Letter to the Editor: Men’s attitude needs to change

Men’s attitude needs to change

According to the latest World Economic Forum report, it will take 131 years for women in the world to become equal to men, while for India, it will take 149 years. It means more than 18 years, as India is currently much below the world average in all parameters. India, the country of Gandhi, Azad, Nehru, Patel, and Abdul Kalam, which hoisted the flag on the south pole of the moon for the first time, has advanced ancient knowledge and culture but lags behind the world average in equality for women. Reasons for this have to be found. The bill giving 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures—Nari Shakti Vandan, 2023—has now become law. Just like after the Nirbhaya rape case, a strict law was introduced. But the question is: Will enacting the law change society’s view of women? On the day the Nari Vandhan Bill was passed, women associated with the ruling party were seen dancing to express happiness, but if only 1500 women became MPs or MLAs, women would have gotten equality; women would have been deprived of their right for 50 years. Has the exploitation of women in the workplace been stopped by appointing a panchayat mayor and councillor? In fact, not the law but the attitude of men towards women needs to change.

Nawaz Ashraf,

Guwahati.

Road construction and unusual flooding

Global warming has been a major threat to all living things. Due to the imbalanced atmospheric conditions, we are experiencing abnormal heat and rain these days. With that comes another major trouble, which is waterlogging. But nowadays, in just a few minutes of rain, almost all parts of Guwahati are under water. Even the pavements can’t be recognized, making it a serious life threat, especially to the students and office employees, as they have to go out to their respective institutions and offices regularly. Every day, we get to hear someone lose their life by accidentally stepping into a manhole. It’s high time the government put in an inquiry to find out the reasons for this unusual flooding in Guwahati. So, through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the kind attention of the Chief Minister of Assam and the concerned departments to kindly look into the matter with utmost seriousness and find out some ways so that the citizens do not have to suffer much while travelling.

Aranyani Borah,

Guwahati.

Perfection of beauty: co-acting

Since time immemorial, from the days of *Bhasa* or *Bhavabhuti*, drama has been the mirror of a society. Social events and present scenarios are clearly reflected in dramas. It is said that in ancient times, in India and abroad, females had good liberty and played female characters. But as long as our history touches on, until approximately the first decade of the twentieth century, there were no female characters in Indian cinema. Only female impersonators had done the job. “Kabuki” and “Nogaku” are both famous classical Japanese dance dramas. It was started by women like “Jeng Bihu” of Assam. Ironically, that too was replaced by men from the sixteenth century onward. Even in comparatively developed Bengal, Chaitanya Dev portrayed the role of Rukmini in 1506. This trend was then prevalent in traditional religious as well as social dramas.

The perfection of dramatic beauty emanates from male and female co-acting only. Instinctively, social feelings can only be displayed through the artistic expression of both genders. After all, we enjoy the particular drama, or “Bhaona,” from the real world, born out of man and woman. There will be no fruit in discussing bygone matters.

But in today’s world also, females are not allowed to perform in the Assamese traditional drama “Bhaona” or to enter “Xatras” (monastery). Fortunately, the above-mentioned matter is no longer generalized. Only some “Namghar” (Assamese prayer houses) and “Xatras” prohibit females.

Personally, I feel it is against the beauty of nature or culture for a male to impersonate a female in serious drama, except comedy. On the other hand, all-women dramas, or Bhaonas, also can’t satisfy the natural dramatic aspirations. Cultural independence is real social freedom; men and women should be permitted to flourish equally.

Arup Saikia

(arupsaikia07@gmail.com)

Sea of changes

Of late, it has been very heartening to note the sea of changes taking place in India during the last decade. Indian defence, foreign policy, science and technology, cinema, sports, etc., to name a few, have reached international levels. In science and technology, it is the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3, in defence self-manufacture of latest weaponries for land, air, and sea warfare and even exporting them to other nations, in sports producing champion athletes who are doing exceedingly well in continental showpiece events like the Olympics, CWG, and the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. In global politics, the successful holding of the G20 summit, and in the cinema world, Indian showmen are creating history by winning Oscar awards. All these have lifted India to a new height. In no time, it is expected once again that Rahul Gandhi and his coterie of companions will claim a share of credit for national success, as they did after the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3 by claiming that it was his grandfather who established ISRO. I am sure the other members of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance, like Lalu Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Kejriwal, Mamata Didi, etc., will follow his lead. Let us wait and see, as they used to see the ghost of MODI in their dreams behind the nation’s success.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Jon Fosse, a prodigious talent!

Jon Fosse winning the Nobel Prize in Literature reminds us of the lasting impression his writings have left, making him the first Norwegian to receive this prestigious recognition since Knut Hamsun achieved it in 1920. Besides dramatics, Fosse extended his penmanship to novels and juvenile literature. His insights and deep knowledge of literature catapulted him to prominence as an epochal figure. Perhaps his genius lies in the spaces between words, the silences that resonate loudly, and the unsaid emotions that his characters grapple with. Fosse’s literary achievements, crowned by the Nobel Prize, offer an enriching delve into human existence. It is astonishing to note that his latest book, Septology, a semi-autobiographical chef-d’oeuvre spreading across seven parts of three volumes, runs to 1,250 pages without a single full stop, which is a testament to his prodigious talent!

Ranganathan Sivakumar

Madipakkam, Chennai