Monday, September 19, 2016

letters to the state-2

Dear Punjab,
Sat Sri Akal! I am writing to you today. Myself a young woman of 26 years. I belong to a small village near Jalandhar and I have  just completed  my MA and have tried so hard to get a job so that I can be the son my parents wanted.
It is impossible. You say beti dhiyaan da satkaar karo , but how?
I cant work after 6pm, in the city, there is no transport to get me back home and no one wants to hire someone who can not work in the shops till 8pm. You will say, why don’t you apply for one of the government jobs? I don’t have nay connections, no pull,no jugaad to get a job. And, I don’t want to settle to become an anganwadi worker or an ASHA worker. Nor , do I want to learn sewing or stitching or become a beautician. They honestly earn more than I could and it is an easy way out . But, I just don’t seem to see myself do any waxing or threading women.
I kept on deferring my marriage thinking that I can break out of the mold and eventually be the breadwinner and justify why I wanted to study. Every one here says that my father is wrong, I have become stubborn and set in my ways and now it will be difficult for me to adjust and settle down as a housewife. They say, eventually this is what was my fate so why did I delay marriage? And now the dowry would be more, much more as I had lost my youthful ness and as they put it crudely, I had pakoed ..
Tell me what should I do? Why are we given options to do a masters if it amounts to nothing? The whole system is inefficient and is bakwaas as my degree is worthless and not worth anything .. except framing it . And that too costs money .


Tuhaadi pind di ek dhee .

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