Sunday, September 13, 2009

Colours - Indigo

[Every Woman has a Story. Every Story is associated with a Colour. This series explores some of those.
The photograph is intended only to set the tone for the story.]

People pitied her. They always had.

“Don’t you hate having to wear a chador whenever you step out of the house?”
She had tried explaining, but nobody ever understood that she had chosen to cover herself in public.

“It is so sad that someone so qualified is forced to cover herself!”
Didn’t people realize that in the city everyone was anonymous, even without a chador to strip them of their identity?

Tradition may have demanded it, but it was she who chose to embrace it.
Nobody touches a covered woman. Nobody ogles at her. Is anything more liberating than that?

_____
Drabble(n) - an extremely short work of fiction exactly one hundred words in length.

This is a work of fiction. The characters and situations are purely imaginary, and any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental and unintended.

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6 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Good point!

I had an older man tell me I was cute at my book signing! Maybe a chador would be refreshing.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

dipali said...

I have a couple of friends who are absolutely comfortable with their decision to wear the chador, and who do find it liberating.

Natasha said...

@ Elizabeth - but you are cute. Well, maybe not cute, but definitely very attractive. And yes, a chador would have helped.

@ dipali - I don't know anyone personally, but I did get chatting with this lady on the train the other day, and that was her point exactly.

Anonymous said...

Great story!

Marjorie said...

This is a great story. I think it really hilights a cultural difference that I have quite a hard time with. I think that it is because American women secretly like being whistled at and sometimes cat called at. It DOES get tiresome sometimes. To tell you the truth it used to happen to me a lot, and I find that the absence of men checking me out hurts more than the cat calling and whistles used to. Some MEN like it when other men look at their girlfriend/wife as well. They take it as a compliment and it boosts their ego. "Look at what I have and you don't."

Natasha said...

Most Indian men love showing off girlfriends/ wives too.
About being 'checked out'- I personally like being complimented (in whatever way) by people I know when I know I am looking good. But random people pawing me only because I happen to be female -that sucks.
I've never been striking enough to be genuinely checked out by strangers, so can't comment on that.

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