Freedom

out of four walls

first step of freedom

long overdue

Written for Haiku Heights #270 Late

Image credit here

What does gender has to do with it?

Everywhere we go we are judged on various things, examples can be a stranger on the road judging us on our clothes, shopkeeper judging us on our wallet, neighbours judging us on our TV brand and model, neighbourhood aunty judging you on the hours you reach home etc etc but the most common and most rampant thing I have been judged on is my gender.

Growing up in a middleclass house in a small town, surrounded by various aunties and uncles, me and my sister were used to of being judged on our skirt lengths, our lone travel in the city, our night outings (beyond 7pm is night there) etc. But as soon as we would reach home we knew the gender was left outside our door. There was no room for gender in our house. Three of us had equal right, equal privileges and were entitled to equal spanking.

We were told again and again that we are what we are, as good as our abilities, as big as our dreams.

We were not girl or boy, we were students, children, friends and above all we were human.

As we stepped out of childhood and started taking little steps in the world on our own, we saw the gender becoming bigger and bigger around us. Girls were barred from doing many things. Things as simple as you can’t stand at the corner of the neighbourhood lane if you are a girl and god forbid if you do insist on doing it either you would be subjected to inane comments or whistles by boys or taunts by some aunty about being a shameless girl.

But we always thought we will soon grow out of it, grow out of the city, out of the people. We always thought what our mother said was right...some day when we will have an opportunity we will prove our mantle and we will be as good as our ability.

Soon very soon I stepped out alone in the world and took it with aplomb. I was successful beyond my dreams also and I had forgotten about my gender or rather I never thought my gender would have to do anything with my career but I was wrong.

Here comes the gender again!!

I was taunted again that I was successful because of my gender not because of my hard work or abilities.

I tried to forgive and forget the first instance but it kept happening again and again. It started reaching me, hurting me and hence I decided to tone down my gender. How did I do that?

I started dressing more neutrally, off went my pretty dresses, awesome fit shirts, my shoe collection etc. This went on for quite sometime and I thought this ought to shut up people because I don’t even look pretty but again I was wrong. It continued!

It is still continuing.....I am not working in an organisation now. I am not a part of any company. I am sitting in my ugly pajamas at my ugly table and writing but still I am being judged for my gender.

For some reason I thought this world would be different. Writers would be different, they would be more evolved. Anyways pen doesn’t have a gender or so I thought.

No here also gender is there. It is as prevalent as any other place on earth and it did get to me again. But I am glad I soon realised that if I would let this affect me now, I am not being as good as my ability, I am being as good as their judgement.

So here I am announcing....

"I am an attractive woman, a yum mum and a blogger. None of these are correlated and I will not apologise for any of it.

You can attribute your failure to your gender but I will not attribute my success to my gender. Rather every step I take here is a tribute to womanhood and every woman I know.

Early morning

early morning

fresh as a daisy

my love for you

my love for you

like a sun rise

swollen with pride

swollen with pride

Heart sings

every morning with you

Written for Carpe Diem #271 Morning celebration

Benefits of breastfeeding your baby

Anunoy Samanta with his keen interest in public health talks about benefits of breastfeeding. Give it up for him for touching the topic spoken in hushed tone. 

I am also very sensitive about the topic but I also believe we have to start talking about it openly.Open dialogues and discussions can help us in learning and sharing correct information and practices.

Anunoy I love the candor in the write-up and would urge all mothers to read it with an open mind. This is not a judgement on anyone. It is an effort on our behalf to support and encourage a practice which is medically proven as better than bottle feeding/Cow's milk/formula

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“People say, ‘You’re still breast-feeding, that’s so generous.’ Generous, no! It gives me boobs and takes my thighs away! It’s sort of like natural liposuction. I’d carry on breast-feeding for the rest of my life if I could.”  - Helena Bonham Carter (English Actress)

Didn’t you find Carter convincing enough? Well, if I tell you the ugly truth that the moment you’re bottle-feeding your baby, you’re simply amplifying your little angel’s chance of death by more than 5%, would you still not be motivated to breastfeed him? 

Off course I’m not addressing this to those moms who’re refraining from breastfeeding their babies due to medical reasons like, breast infection, inflammation, cracked painful nipples, blood infections, mental ill health or on drugs which can harm the suckling infant.

I’ll try to have a coffee-talk with those mothers who’re abstaining from breastfeeding either due abundance of wrong information about it or not motivated enough. No sentimental touch up here, today I’ll tell you ten well proven reasons why you should breastfeed your baby and after that I’ll leave it to your prudent discretion:

(1)Your breast milk is free from any contamination or adulteration, isn’t that a big matter of relief?

(2)It’s available round the clock, so, no worry of empty packets at night! You don’t need to measure how much to serve because Nature takes care of that. Whatever your breasts can hold is never too much or too less for your baby.

(3)You won’t believe the tremendous anti-infective potential of your breast milk. Once you’re breastfeeding, your baby will have much lesser chances to develop diarrhoea, pneumonia and other infections. Diarrhoea or pneumonia may sound trivial illnesses to you by virtue of casual self medication practices (courtesy: Web search) but they can unfortunately be fatal for your kid!

(4)Scientific studies have proved that breastfed babies are less likely to develop obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems in later life. So, by breastfeeding you’re securing his future health too!

(5)There is evidence to suggest that breastfeed babies stand out with higher IQ score in later life! Do you want your child to grow up as a dumbhead or an ingenious mind like me?

(6)Give a tight slap to anybody who advocates that breastfeeding can distort your figure. As a matter of fact, it shapes you up after the chubbiness of pregnancy! You’re wondering how? Well it’s pretty simple, excess energy stores in the form of fat laid down during your pregnant state is are consumed during the lactation period, i.e. in a nutshell you’re transferring your unwanted energy to your baby who needs it the most.

(7)As you get used to breastfeeding your baby you get a sense of unmatched satisfaction and develop a feeling of importance, essentiality and motherliness! Do I have to highlight that money can’t buy them?

(8)Breastfeeding will strengthen your bond with your child. After all, no mother desires her child to be indifferent towards her in future.

(9)Once you’re a breastfeeding mom you’re less likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer in future!

(10)Lastly I would like to talk about the spice breastfeeding can add to your sex life. If you’re sincerely breastfeeding your baby, you may indulge in unprotective intercourse up to a period of six months from the date of delivery of your baby… no nauseating pills… no itchy latex… isn’t that great? If you want to enlighten yourself more on this subject, oblige yourself by searching ‘Lactational Amenorrhea’ in internet.

I’ve talked of only ten valid reasons why you should breastfeed your baby, honestly there’re hundred more.  If I go into the details it might read uninteresting for you. Suppose, if I tell you that by breastfeeding your infant you’re hugely contributing to the national cost savings in a developing country like India, though it is a fact, you may find it irrelevant to your present situation. Now some of you may argue with me about the importance of cow’s milk, but I tell you it is way inferior to your breast milk. Cow’s milk will best meet the requirement of her calf while your baby needs yours. So, happy breastfeeding!

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See I told you I loved the candor and this guy has guts and is not uncomfortable in sharing his knowledge on something clearly marked under female domain.

Stay tuned for correct breastfeeding techniques in his next post.

Who is Anunoy Samanta?

Besides his usual run for bread and butter, Anunoy Samanta also has a keen interest in public health and he manages to squeeze out sweet time for creative writing, travelling and photography. 

He enjoys blogging at his personal blogs www.Anunoy.com and iMakeMyTrip. You may also reach Anunoy through his Facebook profile anytime.

Fun

Free as birds

Under the sun

Nothing is impossible

My first attempt on Acrostic haiku "FUN"

Shared with Carpe Diem's "Little Ones" #2

Image credit here