Woman: A “Womb on Two Legs”

    I am not a feminist, rather a humanist. We all should be, I assume. It does not matter either it is a he or a she or a trans. We should not be the reason for their suffering at any cost. If nothing else then at least a few words of sympathy we should spend for them.

    I am writing these words in utter shock. I am wondering how this can happen.  Although it is fiction, what if it comes to reality? But then the images of the dead bodies flowing through the river Ganges, scattered over her bank and vultures making a feast off them flash before my eyes. And I whisper to myself, “truth is stranger than fiction”.

    Since the post-Vedic era, women have been treated as property. To be honest, she is still being treated as property or else the “Kanyadan” ceremony would have seen its demise. History tells us about Concubines and mistresses who sometimes bore children for their kings, especially when the queen could not. Imagine a world where this custom is still going on.

    The Handmaid’s Tale on Amazon Prime tells the story of women, of “fertile women” who are used to bear children for infertile wives. Please concentrate on the word ‘use’.  The plot is set in 2015. I am well aware of the concept of surrogacy. If one woman is willfully helping another woman, there is nothing wrong with it. But these “fertile women” are treated as a “womb on two legs”. They are separated from their families forcefully, their babies are snatched from their arms, husbands are shot at right in front of their eyes. If the baby is female she is also sent to “Red Centre” to be trained to be a handmaid.

    The name handmaid is quite significant. The Red Centre Aunt Lyda supervisor tells the story of a woman Rachel who offered her handmaid Bilhah to her husband Jacob to bear his child because she was infertile. Apparently, Bilhah was quite fortunate to have the opportunity to serve this pious couple. Now the story revolves around the time when God has cursed the wives to be infertile because the entire humanity has abused God’s most valuable gift- nature. But the population is decreasing. And despite God’s direction, they want children. The few blessed fertile women are assigned to wealthy commanders to bear their children forcefully. Now, when I use the word forcefully, I do not mean these commanders are raping them. They have been trained to be raped at the Red Centre. They do not even scream when the men consummate the “ceremony”.

    Although they are named Handmaid, we all know what they are truly treated as, sex slaves. The entire plot is knitted with hatred. Aunt Lyda hates any woman who does not follow religious norms, the handmaids seem to hate everyone and everything in this world except their families whom they would never see again, the husbands hate to have a child from another woman, the wives hate to see another woman bearing her husband’s child. But they do not use words but eyes to express their utter hatred.

    I have only watched the first episode. I am overwhelmed and wish to share my agitation. I am eagerly waiting for the series finale where the handmaids will fight for themselves, their babies and a better future.