A Walk Through H̶i̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ Herstory

This Dusshera, instead of spending the day as a regular holiday, I attended a special walk conducted by khaki tours entitled " Durgas Of Mumbai". Having attended a couple of their walks before, I was expecting a visually and aesthetically pleasing serenade along the way, but what i got, enriched not only my senses, but also an emotion within me which i had not fully explored. Feminism.
The dictionary defines feminism as 'the belief(underline belief) that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men'. Well, my question is why is it described to be a belief or thought or ideology, when it should be an existing reality? Feminism fights for gender equality. But, what do these words have to do with my life, and how do they affect me, was the important question.Why do we need to talk about this? Do I want to be a feminist? Is women empowerment analogous to gender equality?  
Well, I did not understand what feminism was until I saw it with my own eyes.

We started the walk at the Royal Opera House, Mumbai, criss-crossing paths with history and ended up at August Kranti Maidan, a prominent landmark in Indian history. Our tour guide, Dr. Preeti Kelkar took us on a wild ride with entertaining anecdotes, beautiful pictures and wonderful stories, stories that blew me away.. I was the only one in the group below twenty years so the 90s bollywood references were lost on me. I was standing there and just listening, transfixed. I felt like I was time travelling back a hundred years, in a speed that would give H.G. Wells a run for his money. From Anjanibai Malpekar to Avantika Bai Gokhale, from Sarojini Naidu to Ramabai Ranade, these enigmatic women paved the way for feminism, for womens rights which we talk about today. They laid the foundation of women's education, women's medical practice, establishment of the the 1891 consent act, hostels for women students, business opportunities for women, their role in revival of handicrafts and traditional music, the list really, is endless. The highlights of the tour, in khaki tours' own words, were- the Indian voice in outer space, lady who rocked the shipping world, Tagore's first love, the pioneer of children's theatre and the Malala of the nineteenth century, among many others.

The place where the birth of feminism took place was in our very own of Gamdevi. The "chowk" of gamdevi was described by Dr. Preeti to be the 'cradle of feminism' in Mumbai. For the first time, I noticed the names of the roads, every small 'gali' and noticed that they were named after all of these women. Although this is my neighbourhood and the place I grew up in, I never even thought twice about why these roads were named that way and what were the stories behind them until that day. I never even realised the contributions thses women had made in making our lives and rights as women today (almost) equal to that as a man. We take our privileges for granted, but who do we have to thank for that? Why are these names boldly printed on our streets but never even given a second thought? Why are these women, who were wise beyond their years and remembered across the seven seas, forgotten in our own history, their ballads left unsung? And most importantly, why is feminism only validated when it comes from the west, when we've had that flame waiting to burn for over a century?

 
I was in a myriad of thoughts when I got back home that day, and i was feeling a bit different than I did usually. Something had changed in me. The splendid stories of those women had spoken to me. I had begun to form a slight idea of what feminism is and how it affects me, as a member of the female gender. I think that feminism, simply put is standing up for what you believe is right, and expecting to be treated equally and fairly with respect to the opposite gender. Feminism is a very big and heavy word, the weight of which my shoulders cannot bear. To understand or explain it in an essay of mere words is impossible, as it is a road to be taken and understood by oneself only.
Now I had heard the tales of the durgas of Mumbai.

 Who is Durga? Durga is protection, beauty, motherhood, liveliness and hope. Durga is also war, destruction and shakti. Durga is a divine energy. In Hindu mythology the goddess Durga slayed the demon Mahisasura, who was wreaking chaos and disrupting peaceful life. These real life durgas, real heroes and role models, slayed the mahisasuras of inequality, sexism, discrimination, violence, abuse, stigma and underrepresentation. What have they taught us? They taught us to fight our own battles and be brave. They taught us to educate our future durgas and inculcate the same values in them as they have in us. They taught us to unleash our energies to defeat any mahisasura that may meet us in our life.

It isn't wrong to say that it will take a while before the 'belief' of feminism becomes an existing reality. So what do we do until then? We will keep fighting, keep raising our voices against injustice, until one day these durgas will smile down upon us knowing that they left their legacy in good hands.

 
I would like to end this post with a small excerpt from the poem 'What's the Greatest Lesson a Woman Should Learn?' by Rupi Kaur.

" Whats the greatest lesson a woman should learn?
That since day one, she's already had everything she needs within herself.
Its the world that convinced her she did not."