Woman, you are responsible!
The morning maid is new and punctual. I just love that about her. She comes on time and does her work fine. Today she was late by twenty minutes. I went through panic attacks. She had taken her salary. I was wondering if she has quit the job as it was the first of the month. Thank God, she came. She actually apologised for her late arrival which was perfectly okay by most maids' standards. She said she had a headache as she had a fall in her house. Her one eye was swollen and there was a bruise mark on the cheek. She told me she had put soap on the floor and forgotten , so slipped and got hurt. She smiled when she said this. I asked if she wanted a painkiller and she said she will visit a doctor later.
I think she just lied to me. She was hit by a man, most likely, her husband. I was quite shaken. I was angry at that unknown husband. She has two sons in ninth and seventh standard. I was worried about them Did they see the father hitting the mother? Did someone else hit her? Were the boys mere witnesses to this torture or was this a usual occurrence in their life? How did she still come to work with all the pain? Would she have to answer her neighbours about the injury? Is she going to tell them the same stuff which she told me? Will she visit the doctor because he may want to know the truth? Is the Doctor in this area used to bashed up maids coming for medicines? Have they ever thought about complaining to the Police? Actually the Police might say its a family matter and resolve it amicably. Or does she fear being ostracised by her neighbours if she complains to the cops? Is the moral code different for men in her community or neighbourhood? If I complain on her behalf, will she hate me for it? She lives opposite my building .
Kasarwadi is full of stories of real people. One beautiful girl was having an affair . Her father has shaved her long tresses and eyebrows. She is not allowed to come out of the house for her toilet needs. The chawl has common toilets. She has to live within the four walls literally. I don't know if the father is abusing her further more. Has anyone from the shawl complained? No.
On Holi day, a girl committed suicide in Kasarwadi. She was married and dumped by her husband in two days. Her mother blamed her for being thrown out of the husband's house. The parents did not try to get the girl married. After four years, her ex husband is now remarrying. On hearing this news, the girl was heartbroken and took the extreme step to end her life. People in the shawl said the parents should have got her married.
Lot of men in the Chawl are alcoholics and have two wives. Don't know how that happens legally. I don't understand how these men run two households and have children from both the wives. The whole shawl/community is absolutely okay about it. The kids from one mother visit the other house of the father. Married women having affairs with younger single men. The Man wants to marry another girl, the married woman, his lover, threatens suicide. She wants to break his marriage at all costs. The husband in question is okay about everything.
This is happening in last one month. Am I doing anything about these atrocities against women?
A city friend tells me that in her group, most men don't know if their wives have eaten or what is the wife's favourite food. These are rich successful people where the women are experiencing bad treatment in a very subtle way. People have adjusted for various reasons. Comfort the money can give is unbeatable. Crying in a mansion surrounded by luxuries is a better option than crying penniless on the streets. The children are involved, so take in the husband's harshness. Mother in laws to be blamed big time as they never taught the son to respect women. Father in law, His family and society to take the remaining blame for raising such goons in the urban world.
Lets at least get present to these realities. Let's not look the other way. I have fear about taking actions for my and the family's safety. But I know awareness is the first step towards a reform.
I think she just lied to me. She was hit by a man, most likely, her husband. I was quite shaken. I was angry at that unknown husband. She has two sons in ninth and seventh standard. I was worried about them Did they see the father hitting the mother? Did someone else hit her? Were the boys mere witnesses to this torture or was this a usual occurrence in their life? How did she still come to work with all the pain? Would she have to answer her neighbours about the injury? Is she going to tell them the same stuff which she told me? Will she visit the doctor because he may want to know the truth? Is the Doctor in this area used to bashed up maids coming for medicines? Have they ever thought about complaining to the Police? Actually the Police might say its a family matter and resolve it amicably. Or does she fear being ostracised by her neighbours if she complains to the cops? Is the moral code different for men in her community or neighbourhood? If I complain on her behalf, will she hate me for it? She lives opposite my building .
Kasarwadi is full of stories of real people. One beautiful girl was having an affair . Her father has shaved her long tresses and eyebrows. She is not allowed to come out of the house for her toilet needs. The chawl has common toilets. She has to live within the four walls literally. I don't know if the father is abusing her further more. Has anyone from the shawl complained? No.
On Holi day, a girl committed suicide in Kasarwadi. She was married and dumped by her husband in two days. Her mother blamed her for being thrown out of the husband's house. The parents did not try to get the girl married. After four years, her ex husband is now remarrying. On hearing this news, the girl was heartbroken and took the extreme step to end her life. People in the shawl said the parents should have got her married.
Lot of men in the Chawl are alcoholics and have two wives. Don't know how that happens legally. I don't understand how these men run two households and have children from both the wives. The whole shawl/community is absolutely okay about it. The kids from one mother visit the other house of the father. Married women having affairs with younger single men. The Man wants to marry another girl, the married woman, his lover, threatens suicide. She wants to break his marriage at all costs. The husband in question is okay about everything.
This is happening in last one month. Am I doing anything about these atrocities against women?
A city friend tells me that in her group, most men don't know if their wives have eaten or what is the wife's favourite food. These are rich successful people where the women are experiencing bad treatment in a very subtle way. People have adjusted for various reasons. Comfort the money can give is unbeatable. Crying in a mansion surrounded by luxuries is a better option than crying penniless on the streets. The children are involved, so take in the husband's harshness. Mother in laws to be blamed big time as they never taught the son to respect women. Father in law, His family and society to take the remaining blame for raising such goons in the urban world.
Lets at least get present to these realities. Let's not look the other way. I have fear about taking actions for my and the family's safety. But I know awareness is the first step towards a reform.
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