As any other girl child, Khushi is more inclined to befriend girls and play with girls rather than boys. And I find it pretty normal, so I never force her to befriend anyone. On the contrary, her best friends are all boys. So I thought it has nothing to do with gender, she just mirrors other girls. But this conversation between us shows me a feminist streak in her at the age of 5.
Mummy : Khushi the sculpture you see next to Ganesh is of Gowri. She is Ganeshji's mother.
Khushi : Oh! That small one? The girl face?
Mummy : Yes
Khushi : So when do we celebrate Gowri's birthday?
Mummy : mmmmmm.. we dont celebrate Gowri's birthday
Khushi : WHY? We celebrate Ganeshji's birthday but not Gowriji's! We celebrate Krishna's birthday but not Radhaji's! That's not fair!
I was introspecting as to why are most of our festivals celebrated for male Gods and only a few for female Gods? Wish I asked this question to myself and had started celebrating GOWRI, as the people in south celebrate one day prior to Ganesh chaturthi. I think, subconsciously, we inculcate the seeds of patriarchy with our culture. Time to rise and awaken, time to consciously sow the seeds of equality if not Matriarchy.
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