restrictive practice that 'commodotizes' women "who look different"!!
I must almost give you a standing ovation for the one liner about women personality being radioactive. Indeed women are powerful.
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P.S: Thanks for your offer to introduce me to women wearing the veil. I hope "bhabhiji" won't mind it.
It is not hidden from you or anybody in this forum that my knowledge about women is dangerously below sea level. But given that great philosophers, researchers and scholars have described the effort as complex and futile, I think it is easier to augment my knowledge in finance instead. For you: Go ahead, my brother from another mother, in to unwarranted waters. May your better sense prevail now and always...;)
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