First hand accounts of Patriarchy
I was a tiny girl who loved to play hide and seek. One day I decided to hide behind my parent's bed to scare my Ma when she would come inside. Ma and Dadi came into the room and I heard Ma saying to Dadi, "Lekin mujhe mera beta hi zyada pasand h" ( I like my son more). I jumped up frightening myself instead. "Kyaa?" I asked in astonishment. Don't get me wrong, I am the apple of my Mum's eye. She told me later that she had to say it for my grandma. You should know why. I didn't know what that statement really meant back then. But over the years I couldn't help but see the deep held roots of patriarchy suffocating the society. Growing up, the favourite plot line for most of the TV shows was pretty much like so - girl is forced into a marriage, girl hates the guy, eventually girl learns to fall in love with the guy and be a good wife to him. Permutate the age and background, for the girl and boy and this formula would end up fitting into most of the...