A hard sincere look at society Housewives to homemakers

Put them on a pedestal in the public domain, but what happens within the confines of one’s home is nobody’s business. Yet another Nupi Lan is at hand and the essence of the line just spelt out here should become all that more clear. Manipur is the only place in the country where a special day is set aside to pay respect and obeisance to the heroics of womenfolk of yesteryears in the form and substance of Nupi Lan. The said day is held, observed and the courage of the foremothers are remembered with respect and reverence but has this permeated to the reality of the conditions that women presently find themselves in the great Meitei society ? A question worth raising and not without reason. As professionals engaged in the job of disseminating information to the people everyday, it is not uncommon to carry regular news on cases related to child sexual abuse under POCSO. The Sangai Express does not have the exact figure of how many have been convicted under the POCSO since it was enacted in the latter part of 2012, but cases related to this Act have seen an upward tick down the years and most of the victims are always girls. There is a reason why this column has always come out against holding women in high esteem in the public sphere but reduce them to the status of punching bags inside the confines of one’s home and the demeaning language used against the weaker sex in any circumstance. Such practices and train of thoughts, wherein women are subjected to demeaning language speak volumes of where women exactly stand in the overall scheme of things in the society. And this is what is unacceptable and certainly does not fit a place, a place which sets aside a day as Nupi Lan and which has given the Meira Paibi movement to the world. And ironic it may sound but it is in such a place that women are tagged to fit the bill of the ‘weaker sex’ literally and metaphorically speaking. Something, somewhere is seriously wrong and the place which has given the world champions like Kunjarani, Sanamacha, Sarita, just to name a few names that come to mind, continue to welcome the birth of a son more than the birth of a daughter ! Moral policing is rampant, and whether one publicly admits it or not,  such policing always tend to target the ‘behaviour and conduct’ of the women in question. And perhaps it is under this mindset that women are increasingly being seen and projected as child bearing beings, their worth being calculated on the number of ‘male offsprings’ they manage to give birth to !
Something has to give if Manipur is to really make the observance of Nupi Lan more meaningful. And the first step towards this should start from each family. Domestic violence is unheard of in the public domain, but does this actually reflect the reality ? A look at the neighbourhood may just give a clearer picture and the point that is sought to be conveyed here should be clear. The reality demands that social hypocrisy should have no place in today’s world. And the very act of placing womenfolk on the pedestal in the public domain but reducing them to punching bags within the confines of one’s home or blocking the route for them to grow professionally or have a political standing in society is nothing but hypocrisy. This is the reality. How many women MLAs has Manipur had ever since the place attained Statehood in 1972 ? How many women Ministers has Manipur seen ? A case of women unable to climb the ladder of success in the world of politics or something else ? The answer could lie somewhere but these are questions which Manipur should be raising now within itself, if due respect and cognizance are to be given to the Meira Paibi movement, the very act of setting aside a day as Nupi Lan etc. It is also time for Manipur to celebrate not only the women sportspersons who have excelled at the international stage but also study how the place can proceed from the stage of viewing the stay at home women as housewives to one of homemakers. Such a progress can go a long way in according women their right place in society and the first step should start from the home of everyone. Time to make Nupi Lan more meaningful and start that with celebrating the birth of the daughter and not only the son !