"Brick Walls and Low Buzzes" by Gayatree D. Khanna

I wish I could have pin pointed one particular problem that was the biggest that Indian women faced, but instead I found a conglomeration of issues. Issues that manifested as a low buzz in everyday casual sexism, ranging from ‘make me a sandwich’ jokes to rigid mindsets exhibiting as underhanded comments about working after marriage or simply working. Sometimes, this buzz becomes loud and transforms into a deafening roar of static, terrifying women around the country. As I grow up and take my place in society day by day, I see how dangerous this low buzz is. I see women being groped in public and saying nothing about it. I see unequal pay and workplace discrimination, usually accompanied by harassment, accepted as a way of life for working women. These instances are routine women living in this country, and as young girls, we are taught to take any unwelcome attention with bowed heads and mute voices.

Before my school bus arrives, I am often found with that day’s newspaper and a cup of coffee, reading the headlines and skimming through important articles. In said paper, one of the first few pages is dedicated to the rapes, murders, acid attacks, honour killings, bride burnings to name a few, that had been reported the previous. As a child when I read this page, I would be horrified by the sheer number of articles written on these topics, but now, older and more desensitised by my exposure to this world, I skip the page unaffected. It was when I realised this desensitisation that I heard the low buzz in the background grow louder, as though someone had turned up the volume on an unpleasant sound and couldn’t turn it off. This dismissal and indifference to such cases and wrong doings might be one of the most harmful attitudes which women have to overcome.

India is a country full of contradictions. Women are brought up under the oppression of societal expectations, but constantly produce dissidence. We hear stories from our parents and grandparents about the valour of Rani Lakshmi Bai, a driving force for the rebellion against the British rule. We read about Annie Besant in our history books being one of the first Indian female politicians. We study Sarojini Naidu’s poems and take inspiration from Mother Theresa’s work. We idolise Naina Lal Kadwai’s work ethic and determination, then apply it to our lives. There are countless examples of women who have shown the way through the dark in the background of illiteracy, social casteism, societal dogmas and oppression.

Randy Pausch, author of the Last Lecture calls issues he faces in life ‘brick walls’. Indian women face many brick walls in their daily life, some unscalable, but some which are overcome one day have to be faced the following day. Women in rural areas have very limited access to sanitation. Those lucky enough to have access to such places may have running water one day, and none the next day. In urban areas, women are subjected to using the filthiest of public washrooms, leading to all sorts of infections. Oppressed by the social stigmas behind discussing their anatomy whether with respect to intercourse, reproductive health or menstruation, they stay silent, letting their illnesses fester and lead to larger problems.

Another brick wall is the expectations that come with marriage. Expected to be untouched on her wedding night, should she not bleed, honour killings are a routine practice. Despite numerous laws against it, dowry is still a well practised tradition in the lower castes of the country. A regular exercise, the bride and groom’s families sit together and agree on appropriate dowry to be paid by the bride’s side of the family. Disagreement or inability to pay the agreed amount result in acid attacks or bride burnings. The latter is the most popular, when brides are thrown into a fire as a punishment for their family’s inability to pay.

Brick walls are a part of everyday life that women have to overcome just to live a life considered normal by them, where they are persecuted, discriminated against, subjected to casual sexism and sexually harassed. The low buzz that is ever present continues to grow louder every day, sometimes deafening women with its ever looming presence. I believe a woman’s lack of faith in herself and her ability to make a significant difference in the causes they believe in at a rapid, faster-than-evolutionary pace is the biggest brick wall we have yet to overcome, amongst others.