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Mary Kom has brought India glory a thousand times. But not everything about this wonderful, brave woman was known until Priyanka Chopra and Omung Kumar decided to join forces and document her life in a stunning motion picture.
Mary Kom is now 33 and has achieved the world in all these years. But none of this was easy. Hailing from a lesser known tribal village of Manipur, Mary Kom was molested when she was 17, called racial slurs and even today, things haven’t changed a lot for her. She joins the clan with Farhan Akhtar to write a letter to her two 9-year-old and 3-year-old sons as a part of 8-letter series with Hindustan Times.
Read this inspirational letter by boxing legend Mary Kom, telling her children about her journey and appealing to sons all across the country to treat women with respect.
You grow up in a home where we teach you respect and equality. Your father does not go out to do a nine-to-five job – like you see your friend’s dads doing – because one of us must always be there for you. Between my training and my work now as a Member of Parliament, I have to spend long hours out of home. I have the utmost respect for your father who now dedicates his time for me and for you all. You will soon hear the words “house husband” but remember that’s not a slur; neither is it derogatory. He’s my strength, my partner, who walks with me through every step I take.
There are other words that you will hear soon. You might be walking with me one of these days to hear your mother being called a ‘chinky’. That is a slur. That is racist. I am Indian and I know you are growing up to be proud Indians. We belong to a state that is in the grip of an insurgency. I protect you against violence, I help you overcome fears. Equally important — as you get on to become this great country’s future — is that you grow to respect women. A lot of women from our State are targeted for the way they look and the way they dress. ‘Chinkies’ are not fair game.
My country has given me fame and recognition but I am not recognised by each person on the road – as an MS Dhoni or a Virat Kohli will most certainly be – but I do not deserve to be called ‘chinky’. A man recently broke out into what he thought was the Chinese language and I stopped him and spoke to him in firm Hindi and ticked him off.
I am blessed now to be in the august house of the Rajya Sabha and I will do my best to create awareness about sexual crimes against women. It is an opportunity I must seize. I will ask questions about the way some of our politicians speak, about the attitude of the police whose sole duty it is apply the law.
But sexual crimes are also steeped in our mindsets and I would fail in my duty as a mother, if I did not tell you – all great sons of this country – that we alone have rights to our bodies. Respect women when they say ‘No’. Don’t stalk them to death because they have said ‘No’. Rape is not about sex; it is only about a misplaced sense of power and revenge.
I know I can beat a molester to pulp and that might help me fight the deep sense of being defiled but why should it even come to that? Desire is beautiful when it is reciprocal. We have often heard the explanation of ‘boys will be boys’. Let’s build a society where girls can be safe, secure and respected.
Yours
Mom
Being a woman in this country doesn’t come easy, but if men in this country learn to see women as equals and respect them, it would become a much safer place.
News Source: Hindustan Times
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