Having spent a BIG chunk of my life in the United Arab Emirates (Or U.A.E, as it is commonly known), i often find it a bit difficult to adjust to the minor disturbances that India had and still does. There are certain negative sides to our homeland, that even a large span of time hasn't been able to change.
Once you start living in a city like Dubai, you get used to the comforts of this magnificent city. When you go during holidays to India, you compare almost everything to the stuff you had in Dubai and feel homesick. While no one can deny the fun you have in your hometown, there is also no denying the freedom you get in foreign countries.
India, despite claiming to be very forward thinking, is still very much backward in certain matters. These backward thinkers exist not only in just rural areas but also in areas in which people with a rural background thrive.
Just recently, i had come across the exceptionally annoying ritual of keeping away a woman, who is suffering from menstruation, from the house in which any sort of pooja is going on. Mind you, this actually happened to me, and shocked me to no end.
My mother has never followed any sort of practice and so i was greatly surprised when my Grand mom asked me to go and sit in the neighbor's house, since a girl going through menstruation isn't supposed to come in front of the Gods. Where this idea originated from is completely beyond me, because isn't it god himself who makes a woman's body work like this? Who are we to assume that it is lucky or unlucky for a menstruating woman to come in front of a temple or not?
I was called into the house only after the whole pooja was done and the guests had left. My Grand mom was still over reacting to my whole problem and even asked me to sleep on the ground but i firmly refused. I am not some sort of timid, rural girl, who thinks it's a curse to be a woman. I'm proud of who i am and so i don't give a fuck so as to what people think.
I've also heard of other instances, where my neighbor and also my close friend has a similar problem running through her family, though in a more extreme way, since her parents follow the practice. Whenever she is going through menstruation, she is not allowed to enter the kitchen, is not supposed to even touch anybody and is to sleep on the ground.
Growing in the technology and education field is completely fine India, but what about these small household matters that mean a lot?
Once you start living in a city like Dubai, you get used to the comforts of this magnificent city. When you go during holidays to India, you compare almost everything to the stuff you had in Dubai and feel homesick. While no one can deny the fun you have in your hometown, there is also no denying the freedom you get in foreign countries.
India, despite claiming to be very forward thinking, is still very much backward in certain matters. These backward thinkers exist not only in just rural areas but also in areas in which people with a rural background thrive.
Just recently, i had come across the exceptionally annoying ritual of keeping away a woman, who is suffering from menstruation, from the house in which any sort of pooja is going on. Mind you, this actually happened to me, and shocked me to no end.
My mother has never followed any sort of practice and so i was greatly surprised when my Grand mom asked me to go and sit in the neighbor's house, since a girl going through menstruation isn't supposed to come in front of the Gods. Where this idea originated from is completely beyond me, because isn't it god himself who makes a woman's body work like this? Who are we to assume that it is lucky or unlucky for a menstruating woman to come in front of a temple or not?
I was called into the house only after the whole pooja was done and the guests had left. My Grand mom was still over reacting to my whole problem and even asked me to sleep on the ground but i firmly refused. I am not some sort of timid, rural girl, who thinks it's a curse to be a woman. I'm proud of who i am and so i don't give a fuck so as to what people think.
I've also heard of other instances, where my neighbor and also my close friend has a similar problem running through her family, though in a more extreme way, since her parents follow the practice. Whenever she is going through menstruation, she is not allowed to enter the kitchen, is not supposed to even touch anybody and is to sleep on the ground.
Growing in the technology and education field is completely fine India, but what about these small household matters that mean a lot?
