International Women’s Day
Nimi Kurian
20 March 2008, 08:10Manimegalai woke up early. Today was International Women’s Day and she didn’t want to mess it up. She had three meetings to speak at, and two programmes in women’s colleges to attend.
She made poori and masala for breakfast, brewed a fresh pot of coffee and had it all neatly placed on the table by the time Suresh came to eat. He smiled.
“Aah! Poori!” he exclaimed, “Great!”
As soon as breakfast was over, Manimegalai washed up and got ready. She had to choose a sari that would stay uncreased through the day. So cottons were out, synthetic would get rather smelly, georgette…mmm…no. Finally she settled for a light silk.
She drove fast to her first meeting. She was the guest speaker and she had her presentation all prepared on her laptop. She had spent days getting all her speeches ready for the three programmes she had to speak at. She was not nervous, she enjoyed public speaking.
She remembered all the classes her father had taken her to – public speaking, confidence building, soft skills, posture…. She smiled as she thought of her father and all the effort he had put into her education. She had even learnt dancing – ballroom, fox trot, jive… Of course, she never did get a chance to dance once she got married.
Her speech was fantastic, it was addressed to a women’s business group. So she gave them hard facts – statistics, the rate of domestic violence, the abuse, the rape…all within the context of marriage. Despite their degrees in engineering and business administration the women were not aware of these things. There was a stunned silence when she finished. It took a while for the questions to come and when they did, they were quick and fast.
Her next appointment was at a women’s college. She was not the speaker but a judge at their theatre festival.
Her lunch appointment was with a group of rich women – wives of industrialists, businessmen, people who mattered in the city. This speech had been tough to prepare, as none of these women had time for statistics or facts. All of them had money, time and energy but nothing to do. They enjoyed going out, being photographed for the Page 3 and so on. So for them Manimegalai’s speech was on the need to help, the need for a crisis centre, a half-way house, the need to hire counsellors. She pitched into in heart and soul.
By the end of her speech she was tired. She was grateful that lunch was announced immediately, so there were no questions. But she was mistaken. The questions came with lunch. Through every mouthful she took the rich ladies through the planning and execution of a crisis centre. She smiled when she realised that her speech had made a difference.
It was almost three when she drove herelf to her final speech. This was a mixed group – men and women, of a social club. This was by far the easiest speech to have prepared and may be the most interesting too. She gave them facts, figures, stories and helplines. They applauded.
It was already five when she left and rushed to the last of her appointments. She was a judge at an intercollege elocution competition. She was just in time!
Tired after such an exhausting day and also the heavy lunch, she could barely keep her eyes open. But she sat up straight and made points of all that the girls were talking about. It was well past six when the last of the contestants finished her talk. Then there was the question time. And the debates went on and on.
Finally, the judges awarded points, concurred and declared the winner.
Manimegalai glanced at her watch. 7.30!
“I have half and hour to get home and make dinner, before Suresh gets home,” she thought to herself.
But on the way home, she got caught in a traffic jam. A bus had broken down in the middle of the road and the line of cars, bikes, lorries and buses just got longer and longer.
It was well past 8.30 when she got home. She had barely parked her car and got out, when Suresh came flying out of the house.
He had the newspaper rolled up in his hand. His face was contorted with fury.
He caught her by her neck, and pulled her forward, “You bitch, where have you been? Don’t you know you have to be here in the evening to give me my dinner on time. I have given you all the freedom you want, and this is how you behave? Shameless whore, running around the city all day long!”
Manimegalai cried out as he began pulling at her sari and hitting her with the rolled up newspaper. She didn’t know whether to use her hands to sheild herself from the blows or to hold the sari before it fell off.
There are millions of Manimegalais who endure this plight.Thanks to the International womens day, we get to read such stories.
Well written….
— jude · Apr 6, 07:29 · #