The Scary Truth

I was in my company orientation class. A senior manager in the company came to take the session and she was giving introduction about the company. She told what the company does is for the benefit of the society. For this my friend asked if the purpose of the company was to help the society or to make profits. She answered it was making profits but we can’t tell that outside and that we should only say we work for helping the society. Another guy asked “why would we say our goal is to make money?” This question says it all!

I was reminded of this incident I’ve read in Atlas Shrugged. Hank Rearden is a steel industry owner and he very openly states he’s in the business to make money. But his advisor tells him not to say such things in public and to project himself to be altruistic.

Everyone wants to please others. Everyone wants to give people what they want, tell people what they want to hear, even if it’s not their truth. Everyone cheat others and themselves to show them to be virtuous and that too based on what others consider a virtue. People find it so difficult to believe and accept the truth for what it is. They are more afraid to tell the truth. 

Looking at all this, maybe movies are much more realistic than the “real” world is.

(Note: When I say everyone I meant most of the people)

Tree and Pencil

                                                      “I’m not a perfect human, but I’m the perfect me!”

A new pencil is tall and sharp. As we use it, it gets blunt. We can sharpen it again but at the expense of its height, until we reach a point where it needs to be discarded for a new pencil.

The pencil doesn’t have the power to make a mark in the world; the power is with the one holding it.

That is the problem. We all, more often than not fall prey to one of the many traps of life and give power over ourselves to someone else and become a mere shadow of them, which they will eventually stamp on.

I wish I could always remain a tree and choose to give shadow to others than me becoming a shadow in the world. I wish I’ll never have to be made a pencil.

I had insulated myself to protect the nature and purpose of my life, until one day when I let my guard down only to start questioning life.

I realise now, how difficult it is to escape the fate of becoming a pencil, to wither away experiencing a slow painful death.

I think the only challenge in life is to protect our true selves from morphing into someone else.

A Call for The Women of Valor

The business world of today is flooded with women. The number has grown exponentially in the past ten-fifteen years. The society is slowly adapting to the idea of women as bosses. Parents have shed their fears and supported their daughters to chase their dreams. While all this is true, for a woman to become an entrepreneur is still like crossing a mountain, especially for the women from middle-class and upper-middle class societies. I do agree entrepreneurship is like crossing a mountain for everyone, for women it’s like crossing two of those damn things.  The idea of women entrepreneurs is still a concept, in its inception in our country.

Every woman who aspires to build her own kingdom has to fight so many people and usually the ones with her parents turn out to be the ugliest ones. If the woman is married, it gets even difficult, if her loved ones are not supportive of the idea. Even the most educated parents of the lot are not supportive of women going out and taking risks. I’m pretty sure there are lakhs of women who have been forced to live lives defined for them by someone else.

This, I think is a very serious problem. This problem should definitely be taken care of. All the women who have struggled their way through, all the women who’ve had supportive parents and in-laws, all the women who have become successful in their chosen line, all those women who have tasted victory through their courage and hard work should come out and create awareness in the society. All the women in the world should join force and help parents understand the importance of letting their girls follow their dreams.

Let’s hold our hands to bring about freedom, for women.

A society against women -I

                                    “I've never been raped physically, but psychologically a lot of times.”

Women issues have been and are being talked about everywhere. Women are prepping to wage war against the atrocities committed against us. If I start listing those, I think there won’t be an end.

On this issue, I have decided to pen down all the incidents that I have faced in my life and this is one of those.

I walked into the classroom that was filled. I was late to class since I was called after the assembly by the P.T teacher. She noticed I was wearing a dangling new earring. She called me to warn against wearing such earrings which would distract the boys. When I entered, all heads turned and everyone started whispering something to each other, pointing at me. I did not mind. I was used to all that. I took my seat. Classes passed. I started sweating and I was in terrible pain. I was sick. I clutched my stomach and bent on the table to rest, during the break. I got up quickly when I noticed the teacher entering the class. The day passed.

Next day, after the assembly was over, all the girls above sixth standard were asked to stay back. I was in eighth class. My feminine parts were not developed and I was flat as a TV screen. The principal went on the stage, took the mike and called out my name. I went on to the stage. She pointed at the way I was wearing my dupatta. Folded and pinned. She said I had folded it too narrow. She enlightened everyone on how to cover ourselves so we don’t attract boys. Then teachers went to every row and adjusted everyone’s dupatta. I was disgusted seeing all this. The principal dispersed everyone. Just when I felt relieved, she called me. I had apparently lifted my shawl up the previous day, exposed my breast to sexually attract guys. She warned I would be a serious trouble to my parents if I continued this way. I did not understand what happened. I did not understand what she spoke. I went back to class to receive the disgusted look on the teacher’s face, and every other teacher’s face that came to my class.

Self-Respect- An Illusion

My first job, my first exposure into the real world and I’m frustrated already. Guess I’m not alone here. Actually I think everyone who starts out gets frustrated. And I believe this frustration is what will drive us to be better and do better. But then, how come everything is still the same. How come change is still so far away?

I grew up, with my parents always fighting, studied in a school where people loved spreading rumors about good looking girls, where teachers arranged classes for parents with “difficult to handle girls”. I lived in a society where neighbors complained to the girl’s parents about her, when they saw some passer-by guys teasing the girl. I studied in a college where guys expected girls to flirt with them if they wanted to, guys who sent obscene texts to girls by whom they felt threatened, with a principal who advised to act like the guys expect because they were “dangerous”. At every step of my life I have faced people, I wish I could say different kinds of people, but no, I've seen people who are all of the same kind, cowards (of course with the exception of very few).

Cowards who are afraid of people who are better, cowards who are afraid to handle who they are, cowards who are afraid to talk straight face to face, and cowards with power, who are afraid to use it for right!

I was still optimistic. I thought corporate life would be different. I just forgot these same people go there too. I have been with this company for a year now and all I have seen is laziness, lies, inefficiency and disinterest. And the worst part, people in power, who do not want to see all this.

Everyone is so happy and content with mediocrity and people even dare to justify by saying perfection is not real. These are the ones that are afraid to fight for perfection. Cowards, again!

If we don’t have the courage to fight, if we begin to hide behind mediocrity for safety, if we accustom ourselves to be content and force ourselves to forget the frustration we had, if we decide to change ourselves, to become a part of the “society”, rather than bringing the much needed change to the society, then when will we see betterment? When will we see real contentment and happiness, when will we smell success?

Until all this happens, self-respect will only be an illusion.