Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ladies Coupe

A nice thing about reading a "good book" is - it leaves you with lots of thoughts to ponder upon.

Book I read today - Ladies coupe. Life of a lady... her journey from when she achieves womenhood... to feeling like a women...what makes a women complete... to her search for happiness from the perspective of 6 ladies traveling in a same coupe - the Ladies coupe. They come from different backgrounds but have something in common. They all are in search of themselves... in search of real happiness. Their lives are either guided by their fathers, brothers, husbands or sons. They have similar questions. How much liberty do they have to take decisions of their life? Are they just the extensions of the men in their lives?

The protagonist Akila has been living her life on what is expected of her rather than what she wants for herself.
"I don't care what anyone thinks. I am who I am. And I have as much right as anyone else to live as I chose" one of her friends had told her once.
True. In my view true happiness comes when you do what you want to do and are not ruled by the guidlines put together by "so called society".

But the question arises - till what extent. You can't just do anything you wish to? Society has some norms.
I would say - who is society, who has made those norms? Its people like you and me. We make society, so why can't we frame the laws that make us happy rather than sad. Why do we want to look at a lady only as either a daughter, a wife or a mother and not as an individual who other than taking care of people around her, is an individual with her own needs, her own wishes, and her own desires? Why can't we let her live her life on her terms? Why do we have so many regulations for her when there are none for their male counterparts?

Some of other lines in the book that touched me and I would like to mention here are - "You mustn't become one of those women who groom to please others. The only person you need to please is yourself. When you look into a mirror, the reflection should make you feel happy."

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