Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: Good morning, Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: What a pleasant surprise that you are here in the Captive Island.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: Good morning, Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa. I am delighted to be here in your courtyards. I love the place from my emotional comfort zone. I like the breezes. I like the smell. I like the feeling of holding a Chai-cup in one hand and a Samosa with the other. Then there are beautiful tigresses playing Jeopardy on their touch-screen palmtop. I like being surrounded by brown trees and crowned pigeons.

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: All these are true. But in our island, educated independent women are not happy. They always hover around the bottom in the happiness index. This is the trend we are witnessing in this century and more so in the last decade. I do not understand instead of eating Khichdi why do they cook Khichdi in their head. I do not know what is happening. I sent a SOS to the Moribund Islanders to help us demystify. But their prime members are busy evacuating aborigines from their original birthplace.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: It is all in the name: the Captive Island. Can we feel independence when our mind is in captivity? How can we be independent without having economic freedom? How can we be independent without having choices? How can we be independent without being assertive?

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: But these women are controlling everything from kitchen to hygiene. They are eating papdi-chats. They are buying spinach. They are providing consultancy services on life's well-being to all mortals free of cost. They are driving electric tractors on smart pavements. They are cooking yellow-milks. They even sanitize their masks before putting them on their red-colored faces. They play with cats. They sing on their bed. They volunteer in the water museum. I just do not know what is happening.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: Do they enjoy Rabri-Jalebi?

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: No. That is the puzzle. They order it from Venus. They pay for it. They eat it. But they do not enjoy it. How come you know that?

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: There is no rocket science. Ours is a structural inequity. Just like our conversations. How can someone enjoy something when we have robbed their equity?

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: But how? If not us then who will talk and decide about issues haunting our 50 % of population?

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: They,themselves. Talk but do not decide. Or it is better that we should start listening to what they have already been saying for all these years. Time has come when women should decide about their life and well-being instead of us deciding what is good or bad for them.

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: Thank you for enlightening me. Now I understand what is going wrong on our island. Instead of learning and growing with time we are still selling rotten potatoes in the name of enlightenment. Idea of freedom varies from person to person. We never recognised that. We thought that the same clothes fit all.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: A researcher's problem ledger always acts as a solution canvas for an entrepreneur.  The Captive Island is no exception. Chai-Samosa took care of the basic needs. Now it's time to embrace the aspiration of Rabri-Jalebi. The islanders need to transform themselves from being a smartphone buyer to smart-thinking seller. The moment the concept of thinking will hit your mind, you will start appreciating the role of fairer gender.

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: Agree. It is not about women being unhappy. The problem is and always was myopic men's idea of happiness and freedom. We never recognised that birds cannot fly when their wings are clipped.  Education could not make us learn. Learning could not invoke our wisdom. It's time to watch 12 angry men again.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: Yes. Do that. It's a beautiful movie. We are living in the most opportune time in history. We must learn from our past-mistakes and design an inclusive tomorrow. Getting drenched while dancing in the rain should be the norm, not an exception. Freedom means freedom of mind.

 

 

 

Mr. Majority Chai-Samosa: True. If, not now, then when? Sincerity coupled with flexibility can take everyone along the development path. We must strive for amalgamation of diverse thoughts.

 

 

Mr. Minority Rabri-Jalebi: Yes. Adversities come and go. But we can win together. A pandemic of smiles is our best hope against all atrocities.