Hello Readers,
Here comes yet another exciting edition of Eyra. We are seeing a lot of weather ‘mood swings’ this May in Delhi, but it is still unbearably hot!
With the heat increasing, tempers flaring, not many of us may be in the mood for makeup, high heels or tight clothes! So we bring you a section on inner beauty and peace titled Beauty Inside-Out, which will keep you calm, refreshed and beautiful in whatever you choose to wear.
Social media is active more than ever in terms of expressing opinions left, right and center. We, at Eyra, appeal to you to take whatever you read with a pinch of salt. Whether it is an interpretation or opinion, think over what is being said and analyze it before sharing.
For example, I came across a moderately famous actress talking about traditions and insisting Sati was defamed but should not have been, since it was a voluntary practice and hence not regressive. At least this is how I interpreted the piece, though it may not have been the intention of the lady. Anyway, assuming I am correct in my understanding, my mind started wondering how this could be okay. Sati is self-immolation, which is like a suicide attempt. So unless we decriminalize suicide, how can our thought process accept Sati? All due respect to religions, logic (and law) dictates that any practice which causes self-harm or harm to others resulting in death is categorized as various levels of murder or suicide, right?
Keeping regressive practices in mind, we bring you an insightful article, (A)dharma? by Swapna Narayanan, on dharma from the perspective of mythological women. And also Women Empowerment – just Drawing Room talks? – another interesting take on what equality means in the eyes of the people by yours truly.
Many people, when the topic comes up, do claim that ‘equality exists and women get a right to education and everything. What more do they want?‘ We have a youngster’s take on discrimination based on something as basic as cut-off marks in college admissions. Samarth Narayanan, our very active contributor, brings some very thought provoking ideas about it in The Cut-off Game – Inclusive or Exclusive?.
With the election season over, it is time to sit back and wait for developments. But not so for our social media activists. First, we all gloated over our very enlightened and progressive attitude with the increasing number of female presence in the Parliament. Now, on the other hand, we are stuck on how two young Parliamentarians were dressed! Regressive and Progressive got mixed up somewhere. I would like to call the result Pro-Regressive ;).
This thought process can be changed only by bringing a change in the households. And this is something only women can do at their own level. So I bring you a piece titled Standing up against Domestic Violence on how domestic violence harms and the top ten reasons women are not able to leave the abusive environment. I hope this piece helps some of the readers see some motivation to change their own situation or help someone else with this piece.
As always, I love sharing my thoughts with you all.
Keep reading and keep smiling.
Jyoti Shekar
Founder Editor, Eyra
Eyra 