Written by Disha Taneja
Illustration by Faith Freshwater
I am from that part of the world where it is not safe for women to go out after 10 PM in the night. I am from that part of the
world where women are expected to prioritise building their family and home over their career and education. I am from
a place where women are still not allowed to do what they want to without the will of their husbands. I am from that part
of the world where a man leads the family and earns the bread and butter, and women are still expected to do household
chores. India—known for its cultural heritage, diversity, food, beauty, and monuments still works as a male-dominated society
at many levels. Although, it has changed a lot and women have been given equal representation at a lot of levels including
the government sector, a recent example being Draupadi Murmu as the president of the Republic of India. I belong to a very
liberal family; my parents have always been quite open and have never stopped me from doing anything. I have always been
a kid who was around everything—swimming, yoga, good in studies, dancing and possibly all the activities that were around
me. But not everyone around me was of the same mindset. I remember aunties from my neighbourhood telling my mom to
teach me household chores and how to cook food when I was in grade 9. They expected me to learn all of the “feminine”
tasks. I was given a chance to move out of this environment and an opportunity to study abroad and experience different
cultures, people, and everything. My mother never stepped outside India—this is my first international travel too. It’s funny
how a year ago my mom used to get super concerned with me leaving the house for a short walk at 11 PM and now I have
travelled and have been living in a completely different country all by myself. I have gotten an opportunity to focus and build
my career, I am grateful and glad to be able to receive a chance as this is not available to everyone. I wanted to skip a vicious
cycle of graduating, getting married, settling down and building a family. For me, I didn’t see myself fitting there—I am an
unstoppable force, and those seemed like limits and labels. So, I chose to escape that and live life on my own terms, trying
my best to become a better version each day—taking risks and learning lessons so that at the end of the day I get to live my
daydream. I still love and respect my country and culture a lot because it has given me so much, but at the same time I feel extremely grateful to be able to break the stereotypes in which I didn’t fit and create my own rules.
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