No Woman No Cry

 “No Woman No Cry”, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, when we are celebrating womanhood in all its forms, why this allusion to Bob Marley’s very popular chartbuster ? Well, he obviously meant it ….if there were no women, there would be no tears!  Most married men recall their bachelor days with that nostalgic sigh, which conveys all that they can’t express in words. Men at least the men we knew, not the metrosexual clones, don’t cry, if they could they would shed copious tears every time someone posed this question. Incidentally this anthem was sung by BoneyM also with Bobby Farell the only male member of the group grooving but on closer scrutiny he seems to be brooding surrounded by three damsels, while the lead singer Liz Mitchell was all smiles while crooning. I wonder whether the lyricist in this case Bob Marley himself, had put himself in the shoes of Adam, (but for Eve’s temptation we would all be in  Eden!! ), when he composed this iconic song. To be fair, Bob Marley only asked the women “Not to Cry!” 

Someone rightly posed a question as to what about the Men’s Day and was promptly told that 1st May the International Labour Day was dedicated to the Male species of Homo Sapiens. There was also one where the woman promptly counters if 8th March was the only one dedicated to the fairer sex what about the rest 364 days, which too belonged to them only.

Before I get lynched and trolled I better make amends, so here goes…

Well actually Woman is definitely more than a Man, as she has the “Man” within her, the Female has Male within, in other words those of us who are not Mathematically challenged would sum up that Man is actually a sub-set of Woman. So when women’s lib types demand freedom, I am actually at a loss, it is we men who should be demanding this men’s lib …..it is we who are caged even literally. She is all encompassing, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”, as penned by William Ross Wallace payback in 1865. 

We in India always knew that, just that some of our ancestors took this liberty business a too seriously, in the bargain, ended up as a lost cause themselves.  Yes like all the other societies we have had our share of misogynists, and still have them amidst us, but we live on hope….

Despite having a very strong Mrs Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister for more than a decade or for that matter  Sonia  Gandhi,Mayawati and Mamta  Didi ruling the roost in their respective domains, the women have  not been able to break out of the shackles. Tokenism is what we resort to, let the women into the combat arms of the Armed Forces, let them get into NDA, but not in the ranks. Why is there no demand for that? Women’s reservations for the parliamentary seats is always buried by all the political parties. Though to be honest even that would be more of tokenism only, as the institution of “Pradhan Pati” has taken roots. Pradhan Pati is the husband of the Lady Sarpanch of the Village Panchayat and it is he who calls the shots. Deja vu, you would recall the Rabri Devi Lalloo Yadav days.

Women’s Days will come and go, unless the mindset changes, and there  is healthy respect for women in general, within our families and our work places, we will continue with sloganeering. We should not need to Save the daughter, just educate her, empower her, ensure she is financially independent and  she will save herself….She is the Mother, the creator…Maa tujhe Salaam!!!