Friday 26 April 2013

Get your freak on!


Okay, so there's this brilliant feminist page I follow on Facebook  which unlike most of the other pages there (created out of  sheer boredom), actually has sensible stuff to offer. Well most of the times i'd like to think. So i was scrolling down my wall feeds and I didn't give as much as a glance to stupid status updates by equally stupid people till i reached this one post shared on that page which said "Tomorrow you wake up as the opposite sex. What's the first thing you will do?" and it got me thinking.
The comments of some people were really really interesting, which is why i'm doing this post to know what my fellow bloggers would do if this were to happen to them. :D
This one female says what's the point of changing gender IF you are just going to repeat the old patterns of self-serving, profitable behaviors?
Another woman says she'd run in front of a truck(bwahaha)
All the guys seemed thrilled with the prospect of waking up as a woman while on the contrary most women wanted to commit suicide( LOL!). Apparently they didn't find anything too interesting about a man's life except for the fact that they can pee just about anywhere!
Most of the guys' comments were ridiculously insane. I just couldn't stop laughing. What's with guys obsessing over lesbian action man?
Okay okay, I'm not really looking for an answer there. :P

Now now now, what would i do if i woke up one fine morning to see a young-sturdy-flat chested man in the mirror in place of my regular tousled hair-puffed eyes self?
I would go completely berserk! I thought of a lot of things that i'd like to do. It could be fun if you come to think of it. :D

Anyway, I don't want to evoke blushes and clucks of alarm here. :P
So, people, you tell me? What's the first thing you'd do if you woke up as the opposite sex tomorrow? :D

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Fashionistas. Ahem, really?


 What comes to your mind when you hear the word fashion? Is it the glossy, glamorous world you see around? Or maybe, the movie fashion springs up to your mind! Well according to me fashion is just another art...an art to represent something in its most exclusive form, and glamour is just another element of fashion!
And Fashionistas, are they icons or victims? I say both! The models, designers, actors proudly label themselves as fashionistas never once thinking that there could be more to it than just the upper silken and flashy meaning and that they are either being iconised or being victimised(mostly the latter)! Glamour has always stood for something exquisite, elegant and beautiful whereas Fashion, has become a clumsy world where people go to fill their pockets and end up dirtying their lives. If u see it as a ticket to the filmy duniya, u r VICTIMISED by default! When I talk of fashionistas being victims or icons, I mean fashion victims and so called fashion icons who think donning Chanel and Louboutins' is what makes them have "style" or "dress sense"!
Fashionistas range from the oldest possible times we can think of ... wasn't Krishnaji fashion conscious when he wore the mor-mukut with the beautiful peacock feather on it? :) And today girls clad in New York’s elegant drapes with modern twists, Paris’ classic tailoring, London’s cozy knits and India’s subtly-embellished dresses are all termed fashionistas!!
These days every second starlet who can afford a pricey foreign frock or the latest ‘it’ bag, stakes a claim to that dodgy title. Let’s accept it; Indians today are lost in this world of fashion! They lack originality and blindly follow what’s given to them! There used to be women (Nargis, Mumtaz, Madhubala) who inspired two generations of Indian women with their very distinct style statements. Today, the ball game has changed to an extent that any skinny wannabe with a stylist at her beck and call can happily and rather grandly call herself a style icon without blushing.
 Today’s women idolize the likes of Paris Hilton and posh Beckham who won't bow down to anyone but will do a free bend over! Movies these days are illogical...take, for e.g. Aisha. Calling it a movie based on Jane Austen’s novel is the worst possible comment for Jane Austen! The movie looks like a sad, pathetic version of TVC's on Gucci and Prada. These days, anything that is bizarre and unusual becomes a style statement...strangely, style is now associated with big brands and labels rather than simplicity, innovation and elegance. To me fashion and style is what you feel comfortable and confident in and not what others may want to see you in. u can look killer in a pair of denims and a plain white shirt and look hideous in a stunning red gown!!
A true fashionista doesn't need labels to define her identity – she defines the labels with her personality. She doesn't blindly imitate the so called trendy people and clone their style, instead, believes in setting trends of her own by looking HERSELF! These days we crown someone as a fashionista if the person buys couture from the latest international collections...If u establish your own sense of style that has nothing to do with someone else’s yardstick of what’s fashionable, then only you are a fashionista in the true sense! It’s got to be someone who looks gorgeous draped in a saree and manages to look pretty in a mini too, someone who manages to carry off everything in a fab way!


So, wannabe fashionistas, take a free tip, you will never be what u want to be by aping someone and following the fashion diktats like brain-dead people..!!Define yourself with what’s distinctly you. And then, boom! The world will have another fashionista with a brand new style! ;)


PS: Another one of my old write ups. These exams have sucked the life out of me. I've been such a lazy blogger off late, not writing any new posts, not reading any posts from fellow bloggers. :/
I have to do a post on the lovely awards conferred on me too. God! Bless me with some time. -_-



Saturday 2 March 2013

Lots of wine speaking, or maybe not!



Since her early teens, or even before, she was fed with stories with fairy-tale endings. She saw some similar things as she grew up. She also saw stale relationships. Everything got mixed up in her mind. And when it was time for love to bump into her, she didn't know what to think of it. She couldn't recognize it.
She, like other normal, abnormal people dreamt of love and how it would shape her life many a times. There had been so many fabulous men that she'd known and compared to the man of her DAY-dreams. They all lacked somewhere or the other. :/





It would be so magical if she just met somebody someday unplanned, like it happens in 'Before Sunrise'. She adores that movie for those two spontaneous beings in it. She would want a man whose mere presence would arouse her. Someone who'd understand her randomness. Or not. But shoot back with randomness to match her own. Someone she'd get to know not because he liked her or loved her and made a public display of it, but because of other reasons interesting and inexplicable! Someone who wouldn't have to try so hard to understand her. Somebody who could witness her moods, angelic or demonic, without a word uttered. Someone who could match her dreams, beat her in dreaming unrealistic dreams, and play by her in making them happen! She never wanted her replica, that would be much too suffocating to handle, but yes, she would certainly want him to be of her kind. By her kind, she meant not playing by the rules, getting crazy, going unconventional.Alongside, he should be real career oriented. Someone who could strike the balance chord whenever she shook it. Someone hard as a rock, yet emotional in little ways. Rhett Butler like. ;)
Someone who didn't need any explaining. Someone who'd understand her instant needs and carefree attitude. Someone who has the power to send chills down her back with just a longing glance. Someone who'd be as straightforward as a man could be, as chivalrous as a man could get! No P.R.E.T.E.N.S.E. It's the biggest put off ever.
Someone who'd understand her cynicism, her enigmatic behavior, her periodic insanity.Someone who'd make her buried-deep-in-the-ground spirits touch the skies in a matter of seconds. Someone who'd appreciate and understand the look in her eyes more than the voice which btw, she happened to lose at times!
Someone who would effortlessly have her lusting for him without himself knowing. Someone who could make her go mad with one lift of the eyebrow! Someone who would let her be morally incorrect at times without telling her to behave.Someone with whom no planning was required. Impulse was what worked. Spontaneity was what was adored.
Someone who'd reek passion. Someone who couldn't keep his feet in place when music played. ;)

Someone for whom she would be ready to quit every ounce of sanity in herself, if asked to. Someone who's sense of humor would make her's look petty. Someone who'd be as love struck by her, as she by him. Someone who would complete her. Someone who could naturally make her feel feminine, feel good about herself. Someone with intelligence she could only dream of acquiring. Someone who'd respect her without any conditions, love her without any inhibitions. Someone who could make the world look puny and a hut look majestic if he wanted to.Someone whose surprises would thrill her every single time! Someone who could make her feel at ease in the most trying situations. Someone whose hug would heal her.
Someone who'd embrace her passions as his own, whose eccentricity inspired her very own.
Someone who could be himself in front of the damn world and couldn't care less about what people had to say about it. Someone who wouldn't be afraid of the demons in her she's so afraid to unleash! Someone with whom she wouldn't give two hoots to the worldy things. Someone who'd encourage her to get high on life without a single trace of fear of losing her...

She could go on and on...Ultimately, she'd want to be with somebody with whom there would never have been this post, or such crazy stuff.


But the last wish that crosses her mind is to have a life far from regrets.

"Love is when someone will adore the air i breathe, and understand my silent arcs and my consequent lust. love will be unsaid, just in his eyes and floating freely in my heart...!"






People don't write sonnets about being compatible. Or novels about shared life goals and stimulating conversation. The great loves are the crazy ones! ;)

PS: This is an old write of mine. Just got back from a sports fest and have been sleeping day and night ever since. Will be back to writing in a while! :)

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Because in the end all you got is memories!


Picture this…

One normal day. Nothing special. You and your significant other are together. Just spending the day together, doing nothing extraordinary. Just enjoying the mere presence of each other. No questions, no answers.  Just silence which is bliss for the moment. All troubles seem to evaporate; all worries seem to have evaded the both of you. You are very comfortable around each other, not conscious at all… One minute you are walking aimlessly, the next minute you’re sitting holding hands enjoying the serene beauty. The crowd all around seems to drown out. You talk, you blabber, about anything and everything…you do not hold back anything.  This day is better than the endless birthdays you've celebrated and the endless parties you've crashed. You wonder why this feels so good, so pure. But you do not bother to find the reason. You don’t want to. This feels perfect and you don’t want to spoil the beauty of the moment reasoning. You invite looks but nothing seems to bother you enough today. This is your day and you are living it to the fullest. This is one rare time when you realize the importance of the one sitting right beside you. How you need no words around him. Your eyes play the trick. You realize that you’re in love. And nothing else matters!



Thursday 14 February 2013

Teenager no more!

This post is for my all time favorite valentine.
My little sister turns 20 today!
Wish her a happppieeeeeeeee birthday fellas! :)


Chutput, I wish you all the love and luck in the world. Have all the fun while you can, you're now in your prime sister! :D
May you grow cuter every passing day. :D
Stay happy, stay chubby!
Gobble down all of the cake. Party hard!
Lots of kisses. :* :*
















PS: For those of you who don't know, she has a blog under the name "It's always sunny in my-delphia". You might wanna check it out. She's awesome! ;)
(thegreateststorysmelled.blogspot.in)

Friday 8 February 2013

An eclectic literary childhood!


I sometimes ponder as to what kind of a person I would have been had I not been such a reading addict since childhood. Its not a very pretty picture, believe me. I am one of those people who believe that you are what you read, one of those people who like the smell of fresh crisp pages of a new book and the rustic one of an old book, one of those who’d prefer reading a novel over watching a movie any day.





A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. Indeed.
I think the moment I was out of the “toddlerism”, I was into books! It all started with the Snow White, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel stories and continued to the Alice in wonderland and Pinocchio and Noddy ones. I could never get enough of them. I devoured them.
Enid Blyton was my savior in my early school days. She was my God back then. Whilst all the kids around were watching cartoons, my nose would be deep in The Famous Five and Secret Seven books. Their adventures took me to another dreamy land of my own. On getting back from school and inquiring mum about the lunch, I would expect mom to give me fancy names like jam tarts, ham, sardine sandwiches and ginger beer, and would be disappointed to get the regular stuff.
Then entered Mademoiselle Nancy Drew. Oh boy! She and her mustang and her mysteries would send me spiraling to another world altogether. I have sweet memories with Sweet Valley High and Chicken soup too. Then came the hostel life phase. Malory Towers, St. Clare’s, The naughtiest girl series. I had read them one and all. R.L Stine's novels and Hardy boys I would finish on an hourly basis and switch to the next. Life was on a roll. I didn't need anything but my books. My ultimate dream would be to make a huge walk in library of my own.
When teenage hit me, I was happily consuming Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon, Robin Cook, Danielle Steele, Ayn Rand and Harry Potter books. Nicholas Sparks and Cecilia Ahern books would trigger the romantic side i never knew existed in me.
Now when I think of all the books I grew up with I get nostalgic. I also realize what an indiscriminate and voracious reader I was back then. Unfortunately, now I am more picky about what I read. The reviews have to be nice, the author has to be good. I have read some great novels the picky way but i still wish i had the capacity to read indiscriminately even now.


I remember when exams approached us, mom would lock our mini library but my sister and i just couldn't be stopped. We would manage to steal a book or two from elsewhere. We’d sit in the bathroom for hours on the pretext of shitting and bathing while we were actually reading the book! At night, we would lie down on the floor and read in the tail light so that mom wouldn't notice we were up!





“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
― John Green
Its like this man entered my thoughts and spoke for me! When i read a novel, i am oblivious of everything around me. I’m walking in a haze, mesmerized and spellbound, looking at everything through a different prism.
I actually feel sad for those who don’t read. They don’t know what they are missing out on. When you read you can make your imagination fly!
All in all, i think i would've been a completely different personality if it were not for all the books that i have read.I can’t possibly be eloquent about how much I love reading, so I’ll just stop here.




Wednesday 6 February 2013

Perfection in Imperfection.


"You just have to lose a little flab from there and you'll look hot as hell!"

"Just get a plastic surgery for your nose and you can become a supermodel, seriously!"

"Everything looks just perfect except for those flabby arms. Do something about that and you'll look just fine."

"You have lovely eyes, but the dark circles are killing it!"

Why does everything have to be about looks? And why in hell's name does everyone have a comment reserved for you?!
If you wanted to become a supermodel, wouldn't you already be in that line? Why would you be wasting your brains and energy in engineering?! But no, people decide your profession for you. People decide how you should look, how you should dress, how you should speak. They have this f-ing urge to put their snotty noses in everything.

I'm a little disgusted here.




Sunday 3 February 2013

High on life!

I woke up to my mother's beautiful voice singing in the kitchen preparing the regular Sunday brunch. I fished for my mobile under my pillow(a herculean task!). Damn. It was 11 already. I had such important stuff lined up for the day and I was already running late. I'd have to get back home before it got dark. I wouldn't get enough time. Shit square.:O I leaped out of my bed, rushed in the kitchen to give mom a peck on the cheek before i got on with the rest of the work.
I jumped into the most comfortable denims i owned, a gunji and a cardigan, slipped into my loafers as fast as i could. Just a hint of kohl and big jhumkas would do the trick i think to myself. I devour the sumptuous meal prepared by mom. One look at the clock and i swear to myself i'd get up early every morning for the rest of my Sundays!
I rush out of the house waving a quick goodbye to mum, reassuring her with a look that i'd be back before dark, and walk steadily towards my destination. My hair's escaping from the ties but who cares.
45 more minutes of walking and rickshaw and metro and there! I have reached. Stands before me in all its glory Select city walk mall, the pride of Delhi. I walk in the mall through the gigantic glass-doors all sweaty and panting, with most of my perfume worn off, like a victorious warrior. And i look around and see the four letter words on each showroom that can make a woman's wildly beating heart flip: "SALE"..Oh my! So many shops to cover in such little time! I begin on my rampage. I storm past fancily dressed women and haughty young men to get the best bargains. I have saved for long now and i deserve a little treat. I pick up pretty scarves and dresses and accessories. I throw questions at the sales guy till he gets tempted in his mind to quit his job "You got a size L in this?" "What other shades you got in this piece?". I rush to the trial rooms. Baah. I can't buy all of it. How disheartening. I wish i could trade my life with that super rich fool who had all the money in the world to buy her the best of everything but no taste in life whatsoever! :l
Unfair god!

I buy a select few items from the huge lot that i'd collected in the trial room making a mental note of all the things i'll have to convince mom to buy for me. And run to the other stores. The saga continues.
Irritated salesgirls. Long queue of people cursing me outside the trial room while i try almost the entire store. Billing counter and the momentary depression.
And then i finally walk out of the mall, a triumphant look on my face, arms numb from holding all the shopping bags, a growling stomach and money barely enough to land me home. Mom's gonna be so furious. :O


I save for months, and it takes one day, just one day to blow it all.
Never mind! I convince myself that treating yourself once in a few months is not too bad! =D


Is it just me with the shopping fixation? Or do you suffer from the same thing?

What i have come to realize over the time is that women are fixated with shopping, more so with sales! I'm not implying that men aren't. They may be. But women just are. Like its flowing in their blood, and no, the monthly cleansing just doesn't help them get rid of it! Women and their undying fascination with sales!
It is truly said that it is the best cure for all the problems of a woman. Well, chocolate too.
But anyway, coming back to shopping, my funda in life is simple. Shop till you drop. :D
If things go wrong, a pretty dress washes the problem away for a day or two! ;)


Saturday 2 February 2013

Corrective Rapes: A Heinous Crime


I’m about to bring into light an execrable practice followed in South Africa and some parts of Thailand, Ecuador, Canada, and Zimbabwe. Homosexuality is not only looked down upon in these particular areas but also considered a sin! How primitive can man be in his thoughts can be judged by this very fact.
Corrective rape is the use of rape against people who violate social norms regarding human sexuality, often lesbians but sometimes gay men, with a goal of punishment of abnormal behavior and reinforcement of societal norms. Did you read ‘the use of rape’? Yes, you read it right.  In short, you must be treated like an animal if by chance you’re not straight.


This, in the terms of the perpetrator, is the punishment for not being the conventional (as if it were a choice!) and a way of teaching a lesson to them less powerful women on how to be a real woman. What’s worse is that the government of South Africa does nothing to prevent this horrendous practice. The legal system there hasn't yet recognized corrective rape as a hate crime even though the South African Constitution states that no person shall be discriminated against based on their social status and identity.
The present status says that more than 10 lesbians are raped or gang raped weekly in many zones in South Africa. This might be under reported considering the large number of women who do not report due to lack in faith in the police, because of the heights of ignorance of people in their community and culture, and not to forget the negative social view of homosexuality!
I wonder what kind of pigs must be ruling that country. Are they really the most intelligent and forward men of the world? I don’t think so. They need the face the reality and learn that homosexuality isn't a disease that can be treated, by rape at that!
Eudy Simelaine, who played for the South Africa Women's national team was an LGBT-rights activist and one of the first women in the country to live openly as a lesbian, was raped, stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs, and murdered in her hometown KwaThema. In another case, Nosizwe Nomsa Bizana, who had been raped at gunpoint by five men and infected with HIV, died. 
In a distressing case 13-year-old twin daughters of a woman were raped because she was gay. One of the girls later committed suicide. 

Another case of Zukiswa Gaca who is still struggling to understand how an ordinary night out ended with her getting raped.
She had been drinking with friends just 25 miles from the cosmopolitan Cape Town.
Speaking to CNN's, World's Untold Stories, the 20-year-old described how she had been asked out by a 'friendly' man she met in a bar.
'I told the guy that no I'm a lesbian so I don't date guys,' she says.
'He said to me, "I understand. I've got friends that are lesbians, that's cool, I don't have a problem with that."'
He was lying.
At the home of one of his friends, where they had gone after the bar, he attacked her.
''He said to me, "you know what? I hate lesbians and I'm about to show you that you are not a man, as you are treating yourself like a man'.


If this is the treatment meted out to you for coming out of the closet, then chances are you’ll always stay locked up in a cage for the fear of losing your life if you come out in the open.
It is barbarous and inhuman.  It is nothing but sadistic pleasures dubbed as “Corrective Rapes”. It is but the result of deeply entrenched sexism in the society. Disgusting crimes and violation of human rights will continue ravaging society as long as only a few stand up and raise their voice in protection of marginalized individuals and minorities.
It is time their government took a step because truth be told homosexuality can’t be rubbed off. You can’t catch it. You can’t treat it. These demoniac crimes have to stop because no matter how you put it, rape is rape and it is not acceptable, end of story.

Sunday 13 January 2013

The Incorrigible Chauvinist.

We women are indecipherable. We abhor men who keep brooding about their sex. We keep throwing tantrums about how difficult it is being a woman, a lady, and that being the opposite sex is so much easier. But then given a chance, would any of us like to be born as a man? Would any of us like to trade the life of a woman (miserable as we tend to call it) for the life of a man (rocking as we tend to see it)? Guessing the kind of hardcore “gender-narcissists” we are, I don’t think so!
How much ever we crib about the negatives that we have to put up with, we just can’t help loving and unknowingly taking pride in the fact that we were born into this beautiful gender, and we surely wouldn't have it any other way!
There are major reasons why someone would love being a woman but here are some of the tiny little nonsensical reasons why I love being a woman.
We can order colorful, fruity and delicious drinks, with the prettiest garnishing without being stared at as an alien.

We can cry and wail and howl when we are stressed without being called sissy.
Our clothes aren't limited to shirts and trousers and our looks to stripes and solids.
We don’t have to be a freaking sports buff to get a bunch of friends.
We ALWAYS get a seat in public transport for ourselves in the craziest of times, thanks to people who made the laws!
We can be afraid of cockroaches and lizards all we want, and still not be laughed at.
We get treated like princesses on our birthdays unlike the guys who dread their birthdays, for reasons obvious. No one likes to get a black eye on their day. :P
We can see through people, and nine out of ten times, our intuitions are accurate.
We can co-ordinate an event on SMS, update an entire bunch of friends on Bluetooth and get done with our course for the test next day, all at the same time.

We can have babies. :)

We don’t have to worry about coarse mustache and beard every morning.
Lastly, we can genuinely love pink or any other bright color without being judged. :D

I indeed love being a woman. Don’t you? :D


Islam-A Misogynistic Religion?

While many of us may refrain ourselves from delving deep into matters of religion, I can’t help but dive into its intricacies. We live in a country that sees many religions, one of them being Islam. Islam dominates in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. I have pondered over Islamic culture umpteen numbers of times in my head but it took a Muslim teenage girl being shot in the head by the Taliban to finally drive me to the point of penning it down. The strong willed girl propagated education for women in Pakistan. The Taliban thought it inappropriate and shot her. The chief spokesman of Taliban justifies himself saying “A bullet had Malala's name on it, because she has become a symbol of Western culture in the area; she was openly propagating it''. He also called her ''the symbol of the infidels and obscenity''.
This is just a tiny example. Although we have many successful and outgoing Muslim people but then there are those who haven’t escaped the radar of the prowling Taliban people. Take for example Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen. These people wouldn’t have imagined getting issued a fatwa against them when writing their respective books!



Salman Rushdie had to hide under the name of Joseph Anton for 15 years. How must it feel to not being able to live with your identity for 15 years?
As a person outside of Islam, I have tried to be open about this religion. I don’t mean to criticize any religion and although I try not to think of any religion negatively, but truth be told, Islam is mired. What is the image of a Muslim woman in your mind? Oppressed, secluded, submissive, controlled by men? The rights of women are so limited that it is actually surprising. A woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man and her independence is restricted by seclusion in the home, laws of guardianship by male kin, polygamy and unilateral divorce. She is nothing but a second class citizen who is taught to identify with the mores of male domination.
As I gather from my research, the Holy Quran gives the following quotes on women, which is more than enough to prove that Islam is dominated by misogynists:
II/223: Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate). So go to your tilth as ye will...
It clearly states how highly women are treated!

IV/34: Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.

This quote says that men are superior to women. Secondly, you should beat and admonish women if they turn rebellious.  You’re probably wondering how such a thing can be written in the “Holy” Quran, right? Well, go on.

IV/15: (For women) If any one of your women is guilty of lewdness ...confine them until death claims them.
IV/16: (For Men) If two men among you commit indecency (sodomy) punish them both. If they repent and mend their ways, let them be. Allah is forgiving and merciful.
If a woman takes the wrong path, she is to be sentenced to death, while a man should be pardoned because Allah turns forgiving in his case.


A woman isn't allowed to wear makeup, isn't allowed to speak during prayers because apparently her voice is too distracting.

Maybe the aforementioned things seem trivial to many of you, but to me even these are extreme. Many claim these early gains were thwarted by a male-dominated interpretation of the holy texts without sufficient input by women, and that the problem lies within the culture and not the religion.
Misogyny has become so endemic to Islamic societies that it's not just a war on women; it's a destructive force tearing apart their economies and societies. To bring about a change, a huge transformation is needed. According to most Muslim women reformers, the antidote to misogyny is not abandonment of Islam but sharia reforms followed by changes in culture.
Obviously all Muslims aren’t barbarians, probably not even half of them are. But if you read the Quran, you realize that it is vile and written by a woman-hating man, and to follow such a book blindly and derive your laws and rights from the very same is foolishness.
I think we've seen enough. Its time Muslim cultural attitudes and practices changed. Islamic countries (especially the ones ruled by the Taliban) need to be jolted into awareness of the harm they are doing to themselves. We don’t need any more women martyrs before the Islamic leaders gather the courage to speak out against misogyny.