From the Pen of Lopa

The 19 th day of November is celebrated as the International Men’s Day, but did you notice any major campaign running around for this very day? As per what I have seen, the brands talking about Men’s Day could be counted on fingers and no more. Unlike most of the celebrated days, this event never gets enough traction neither from brands nor the people. The companies shelling out millions on campaigns related to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Women’s Day were as silent as stones and nobody would bat an eye on the same. This is the stark reality and the brutal truth of how much we value and respect the men of our society. The people who would be advocating gender equality and supporting the cause being an activist were silent on the International Men’s Day. Although it is not a new thing to be noticed, but somebody had to say it out loud and this is where I am putting my thoughts in respect to all the men out there, working day and night to support the families, with or without any su...

This is the common story of a number of families across India, quite a common practice with unfortunate outcomes. We, as humans and Indians, aim to bring a change by acting upon it and bring gender equality to create sustainable societies. Chapter 1: A Male Breathes As soon as the long desired son is born in a family, the whole scenario changes. There are celebrations as the heir has taken birth and the family’s name will be taken forward with pride. He is given all the possible love, along with facilities and an upper hand being a male. The boy is allowed to play outside, have fun and is given no serious responsibility of the homely chores. His mistakes are often forgiven and ignored, for he is a male and it is fine for him to be careless. The mother hides his petty acts and just like any other common Indian family, father plays the least role in sculpting the boy’s personality. The father is more often the figure with whom the rest of family is scared, so instead of discussin...