Burkha

The next chapter Ladies Only written by Tanmeet Sethi is about a second generation Indian women. She starts her chapter off about her parents and how they came to be married. She talks about the struggles that her mother had faced from leaving her wealthy family in India and coming to a place where she knew no one and had to work at a job such as Baskin Robins. There are many different sections to the chapter each explaining different roles or places that women in the Indian culture have been and still are. One of the paragraphs talks about an Indian woman dancing. She is adorned with gold and heavy make-up. Through her dance she tells a story to the men and women of the audience. The writer talks about what her response is when someone asks what she does for a living. She already knows what their typical response will be depending on their cultural background whether they are Indian like she is or whether they are American. She talks about how people talk about her wedding day and how she is painted the night before. One paragraph she writes about is when Indian women have babies if they have too many girls a decision could be made on their behave if they become pregnant with a girl they will have to abort in order to try for a boy instead as not to waste time being pregnant with a girl. The writer tells about when she wears her burkha and how it drives western women crazy. Whereas most western women see it is as the women being held down. Some like the author find it as not showing all her cards at once. In other words not showing off their body, being modest rather than wearing skimpy clothing, leaving something to the imagination. Another story she tells is about an Indian women in labor and how the father just sits on the other side of the room not knowing what to do. After a history of men not being in the delivery room when their children are born this man is uneducated on what to do. The writer encourages him to help his wife, soothe her caress her and love her. The last story she tells is exactly that it is a story something she can only hope to happen. She refers to a couple having their fourth daughter and just being happy that they have a new healthy baby even though they had wished for a boy. This to her is almost like a pipe dream something that doesn’t happen. But in her eyes she is hopeful that one day things will be like this.

#Burkha #Indian #Women