WOMEN: THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION FORGOTTEN ?

WOMEN: ??THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION FORGOTTEN?

?Even Shakespeare in his reference about Man – was only about Men rather than Women.?

“Only he acted from honesty and for the general good. His life was gentle, and the elements mixed so well in him that Nature might stand up and say to the entire world, “This was a man”

His characters were of course laden with women Portia, Gertrude, Lucrece, Desdemona, Juliet, Lady Macbeth etc. each with her own personality. Much women specific emotion was displayed but yet the main players were Men in an age of being ruled by a woman Elizabethan I, such is the tenacity of an ingrained Patriarchal society!

?Joseph Campbell in his various cross religious/ anthropological studies in his works including the “Hero with a thousand faces” and in particular “Goddesses: mysteries of the feminine divine” came to terms with her presence across the ages since Paleolithic cultures, the goddess as nature, the Goddess-mother creator: Neolithic and early Bronze age -- Burial mounds and suttee -- Mycenae -- Sumerian and Egyptian goddesses. ?The Semitic influx: Sargon and Hammurabi -- Myth of Isis and Osiris -- Goddesses and gods of the Greek pantheon The abduction of Persephone -- Dionysus and the feminine divine -- Amor: the feminine in European romance – and of course Virgin Mary of Christianity. ?Archaeological findings abound across the world worshipping the goddess.

?Abrahamic religions save with the exception of Christianity ( Mary ) has reduced women as a chattel and a commodity hijab, muta marriages, even nikah without a shade of ?doubt ?are contracts. The conquest of Abrahamic religion is about wrenching control of lands from the unbelievers ‘Kafirs’ ?and part and parcel comes with it as booty captive women and children to be used as slaves or pleasure objects.? This is going on without any check till this day and age!? Gaza is a present example of the continuing trend!

??“The Taj Mahal” is claimed as the poem of love, only Europeans or Abrahamic’s can think of this on those terms. The emperor Shah Jehan had 1000 concubines besides his alleged beloved wife. This is not unusual his predecessors, Akbar in particular objected to one of his concubine girls "Anarkali" (who bore him a son by the name of Daniyal Mirza, Viceroy of the Deccan) carrying on illicitly with his son Jehangir. The Mughal Azam movie songs about this divine love which actually was about a concubines affair with both father and son. ?Anarkali’s tomb is somewhere in Lahore most probably eulogized!

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Hinduism suffered another type of degradation –no succession rights, no voting rights only reformed recently. The lone exception is Kerala which follows the Marumakkattayam : Matrilineal joint family succession line instead of the Mitakshara.? The wretched “Manu Smriti” was clear and unmistakable graft on racial lines. A reading of the Anuloma and Pratiloma Marriages which is Women’s marriage with mixed castes is certainly proof enough.? The inhuman “Sati” of the burning alive of widowed women was put to halt by the likes of Lord Bentinck and Raja ram mohan Roy. ?In fact the “Marumakkattayam” certainly satisfies the clear and factual biological responsibility. Since time immemorial the pain that Women undergo during childbirth and after sustaining children in an uncivilized male world this has been her thankless burden.

?Also Historical heroines across India are praised for the wrong reasons – Jhansi Rani fought for the preservation of not only her kingdom but more likely for her infant son who was to be set aside by the British East India company. The one that she fought for India is a myth; since it never was in existence during 1857 the other is most likely and basic – motherhood, to protect her child!

In recent times also there has been much if not denigration; but outright obfuscation in categorizing women. Northern women as per Varna colour ( Manu in action!). Note the movie Chandrayan we have all heroes and heroines Ala Bollywood white standards (with the exception of Vidya Balan). The actual directors and systems manager at ISRO were and are predominantly south Indian Men and Women! What ails the film industry? ?Is the south struggling for leadership against a north that relies merely on the color of their skin? Subsidies being granted to misfits in the North, when is the so called “Return of the Prodigal” going to be productive? Narayan Murthy suggested a 12 hour work day – One is sure that the well-educated south will back him to the hilt. But will the Cow belt of the North change at all and when?

?The Rape of a doctor in Kolkata, earlier a decade back the daughter of a Delhi based government officer came to the limelight all over India. Both Kerala and Tamilnadu produce the finest Nurses anywhere in the world in terms of competence and devotion to duty. ?Is there no one to produce a Medical system of equal protection with them in the ambit?? Or is it that as in the movie “Chandrayan” between a choice between actual productivity and presentability( Color or appearance) they are expendable?? Whole systems need to be changed not just for lady doctors but for Nurses (Women) who are more prone and certainly most susceptible to such attacks. ??