Perhaps, this is a
very relevant question to be asked by most of the women nowadays. I was asked
this question for the very first time by my wife and I honestly had no answer.
I began introspecting and I questioned myself, “WHY?” Why don’t we, men, do it like
women do? This must have been a medieval practice where women pray for men’s
health, prosperity and long-life. There are rituals that compel women to fast
all day, go to distant places of worship and offer prayers, before sunrise and
after sunset, etc, etc. When women at home are ailing, men, do provide
financial support, moral support and all kinds of support, but there are no
such rituals that reciprocate the rigour what women go through. I might be speaking
with half-experience and half-knowledge about the context, because I am at that
point of life where I am not considered fully experienced or fully
knowledgeable unless I go through everything that I am questioning.
Crossing the age
of thirty has its own advantages and disadvantages. Many friends and family
members of my age would agree. Though everyone must be going through a battle
of their own, but the question remains, “Who will pray for women?” There was a
time when I was unemployed for almost three months and everyone in my family was
praying for my job. In every family, the job of men is always the first
priority. It’s considered to be OKAY, if women don’t work. They are kept aside
as “Default Contingency Plan” to take care of the “growing” family in the
future. It is their duty to look after the family, manage household chores,
keep the house neat and clean, prepare the kids for their homework, tidy up the
wardrobe, attend family functions around the globe (if necessary) on behalf of
men and whatnot. The bigots in the male dominant society have made certain rules
that create ripples of revolution these days, if not followed religiously. I
can even guess the answer for the question, “Who will pray for us?” They would
reply, “Why should we?”
It’s not that
women do not deserve equality or men do not deserve to be cared for. Today’s
women do not blindly follow men into the pyre. They see everything and know
even more. I don’t feel ashamed in admitting that women are smarter than us. But,
not every man feels likewise. There are some, living in stone-age who thinks
they are above the law; even God. There are heinous rapes, murders, domestic
violence happening across the world that proves this mindset. And, somewhere in
one tiny corner of that world, there are men who respect women and treat them like
Goddesses, and there are those who give birth to “Angry Goddesses”. They are
born to be annihilated by women someday. I feel, we men are a greedy breed.
When in pain, we pray for the pain to go. When our family is in trouble, we
pray for us to get out of it, and when we are happy, we are blinded with joy
and forget to see everything else around. Some pray for more happiness, and
some forget to answer the very question women have been asking all this while, “Who
will pray for us?”
It’s not a very
philosophical question. It’s a crystal clear, dead straight question, and that’s
how the answer has to be. “I will pray for you. I won’t let you suffer alone.
Whatever qualms you are facing, I will be with you. I will do my best to make
you feel better. I won’t avoid the little things that bother you or make you
happy. I will see to it that you smile every day. I will pray for your
happiness, your success and your long-life. Because, I won’t leave you so
easily, so soon.” That’s the answer we should be willing to give unhesitatingly.
The prayers should never be gender-specific. The world laughed at the Mayans
for predicting the apocalypse in the year 2012. But, the very people who turned
those predictions into a laughing stock are outrageously violent and lethal when
someone tries to put an end to an already dying age-old superstitious belief
system. This ferocity should end first. To a generation that’s inspired by
gangster movies, sex, gore and blood doesn’t seem like a bad thing. It’s seen
as an extreme sport. To put a dent in such a convoluted universe, it takes more
than just thoughts and prayers.
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