Friday 26 July 2013

"Boys you can break..."

"..you'll find out how much they can take,
Boys will be strong,
Boys soldier on,
But boys would be gone without warmth from a woman's good,good heart..
...So fathers be good to your daughters,
And daughters will love like you do..
Girls become lovers, who turn into mothers,
So mothers be good to your daughters too.."

Daughters...sisters, mothers, girls.....women. A delicate breed aren't we? Like spiders silk, we appear slight and brittle, something that needs to be held carefully and cherished lest the slightest jerk  damage us. Yet, just as a spider cannot be defined without the silk that makes his web, our men, our priapic, self-assured, able men, are nothing without a woman's love to complete them. I love how John Mayer brings the frailty yet essentiality of a woman out in his grammy winning hit, 'Daughters'. Its a song whose message and melody has touched my soul, and moved me to write this post.

Now I can already hear the feminists protesting! "Were strong too!","We can take care of ourselves..", "We can do everything just as well!", and so on! And so we can! The silk that a spider so depends on is tougher than it looks. Spiders silk is known to be one of the toughest materials on earth; that is to say, it can withstand a huge amount of strain before breaking. And I know that everyone reading this description right now is thinking about some amazing women they know, who personify this. Women who have risen through unthinkable odds, stretching,bending, doing whatever it took to build a life for their loved ones and themselves.

I was talking to my friends yesterday about how it seems fewer women than men need to release their frustrations through addictive vices, or how many young girls of our generation look up to women role models more. And while discussing this, a thought occurred to me. Behind this facade of apparent invincible inner strength women seem to have,we must remember, we are fragile. We can break. Even as the strongest of webs can be swept away by a careless broom, we women can break if we're treated without the care and respect we deserve.

I remember a Marathi poem that I learned in school titled 'He bandha reshamache'. Very Roughly,literally translated; 'These silken relationships'. Women seem to have a God given natural ability to protect the deep yet delicate bonds that connect them to the people they love. The sheer number and depth of the bonds that each woman typically has tells you a lot about how big her heart is. So here's to all you amazing women out there, daughters, mothers, sisters and friends. You are all one of a kind. And to all the men who have these amazing women in your life, "You are the God and the weight of her world", so treasure her.