Boobquake & Slutwalk

okay...this might seem quite untimely after Ramdev's diet-to-fame plans went kaput..

but i learned 2 new words today that made me sit up..Boobquake & Slutwalk. both were movements in response to frivolous comments made by respected members of civil society. both implied women being enemies to their own modesty.

On April 19, 2010, Iranian cleric Hojjatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi was quoted as:  "Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes" and Iranians should "adapt their lives to Islam's moral codes" to avoid being "buried under the rubble"

------ 5days later there was  "Boobquake" thanks to Jennifer McCreight from Purdue University who had chanced upon the news report of the statement by Seddiqi. 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boobquake)

On 24th January 2011 Constable Michael Sanguinetti's comment at York University was quoted as : "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized".

------ "Slutwalk" became the love child of the cop and his "foot-in-mouth" comment.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SlutWalk)

the statement however did not catch me offguard though. I'm used to hearing it every time there's been rape case mentioned in the newspaper. and every time i cringed coz i knew it was always an indirect attack to my friends and colleagues for whom "to wear or not to wear?" has never been the question. 

yes every occasion and every location demands a certain attire. but how does that make us the judge of another person's character? i don't remember how many times I've heard of rape or molestation cases in Delhi alone. can we assume that all those unfortunate women had plunging necklines or hugging tees..? even if there's someone who says this might just be true...how do we associate it with child rape, or rape of nuns or that of women in conservative societies? is it the clothes (or the lack of it) again that instigate such behaviour then? or is it the psyche of those men/women who derived the sadistic pleasure of displaying their physical strength over another, that needs to be treated?

some attires acceptable here are frowned upon in other cultures (my observation after a recent visit to my hometown) so who can really categorise the dressing sense of women on a global level?

You and i are nobody to judge a victim. but we can judge the rapist for not respecting another person.

If lack of clothes are the criteria for rapists to shortlist victims, we might just find most of them hovering around the changing rooms of lingerie stores.

Rape and sexual abuse was never about the length of the skirt or the transparency of the top. its been there around us irrespective of the skirt, trousers, suits, sarees or Burqas.

My Big Question

when i was a Nursery kid, i participated in a fancy dress competition.
i had a story book featuring the most gorgeous fairy i'd ever seen. and i wanted to be her. but practicality shunned me from being the fairy thanks to her elaborate and complicated dress! disheartened, i was dressed in a pair of trousers, a floral print shirt, wore a pair of plastic shades and had a plastic toy camera hanging around my neck.
my mother made me rehearse the line, " I am a photographer. I am a photographer. I am a photographer. "
she was so confident that i'd be very convincing to the judges on stage!
when my big moment came, i climbed up that big wooden expanse in my school hall, went up to the mic and said the golden words:
I AM A FAIRY".

and since then began the biggest comedy of my life.

2 years later, i remember writing an essay in class 1 describing my father as an IMPORTER & EXPORTER OF HUMANS. my mother spent sleepless nights after that worrying that my essay would invite trouble for my dad coz his daughter had just described him as a smuggler..
my father is a LICENSED OVERSEAS RECRUITER and no, my essay was thankfully not taken seriously by any authorities even  remotely known to my English teacher.
approximately a year later, i remember sitting comfortably on my dad's belly and declaring that i would continue his business. (hmmm... )

in the following years, i recall being so fascinated by the Solar System that i wanted to be an astronaut. but decided against it coz of my weak eyesight.
in class 8, learning about Mohenjodaro and Harappa made me want to be an archaeologist.
FBI agents Mulder and Scully in X-Files, inspired me to be a Forensic Analyst. (hmmm.. )
singing in Church and School, made me want to be a singer and being a part of the Badminton team made me dream of rubbing shoulders with Aparna Popat someday.

WISHFUL THINKING!

my crazy head then made me aspire to be a journalist, a writer, and finally a PR person.
today i'm a recruiter.

After all this, i am still left with a question..

How do you know what you wanna do for the rest of your life? 


Never have I felt competent enough to stand up and decide my direction.
there was a clause for everything.
they asked  "you sing?" i said, "not very well"
they asked "you write?" and i remembered my much smarter and well read friends and realised i'm nothing in their comparison.
they asked "you good in academics?" and i recalled my not-so-presentable scores in school.
when it was time to choose a stream, everyone said i should have a goal and then only i would be able to choose my stream. so without a goal, how did i choose my stream?
that wasnt tough... Science was beyond me since class 9!
(i rem'r my sis almost hitting her head against the wall trying to teach me that the Mole Concept had nothing to do with the mole on her cheek!)
Humanities was too much theory (the main reason why i killed the aspiring archaeologist in me).
what was left was Commerce. (that turned out to be quite a good option luckily)
thankfully, things went in a uniform direction after that.

but truth remains that i'm still waiting for my call.
today even after sitting in an office thats no different from home for the last 7months, i know how much my contribution has been.

i'm forced to face this question today when i'm surrounded with people blessed with a direction in their life. i'm in awe of a sis respected by her students, and quite a pole star for me too.
in awe of my friends  (some much younger than me) who dream of becoming film makers, successful musicians, work with NASA, and the list goes on.
they know what they want.

i know it is the wrong question to ask at the age of 23. but judging the nature of my question is still not a solution.

I'm still searching for my call..