Dear Diary…
We all have different ways of having fun and chilling with people, be it friends or family. I have experienced different phases, like “going to the park on Sundays” phase, “staying out all day during summer vacation playing kickass outdoor games with friends and coming back to mom’s scolding” phase, “having dinner nights on the terrace with family” phase, all of which I’ve loved and hated in equal parts. Although, at this moment in my life, I cannot spend time with my family everyday since I live away from home for studies, like everybody does at some point in their lives. So I have a small world of my own here, with my close friends who I usually spend my free time with, going out café-hopping, talking and laughing, having conversations about life and more. I also have two amazing women living with me, who teach me something everyday that makes me wonder if I can be a better person. And so after a long day at work, I love to spend some time with my two roommates, whether it’s going out for a nice dinner, ordering food or maybe even a drink or two.
Recently I had one such night where we ladies ordered food and drinks from this Punjabi place, we laughed, dissed each other, made fun of the warden, sang and danced on random Bollywood songs, you get it. But after a while, we got indulged into conversations, and it escalated real quick. It all started with how the men in our lives have wronged us(and women for that matter, but of course #notall) and how almost everyday we are being objectified and sexualized, are victims of eve teasing, catcalling and even lowkey abuse. These are all horrendous things people should never have to experience, and the sad part is, they have become so casual that we were discussing them over dinner and drinks, and as far as I remember, these are not the conversations people normally have when they’re chilling or relaxing.
Technically, I don’t want to rant about the status of sex education, the ‘society’, or the condition of our country as a whole because I have tried talking about them previously. Although I cannot help but feel sad and helpless when I think about all the instances my friends and I(or any/every woman in this country right now) have personally gone through. All of this has reached to the point where we accept the bare minimum because that’s all we get. Everyday we women face so much and yet we carry a tiny little ray of hope somewhere in our hearts, hoping to see a better day, hoping to not be blamed for our choice of clothing, living or just being ourselves. We still hope to see the day where we are understood, and are treated right. We still hope to see the world go from “male dominated” to “equal domination or no domination at all”, because what is life without hope, right?
