- A 55 words story
“Who spilt the paint??” the mother asked angrily.
“Not I… ” Little heads shook denying.
“It’s you!” the mother accused her.
“I didn’t” she said indignantly.
“Liar!!!”
The boy smiled weakly, in embarrassment.
“It’s him,” she pointed.
“Oh was it you darling??” the mother smiled, hugging the son.
The non-liar daughter stood watching from the sidelines.
I am sure that was the daughter’s step mother !
Me: Then you have surprise in store for you Hitch. She wasn’t!
The last line would probably have been ” The non-liar daughter sat mopping up the paint..”
I’ve seen this happen so often.
Me: Oh Ugich, that is so true. That would have been a better and truer ending to the story. And oh yes, we see it happen so often, sadly!
cant be… really cant be… how can it be… how can a mother be like that… !
Me: You tell me! Coz I don’t know myself.
Tell me that’s not true. On second thoughts, don’t. Let it remain in the world of fiction where I can shut the book (/window) and pretend I didn’t read about it.
Me: I know what you mean Gauri, so I won’t tell you.
Hearing such stories and seeing things happening infront of my eyes.. I am still unable to understand how can someone be so biased.. My parents craved for a daughter and they got one.. she came in this world for only a month…. how someone can differentiate is beyond any logic… the saddest part is that in most of cases.. the culprit is the one who has been victim some years back… strange..
Me: This matter of the psychology of the culprit who has herself been the victim some years back is something I have never understood. How can you forget?? How can you not know how a neglected child feels??
I am so sorry to know about the loss your family suffered Santosh.
I remember my Mom often giving my sister the “benefit of the doubt” over her three brothers many times. Was it a geographical determinism of living in the USA?
Sad story, Shail, but as always, written very well.
Bob
Me: Yes, ‘geographical determinism’ as you term it Bob, has a role to play I guess. Thank you Bob
How can a ” loving ” mother so falter
to differentiate between her son and her daughter
when your boys grow up,about you they may not bother
you might need your girls, for your needs to look after.
Me: That’s something I have never been able to understand. Some mothers are partial to sons and MILs don’t like DILs and yet daughters and DILs are the ones who end up taking care of them!
Alas! The reality of many people…
Me: Yes and the pity is that a lot of people are not even aware of it!
Most of your stories portrays the cruelty/discrimination towards girls!
I never saw such a world.. in fact i am seeing the dual of that..
During schooldays, girls used to pay lesser fees than us..
And now, I hear MHRD pays around 7000 rupees more for Women PHD students!!
Vivek.
Me: Perhaps you aren’t really looking
Have you thought WHY the Government had to resort to reducing the school fees for girls?? How did that necessity even arise?? Otherwise a lot of parents will NOT send them to school as they feel education for girls is wasteful expenditure, they would rather utilize the money for the dowry!! When the fees is less or not at all, the parents may not object to sending the girls to school. A sad state of affairs for girls, that the Government has to step in so that they get education!!
BTW what you said is like a happily married couple saying, domestic violence does not exist. If anyone says that it just shows they have not seen it, not that it does not exist!
Succinctly put, Shail. This does happen, and it happens more than we are willing to admit. Or maybe we have gone so used to it we don’t really see it anymore. Which is why I thank God for giving me impartial parents. My bro may not agree that they were impartial though. He feels they were far more indulgent towards me than him
.
Me: I feel too that it happens more than we care to admit. And yes, when someone asks ‘does this really happen??’ I tend to think we have gotten used to it that we don’t notice it enough. But I refuse to ‘not notice it‘, if you know what I mean!
Lol @He feels they were far more indulgent towards me than him. Is your bro older or younger to you?? Kudos to parents like yours!
Gender Bias??
Me: Yes.
One of the pleasures of visiting your blog (aside from your wonderful writing),is the opportunity to see through your eyes into a culture that is foreign to me, but somehow resonant of familiar experiences. As a child I heard “girls can’t do that”, and as my youngest brother grew up it became quite clear that he was allowed freedoms that we girls were not. As far as blame went, my oldest sister took the brunt of it as she was expected to prevent the rest of us from running wild.
Here in the US we often feel we have overcome gender bias,and in some ways this is true.There are laws prohibiting gender discrimination in the workplace,though,in truth women still make far less than men on average and are promoted less often. Most people expect women to assert themselves,though men will often talk over them and laughingly dismiss a woman’s opinion.
My generation took to the streets to gain the “progress” we have seen since my mother’s generation, but however much ground we have gained over sexisim and chauvanism gender bias,like racism , rears its ugly head in many subtle and insidious ways.
Brava for telling it like it is in beautiful and moving ways.
This brings to mind a quote that I will have to paraphrase…No human being is truly free until all human beings are equally free.
Me: Sally what is a wonderful comment! When you write, “…somehow resonant of familiar experiences” I know just what you mean. I feel the same while reading about other cultures. The ‘subtle and insidious ways’ in which gender bias is practiced is not even realized by many of those who think they are ‘progressive’! Some of them are totally ignorant of it being blatantly practiced too!
Indeed, that last sentence of yours says it. No human being is truly free until all human beings are equally free.
Thanks for dropping by. Really loved your insightful comment.
This is very true, it is happening even now. I still remember my grandmother feeding my cousin brother with sweets and snacks inside the kitchen, shooing me away, after we came back from school. Sometimes he used to keep some sweet in his pocket without her knowledge and give it to me later. My snack was rice mixed with pickle and oil! I must have been 7 or 8 years old.
Your 55rs are too good to be true, Shail. You convey so much with minimum words.
Me: Thanks Sandhya. And yet there are htose who believe it is not happening any more!!! Nothing has changed all that much except in a few pockets and/or in a few families! I simply cannot understand how one child can be fed and other shooed away!! Aren’t they both children though of different genders?? Angers me no end reading about it or witnessing it.
Awww…not again! There are sooo many instances of this in real life. I hate partiality, period.
Me: Your three little ones are lucky Ganga!
Jiske khilaaf hum saari umar ladte rehtey hain, ek din aata hai kee hum voh hee ban kar reh jaatein hain, yahee toh hai is zindagee ki uljhan. Hum yeh bhool jatein hain kee jitnaa darad humein us waqt us dasha mein huaa thaa us se kaheen zyaada darad is waqt ise ho rahaa hogaa.
55 worder
Me: Wah Balvinder, now your replies to 55-ers are in 55 words!! Kudos.
Thankfully never faced any such thing!!
P.S. are those google ads necessary? they spoil the view.
Me: Lucky you Reema.
Yeah, you are right about the ads. I have been wanting to remove them. It does spoil the view! Thanks.
To answer your question Shail, my bro is younger than me. Even now he claims that our household discriminates against the “boy child”
.
Me: Ohh ok. I thought maybe you were the younger one!
Ha ha ha. I still think u r a news reader. Bcoz I guess you conveniently swallowed that the girl was 8 and the boy was just 2 years old!
And about the “Government” intervention in the girls’ education scenario. Government stepped in just to make it look like such a thoughtful action from their part to fish out votes from those ladies who “think” that was such a wonderful step in women empowerment.
I wonder why did they offer special discounts to the only girl child in a family. A glance at our past can show us that if there is just one girl, the family will some how educate her. And on the contrary, if there are many, sometimes a few of them are not as much privileged as the rest of them. So why discounts to the only girl child? Please contact the Central Statistical Organization or perhaps The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation!!
Me: Well, it is news to me that news-readers ‘swallow’ news. One lives and learns! It is up to you if you want to believe that the girl was 8 and the boy 2.
This is a free country I believe and anyways fiction/poetry can be interpreted freely as the reader wishes!
Politicians fish votes fromf EVERY situation. That is nothing new.
As to why an only girl child is given fees exemption, believe it or not, the Government or none of its representatives met me or asked me for my views before they took the decision. Now isn’t that a serious lapse?!!!!! Much as I would like to oblige you and spring to action when you order me to, “Please contact the Central Statistical Organization or perhaps The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation!!” sadly I don’t intend to. I firmly believe each of us must do our own work.
oh come on, you exaggerate:-)
Me: Oh come on, you do joke!
wow.. i sooooo loved this post.. my first time here Shail, after loving ur comments on random blogs… and this one is a super winner!!!
Me: Welcome to Shail’s Nest HDWK. I like your name because that is what I ask or would love to ask a lot of people, especially the cocksure ones who seem to have the blue-print of creation and its purpose with them. “How Do We Know??”
Thank you. Glad you liked the post.
What a powerful portrayal of a cruel reality of our society! I have seen it in many families, even with very educated parents. When will our lovely little girls get free from such condition????
Great post!
Me: Thank you so much Basanta for the appreciation. Education seems to have done little to reduce this bias. It is sad that even those that have given birth cannot see children as just children and have to differentiate them as sons and daughters when showing their affection within their own homes! Unthinkable for some of us, isn’t it??
I wont be naive enough to ask whether this could really happen,just glad that it hasn’t and (will not happen)to me or mine.
Me: That is good to know.
I love your 55 worders..So crisp
Me: Welcome to Shail’s Nest Arun. Thank you so much.
I agree with ugich konitari. I have seen this happen too…
Brilliant 55er Shail!! I am linking this to my post on the same subject.
Me: Thanks and welcome. It is a sad but common enough occurrence IHM and I am amazed when people ask do such things happen now. I mean WHERE are they looking not to notice it??!!
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Very well told…reminded me of a lesson which i had in class 4 or 5 called “LADKI” in hindi…
Have become a fan of ur blog…;-)
Lol @fan of your blogs. Your Mom had told me. Thank you!