More than just an Auto ride 🛺✨

I rarely go in autos, but this one day in an auto made me feel really happy and contented. It wasn't about the ride or the traffic or the stifling climate, but it was about the auto driver.

My entire family adjusted themselves into one small auto which could barely accommodate 3 to 4 people, but we had five, with a travel time of around one and a half to two hours.

We started discussing why we were going and where we were going, but the conversation somehow ended up being about my marriage. I'm not someone who strongly opposes marriage, but I've rarely seen successful marriages in life, and that made me a little bit sceptical about my choice regarding marriage. We rarely see people who still love each other after 10 to 15 years of marriage.

Since I wasn't clear in my decision, I concluded that I didn't want to marry, seeing how my father doesn't even allow me outside past 6 p.m., but will allow me to go to someone's home I don't even know about.

I also mentioned that I love travelling, but I never got the chance to travel. To travel is to learn new cultures, meet new people, and the most important one, which is getting introduced to new cuisines. But the overprotective nature dads often have ends up making their own child a loner.

And the auto driver was listening to all of this while we were speaking about it. And then he pitched in with an idea that made me laugh in one way and proud in another way.

Men are like caterpillars, and women are like butterflies.

He further said that women are meant to fly everywhere freely, not be restricted, not be caged. That's how a butterfly thrives. Once it is caged, it dies. Likewise, you should also be free.

If you stay in your home all day doing household work, what Bharathiyar, the legendary Tamil poet, once said would go to waste. He wrote poems to empower women and hoped women would break through the restrictions in their lives.

And he also quoted some lines as well:

"காதலொருவனைக் கைப்பிடித்தே, அவன்

காரியம் யாவினும் கைகொடுத்து"

Many people misunderstand this line as saying a woman should simply obey her husband. That's not what Bharathi was advocating. He believed in equality between men and women. In this poem, he describes the "new woman" as educated, fearless, independent, and capable.

So this line means:

She chooses the person she loves.

She walks beside him, not behind him.

They are partners, helping each other achieve their goals.

"பட்டங்கள் ஆள்வதும் சட்டங்கள் செய்வதும் பாரினில் பெண்கள் நடத்த வந்தோம்."

This was a revolutionary statement for his time. When Bharati wrote these lines, women in India had very limited rights and opportunities. He boldly declared that women were not meant to be confined to the home. They were equally capable of leading governments, making laws, holding positions of power, and contributing to society as equals.

He said that I should be following these, or else what Bharathiyar said would become a lie, and that women like me should do things equal to men, not stand behind them.

I really liked the approach he had towards women, which the majority of the men from the old times won't agree with. Everyone knows these lines, and they also know that they were written by Bharathiyar, but they never think of implementing them in the world they live in.

I was in a very bad mood today, and what he said totally changed my mood and made me active again. It's also proof that words can change a person and decide how they act.

And I was also happy that I got something really good to write about in today's blog.