24 or 42, I still am a woman...

24 or 42, I still am a woman and that is MY his problem.

I was not taken aback that much by what Damini (the household name that any parent will refrain from naming their baby girl now) underwent a few days back as I was when I heard of the 42-year old woman's incident yesterday. I did not of course think men will never do it again, I just thought they wouldn't resume this early after all the hue and cry demanding stringent punishments and more protection for women were making headlines over the last few days.

I wish when Solomon included Chapter 31 for women in the book of Proverbs, the Queen of Sheba demanded to include Chapter 32 for men. 

If I was asked, I will probably make this Proverbs 32:

"Where can we find a wise man who respects a girl, must;

a man, who the heart of the woman walking on the streets need not doubt but trust?

He realizes that the opposite sex is the weaker sex but not the exploitable sex.

He talks cricket, gadgets and technology with his friends outward,

and also takes time to tell them that 'girls are precious' although it might seem a little awkward.

He carefully guards his thought and action,

just like how he doesn't let his sister touch his priced possession.

He is aware that strength and honor are a girl's clothing,

her charm is deceitful and her outward beauty passing.

The society that he is building is in a mess, to this he's not oblivious,

he is expected to take the first step in the right direction, he knows, it's obvious.

He looks upto Jesus, who loved His mother, protected the prostitute sinner,
accepted the lowly worshiper and cared for the resurrected man's sister.

He realizes that his friend, sister, daughter, wife and mother are in serious danger, 

which is depreciating the value of the example set by the One who came in that manger!"

I remember writing an essay on 'India of my dreams' when in school. I remember how I said people of Kashmir should feel safe. I probably failed to dream of a country where eventually I will feel secure, right in the heart of this nation, in a Delhi or a Bangalore.

I cannot deny that in most cases, we, the female fraternity provoked the male society. We wore provoking clothes. We came out late in the night instead of enjoying a sound sleep at home. We went to the pub, got drunk, got you drunk, danced and made you dance to our tunes. We're sorry. We shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't be doing that. 

But here's my problem. My brother or my dad or my mom or my friends haven't told me that my clothes are provoking. So, I'm assuming that I wear decent clothes. I don't go out late in the night, in fact, I hit the bed by max 10pm on most nights. I don't drink, I've never been to a pub. I don't have boy friends, so I don't go for breakfast, lunch or dinner with just a random guy. And when time comes, considering the current situation, I'll just have a dinner date over Skype. No worries. But last week, I was flying back home for my Christmas holidays. My dad "chose" to book the morning flight for me because traveling to the airport in the night was not supposed to be safe for me. So, instead of starting on a Friday night, I was made to start on a Friday morning which meant I had to take an extra day off from work. Not complaining though! ;) But before leaving, when I called up my relative the previous evening to tell them that I was going home, they didn't allow me to go to the airport in the morning by a cab all alone. They decided to drop me at the airport by 7am. I disturbed them. I then, called up my pastor's family to tell them that I was going home. Uncle asked me to text him once I reached the airport. The next day, aunty told me how she was planning to be on the phone with me while I was in the cab(Had my relatives not dropped me) so that the cabby will know I am continuously in contact with people outside. I disturbed them too.

All I am asking is, what did I do to deserve this insecure society? 
WHO DO I BLAME?

-A confused to-be-24, to-be-42 girl.

P.S.: 1. Proverbs is one of the books of the Bible that has 31 chapters and the 31st chapter is titled,"A virtuous woman". You can read it here.
         2. Jesus, who loved His mother: John 19:26,27
         Jesus, who protected the prostitute sinner: John 8:11
         Jesus, who accepted the lowly worshiper :Luke 7:48
         Jesus, who cared for the resurrected man's sisters: John 11:5

[This article is written for http://knowyourstar.com/rape/ , official page for launch of Dwar- Door for Transformation! Visit the page for the complete story and other wonderful articles! Join the Movement]

A sneak-peak into what you will find at 'KnowYourStar':

Home is where the heart is..

P.S.: If you're reading this post, it is safe to believe that the world has not ended yet and that the Mayans just got trolled or rather, the Mayans just trolled you. Now, this means life goes on as usual, you have to continue sweating it out, loving inside out and give that anti-rape shout, and continue to live in doubt and die in doubt too, perhaps!

Just a few questions that crept in as I kept thinking about the end of the world..

What happens when the world ends? Where will I go? What will I do? 

Now, that the Mayans go terribly wrong with these predictions, I prefer going to the Bible that has been so far right with its predictions.  In fact, it predicts this about the end of the world... 

"For you know quite well that the day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night." (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

Currently, Mayans-0, God-1.

The Bible says my world will end when He returns or calls me Home.

What will happen then? 

Let's assume I go to Heaven(Romans 10:9-10). 

What happens when I go Home, i.e., Heaven? 

I just got back home for Christmas. I call it home because my parents are here, I can be my self here, I know where the entrance is, where the tv remote is, I know which is the light switch, I feel safe here and more importantly I believe in the rules and values that are followed in this place. I treasure the times spent at home and I am used to the practices followed in this place. My family, the disciplining, the encouragement, the protection, the relaxation and the simple, joyous feeling of being home are the treasures that I've stacked up in the place that I call home.

In the same way, if I have to make Heaven my Home, I need to know how to enter that place, I need to believe in the practices of that place, get used to them and treasure the values of that place.

The Bible tells me that there's going to be some singing happening(Revelation 5:9-13). Even if I am a bad singer, I will have to sing praises unto God and so I better get practicing everyday.

There'll be no weeping, mourning or pain in Heaven(Revelation 21:4). Now, that means I need to stop every act of mine that is hurting or causing pain to somebody out here on Earth.

Jesus is going to be the host and He will be out there waiting to receive me. So, unless I know Him personally, He sure is going to have a tough time in welcoming me and that will be quite an awkward situation to be in. I better start getting on my knees a lot more from now.

Now, depending on where I want to go from Earth, I can align my heart to focus on what I want to believe in and in turn, convert them into actions.

Because truly, 

Home is where the heart is. Heart is where the treasure is.

What if the world ends today?

Where's my treasure? Where's yours?