A World of One's Own

In honour of women everywhere.

My idea of feminism emerged when I returned to India from a year of studies abroad. Archaic points of view were probably entrenched in me so much while living in India that I automatically agreed with them.

I began exploring the opinions I was expressing into the world. I noticed that in any given situation, be it work, weddings, vacations, working from home, the ideas and plans put ahead by men and women elicited very different responses. This was good or bad for men or women, depending on the situation. We were all subject to this bias or that bias.

This was a feminist coming of age for me. I realised, it wasn't about accepting how things were, but seeing them and then making my move.

Whether you're a man or a woman, the freedom you expect in the modern world has a dark shadow cast over it.

I find it harder to ask for things than my male counterparts. This might be my personal response to the world, but owning up to where I personally need autonomy is where my fight for feminism begins.

This is why, in my upcoming novel, Tejas is fighting for the autonomy to fail, Ruhi is fighting for autonomy to create a business, Aisha is fighting for the autonomy to look how she wants to.

Ninety years ago, it was important to fight for a room of one's own, today's quest is a world of one's own.

My fiction book Adulting published by HarperCollins India is out on Amazon.

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