Dear Government: I'm Not your cultural Trophy
Dear Government, Can I ask you something honestly? Do you really care about me or is that just something you say when the cameras are on? Because from where I’m standing, it feels like I only matter when it benefits you. You praise me during Teej. You post about me on Women’s Day. You put me in speeches as Sita, Laxmi, Durga — as if calling me a goddess somehow makes up for everything you don’t do for me the rest of the year. You call me your daughter in speeches, your pride in slogans but sometimes I wonder if I’m just a pretty phrase you repeat at UN conferences to sound progressive, while nothing really changes for me here at home It sounds beautiful. But that’s all it is...a sound. Because when I walk down the street in fear, when my voice goes unheard in courtrooms, when women get abused, harassed, or worse. I don’t see any gods rushing to protect me. I don’t see laws moving fast for me. I see silence. I see delay. I see a government that seems more comfortable with rituals t...