Unfolding Story of Close Chapter
She Proposes: He Opposes

Gautam Sharma *

MY Lord, Should we allow to shun a women's chapter by our society's social contact? I hardly can agree with the de facto, that many a woman today are compelled to close the chapters, of their story; after being eloped or, after getting married or, after having a child or, after her hubby decease. Indeed, like manual works are being replaced by the machines, crucial creditable-roles in our society & the world are replacing by women, increasingly & invincibly. Women have, so far so goodly proves, that they can achieve beyond men. Can do what a men can do, and it's be-yon, and genuinely they are doing. Indeed, they are those who do. But, My Lord, whatever...She purposes: He opposes. This ain't the justness.

And My Lord, before my opponent speaks, please let me have a say, that the neutral-gender's terms are my evidence and witness, ---- 'policeperson' in spite of 'policeman'; media-person/newsperson/pressperson instead of 'pressmen'; and not only men owns big business enterprise, so we better say 'businessperson' than 'businessman'; men not only sits all the honoree chairs, so less-times we tagged the chair-sitter as 'chairperson' than 'chairman'; all ordinary people are not layman but there's women ,too. So, 'layperson' sounds suited & acceptable than term 'laymen'.

So, My Lord, saturating to my line of reasoning, women are not men, but analogous to men. They always can do whatever, whatever the modern men do's, they should allow doing what men do's. So, why to close their chapter after; ...? If 'Gender' is going to give affect tremendously ; a dream, a life, a career & an academia of a friend, a sister, a daughter or a spouse, or my client, then we better opt for a neutral-gender, not in term of 'term' but in term of every terms. We better shun this sexism, my lord, we better shun-down..., with or without receiving someone's assent. That's all..., My Lord, She purposes: He opposes. This ain't the justness.

Fellas, this was just an imagination of an unpolished-script of a radio-skit, of an episode inside a court room. Instantly, it zoom-in and landed to my thought, when the hands of my Casio's 'Beside' wrist-watch tickled at afternoon 4 hrs-20 min-12 Sec., in the common-waiting room of Network Travel Counter (a bus service provider) at Paltan Bazaar, Guwahati-230001. I happen to scrambled everything I can in a worn-out paper-napkin, which I took from a food-joint after a brunch, just to ease myself from being wary-waiting for the departure time.

Indeed, it was good learning-trip; I've learn that Assam too have, a lots of Slum-Dog, please don't mean it in otherwise sense, I mean slum-dwellers & underdog people. Sorry, I have habituated to say things in other-wise short-way due to much association with our dogs & hyphen. I've also learn that Guwahati's time is same with Manipur's time. After all, time is time, and is same everywhere, even though there are less-differences between IS time & GM time in terms of time. Same difference, Huh...??

So Fellas, before you get interested to ask and know, I'd tell you how my perception happened. Well, incidentally I met a person, and we befriended over the few couples of hours, in Guwahati ... so because we happened to be from same alma mater. We both came to sit, a same exam, at a same center. And we schooled from, same university, same department, lectured by same teachers. Isn't it funny? It's a small world...huh?? So, after get to know each other, meseems we've share the same schools of thought. So we shared as much as we can, during the itinerary --- my brunch (older-brother of Breakfast & Lunch), my breezer (kissing cousin of beer), and what not??

After the exam, and during the brunch, I told him that I'm leaving for home, at an evening-bus. He was supposedly to back home later, but he prepone his plan because the water-level of Brahmaputra looks more than alarming, to him. And, he can't dream of singing; "Row, Row, Row boat, gently down the stream; if you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream"... So, hastily we walk to get his bus ticket, and on the way we did everything; what people from Manipur usually do when they travel to Guwahati --- I mean drop-in to wine shop, lip-sip the coconut water, looks for flatly discounted Shops up to 75 percentage.... And, you know, Assam is phenomenon for its tea, so what I was dying to buy is an Easy-Tall Tea.

I don't know whether it does exist or not. But what I know, is a tea called, Easy Slim Tea, it do exist. Cos' I've seen an Ads on easy slim tea on TV. So my hunch, that Easy-Tall Tea might have also existed, coz' easy slim tea do exist. Looking for easy-tall tea, we scouted every avenue but all the tea-shop-keepers never heard of it, what they have is green tea, plain tea.

During the way, we talk all the old-boys' topics, you know, what's an old-boy' topic- -- Girls/women etc. During our talk-time, he bluntly said a very striking statement in no certain terms, "For Women, Marriage Means Their Chapters Close" (transcript of what he said). His striking dictum made me to developed the women's matter a little big-thought, coz' I'm a women's men, as I have more women in life than men. His dictum made me travel to the trains of thoughts, one after another.... back and forth ...

Thought-Trains 1: It was twilight seven-thirty in ISBT, the bus bye-bye the station. Every passenger inside the bus seems very happy, like a soldier returning from a war in a copter, and I sat near a window seat, like a captain. A while then, my thought-lens open the aperture and zooms the focus-topic; 'she purposes: he opposes. This ain't the justness'.

The first thought that comes to me was about my sister. Well, I have one only kin-sister but my heart has owned another three. So I'm a big-bro of four big girls now, and my concern for each one life is also my responsibility and I should be accountable to their future, to a little extent, methinks! Sometimes back, one among them has eloped with a self-acclaimed good guy. Well, small people talks about other people, great people talks about new ideas. Being a self-styled great Sunday 'Messenger of the Masses', I thinks, I should not talk about other people.

Indeed, what I know about her eloping-story was, 'she was trapped, blown her harmonic-mind by the horn of her boyfriend father's car, in the name of long-drive at a garden in Kaching'. Well, the decision-makers have decided to close her chapters at just twenty-three. You remember that striking dictum of my friend, "For Women, Marriage Means Their Chapters Close."

And, my entire dream to press & push her to study at Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute (SRFTI) this year at a minimal-cost has scattered. My wish for her, to be the one among the fortunate NE-Students who'd camped to pursue SRTFI's Course, seems came apart. My expression of unofficial-interest to one of the SRFTI's Lecturer, during his tour to MFDC, to try my best to send my creative sis to study film's 'production methodology' has falls apart. Indeed, they take only twelve-seat per course; she could be first-one from Manipur among the pioneering Indians, if she schooled.

And, the Film industries has high demands for people with such background of 'Production Methodology'--- Hollywood, Bollywood, Paris, London, etc. and Manipur Film market may demands after a decade's coz' a single man produces, direct, edits, even writes the script, for a films. As, our bus also keeps riding in street-lamp-less Nation Highway, my non-random thoughts-trains keep haunting till the Nagoan Deport. And unlike other men, our bus-driver was a generous men, he stop every frequently in the highway to give lift to any person, who ever need it on the way.

The experience inside the bus was also awesome, completely taught me what's unity in diversity, it reminds of 'mile sur mera tumhara', do you remember that Social Ads Campaign during the then PM Rajiv Gandhi tenure on the theme of nation integrity, and unity in diversity. The diverse-passengers travel together without fighting to each other in the same bus. Some vomited inside the bus due to over-drunk, some played loud music through their mobile, other passenger at back-seat light-ups cigarette, few others complains but it was in complete unity in diversity.

Thought-Trains 2: It was eleven-thirty pm, our bus happens to park at Jarkhrabandha and, all hungry passengers rush to the hotels to full their stomach. Well for me, my thought has killed my hunger. So, I myself, my friend and few other friends shared my dozen of breezer which I brought for my lady love. Well, we finished all the breezer I brought for her. So what I have now for her is my simple heart. From Guwahati for her, I only brought back my hearts safely. How faithful I am, methinks at the moment. The hurried-bus blows its horn to call her passenger, after the handyman signaled the driver to move. Our bus drives-on towards the street-lamp-less Nation Highway.

When I look outside from the bus widow, I feel more emotional seeing the dark lawns, big trees, light-less streets & Villages. It seems like rural virtue hasn't leave the state, the Mother Nature hasn't departed from the land and the villages, even though our village is global now. My broad-vision for my sis has become narrow again when my thought-lens opens the aperture and zoom the focus-topic; 'she purposes: he opposes. This ain't the justness'. Well, after my sis marriage, she will close her chapter. She will just live like an 'Apostrophe' for her man, just to indicate the possessor & to use in contraction during needs. She will be a house-wife, which means wife of a house she lives. She'll cook, clean, mop the whole house day-in and day-out coz' she's is house-wife now.

Even, if she desire to go for a PG Course and made proposal to her future perfect, it seems he'd oppose her, due to her busyness in home-works. Then after a year, she'll come on Cheiraoba (Manipur New Year Day) to gift her father a Dhoti, with a complete change of attitude from a dynamic to un-dynamic, an extreme change of her style from west to desh, and next year a child. Well, what I can do to stop her from closing her chapters. It's a law of nature.

Well, I wish all women are like men, if they can do whatever the today men do's ----- Wont it be interesting? Ah! ...What I mean to say is, like many today's men; out of home they will keep insignificant other, throw party at late night banging their heads with a bottle of banger-pride, will say to their spouse that I will kick you out, and enjoy life with nice dress, will go to concert at night flirting unknown opposite sex, so on and so forth.

The chapter of my thought trains also closes in the consecutive morning, when our bus stops at North A.O.C. I get down from my bus, then I saw a beautiful, fairest among lady with a fashionable goggle in her face, she come near me and then said 'let's go', she was none but my lady love waiting for me to pick-up from the bus stop.

Back at home, I told my entire experience and thoughts to Alec Smart. After heeding my story, he said: Men are emotionally-weakest creature in earth. They always just live in dilemma; they cannot live without women, and they also cannot live with women. That's why increasing numbers of divorces cases are inclining. And, Men would be always men, some would be good & generous, and other few may be just thrifty and barbaric. But do we need to eat the whole cow to know the steak is tough. Like usual he left the place, singing aloud a verse from his favorite folk blues:

Come writers and critics, who prophesize with your pen;
And keep your eyes wide open, the chance won't come again,
Don't speak too soon; for the wheel's still in spin,
And theirs is no telling' who, that it's naming;
For the loser now, will be later to win,
For the times they are a-changing...

Newsperson: The agitation for demanding status to include LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender) in the gender list is postponed due to Olympic game's schedule, in which India Vs Netherland falls today.

Tagline: "Journalists are, like Scientist, not advocate", a highly informed journalism source maintain during a departmental tip-off.