Alfāz

W ith the coming of a new month, we have entered into a festive season where we shall celebrate the festival of “Durga Puja”, when we worship goddess Durga for nine days and the tenth day celebrated as Dussehra or popularly called Vijayadashami, when Goddess Durga wins over Mahishasur, symbolising victory of truth and killing of evil. Since childhood, this has been one of my favourite festivals, not because it provided a good number of holidays, but it made me as a female, feel important, respected, honoured, as elders used to say that all girls are “Shakti”; however the older I grew, the more I started disliking the festival, not because my faith in goddess Durga has undergone a change, it is still intact, but the depiction of a girl as “Durga, Shakti and Kāli feels like a façade. When I see little girls being worshipped on Aśtami by the devotees, my heart palpitates for their safety. When I hear Shakti associated with women, I feel betrayed, for life of a women is more like a pu...