Tuesday, January 30, 2018

“Who will pray for us?”

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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