Ravan, The epitome of evil, was very restless today. Sitting in the higher worlds, he has been watching people burn his effigies on Dussehra. He was OK with the fact that people celebrate his reduction to ashes. People eagerly waited for the day when they celebrate the victory of good over evil. He was after all the ultimate villain, a symbol of lust, greed and selfishness. Ravan had heard a million times from political leaders, how he sacrificed his family and put the interest of his nation below his personal interest.
He thought to himself, Yes, I did all this, I do not deny that, I did everything what I am blamed for. I kidnapped Sita and kept her hostage at Ashok Vatika. I kept her away from her husband. I daily instigated her with my proposal for marriage. BUT I did not touch her as she said NO. I am not justifying my action in any way but today I want to point out that as she said NO, I stayed away. I wanted to marry her, so that I could make her my queen. Give her a life of respect and luxury hence I requested her daily but she refused and I went back to my Palace, only to return again with the same question the very next day. Why am I then still the ultimate villain?
Ravan, famous for his belly rumbling laughter, was feeling very disturbed and even his hands were slipping from his Veena which he could earlier play for hours. He came out of his heavenly abode for a refreshing walk on the sea shore. As he was walking on the beach he saw a girl picking starfish which had landed on the beach with the waves and throwing them back in the sea. During the process sometimes they were biting her but she continued with her efforts relentlessly. Ravan became very curious, he asked her, who she was? She replied without even looking at him, "My name is Nirbhaya and I symbolize life. You can physically harm me but not my spirit. These starfishes bite me but I will still not stop giving them life."
Curious, Ravan said, I am sure like everyone else you also despise me as you see only the negative aspects of my personality and not the positive changes I introduced. My ten heads are not a symbol of dread but were symbolic of my knowledge of four Vedas and six Upanishads. I stopped the sacrifice of animals in the society. I was known as Social reformer and during my rule, my country was known as Golden Lanka and though I forcibly abducted a married woman but I never touched her. Nirbhaya patiently listened to Ravan and said "A person can do thousands of good things but if he cannot respect a woman, he does not deserve to live"
That was the day when Ravan realized his folly and accepted his defeat. That day, he accepted his punishment and burned with shame when his effigies were burned.
Good evening, my dear Toastmasters and guests. Today, I am here not to celebrate the spirit of Dussehra but I want to compare the situation of girls in earlier days to their situation in our world today. When a girl says NO, it means NO. We should respect that and honor her feelings. I recently saw a movie "Pink" which made me think about the society that we are living in.
Every day when we read newspapers it is full of news of rapes and attacks on woman. We live in a society which teaches it girls to be safe. They are supposed to be having sixth sense which can smell any harm coming their way before it happens. And, god forbid if something happens, what is our reaction. Don't tell anyone, it will bring bad name and shame to the family. We start blaming the girl for not being extra cautious.
If a girl touches, pats and even hugs her male friends, is she giving them signals? She might be feeling safe and comfortable in their company.
If a girl loves wearing modern outfits, does she want to provoke boys? She might be again looking only for comfortable dressing.
If she smiles when she speaks, is she interested to build a relationship? It may be a part of her charming personality
If a girl is not a Virgin, is she characterless. She may have been in a relationship.
We are living in a society which is totally biased towards women. I am going to narrate here a story of a lady who had a son and a daughter and always motivated her daughter to be brave and fight for her rights. Her daughter grew to be a very strong woman but her own son mistreated his wife. The lady realized her mistake. She should have simultaneously taught her son to respect woman. Though, she supported her daughter-in-law but if she had inculcated the correct values in her son, she could have solved the problem from its roots.
Dear Toastmasters and Guests, this is a mistake we are continuously doing in life. We teach defense to girls, we tell them to be safe and keep quiet in case there is any problem. This is one approach, but Instead of doing this, should we also not teach the boys to respect woman. The men must know that even if they possess all the good qualities, if they cannot respect a woman for what she stands, then every achievement is meaningless. We have to teach men to understand that they come from a woman and their world revolves around women. And when a woman says No, it means NO. Learn to respect their decision.
