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Saari zindagi chupay hue guzar di,
Chup ho kar,
Seham kar,
Dar k agay haar kar,All Posts
Aj hum saath hain,
Aj bolne ki taaqat agayi hum mei,
Aj tum suno hamari awaz.

I don’t need to tell you the statistics when it all that you see everywhere – The people with smiling faces and beautiful displays, people close to you, people you respect posting statuses that say ‘#MeToo’. Sit back and think for the moment, the impact, the devastating impact of something so deep-rooted in our society, in our world, monitoring and shaping the minds of so many of those that we knew.

We never go out for coffee and talk about issues like these. We never talk about what happened or how much it hurt. We figure that we are the only one and that we should be ashamed, and so we keep it discreet. But witnessing this trend, I think, maybe we were wrong. Maybe we should have talked about it. Maybe we should have poured out our pain and realized we are not alone. We should have become each other’s strength.

This isn’t about women or feminism, it is about the world we live in. A world that has made inappropriate comments and actions a norm. It’s time we told the world that it’s NOT normal. The next time you say something vile, we won’t pretend that we are dumb and deaf and walk away. We will look you in the eye until you realize the impact of your words and your actions. Until you realize it could be you or your daughter at the receiving end, one day.

So, before I was able to understand anything at all, and before I knew what it meant and what I was supposed to do, ever since then, in one way or another, at every stage in my life. Now I’m older, wiser, I understand it all. And I still don’t know what to do. But I know one thing, I am not alone, and nor are you. Speak up, look up, stand up.  Look at everyone around you who is with you, and the courage will come from within.

Let’s shift our focus from the abused to the abusers. Let’s make them realize how vast their number is and how devasting the effect they have is. How many lives they have ruined just for their moments of ‘fun’, how the next time they are out with friends and they see a woman alone, they should see her as a person, not an object. The next time they think of having ‘fun’, they should know the consequences could ruin their lives too. Because now, we are not alone and We Won’t Stay Quiet!

I pray one day when we have children, our daughters never have to post a status saying ‘#MeToo’.