"Condemned"

I had told myself that for my next blogpost, I'd write a gentle love story just to take my thoughts and after-thoughts away from the angst ridden last post (which by the way, was hugely unpopular, getting only about 30 views). But no, the universe is no mood to give me a breather. The state and fate of women on this earth and more specifically, in my country continues to haunt me.

A young woman, barely 22 had a disastrous labour from which she was extracted safely at the nick of thanks to the expertise of her gynaecologist. Though her child, a strapping 3.1 kg bonny baby boy is healthy, her errant uterus had to be removed to save her life. The whole episode was  an achievement of sorts for the entire team of  doctors and I thought, chalo, all's well that ends well: the young woman's life was saved, she had a happy healthy baby and she was already looking forward eagerly to the future when she would be appearing for a professional examination in a few months time. But of course, my relief was premature. It seems not everyone was happy with this purported win-win situation. But before I tell you more, I must tell you that in the Army, when an equipment malfunctions and cannot be repaired, it is given the epithet " condemned" meaning it is to be discarded. The gynaecologist who was the young woman's doctor is my friend and today as we took our morning walk together, she told me, "Aibee, you know what that woman's mother-in-law declared to me last evening?"

I looked at her askance.

My friend gazed back at me with resigned despair, "She said, meri Bahu to condemn ho gayi."

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A young woman pregnant with her first child had a complicated labour which resulted in a rupture of her womb. Thankfully, once again due to the surgical skill of her doctor the womb was repaired and the baby delivered safely. A second pregnancy in such cases is a trifle tricky and all such women need a mandatory caesarian section. Her present baby was a girl. Hard to say what was running through the young mother's mind and what psychological pressure she was subjected to by her family, but today morning she took her own life.

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A woman can be a fighter pilot, a CEO, a DGP, a pioneer doctor, a successful businesswoman, a weightlifter, a football player, an award winning scientist....anything....But those are merely hobbies, time-pass, of no consequence. She must never be made to forget that she is defined by her reproductive functions,  that her primary task in this life is to procreate and therefore, God forbid if her womb malfunctions, she is a "condemn" item.

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"Will it ever stop?" I ask the mirror as I do my hair . The woman in the mirror shakes her head hopelessly, "No. Never. Not until we stop linking the value of a woman with her ability to procreate."