Aneesha

 For years, I have been locked in a quiet war of conviction, trying to help those around me see that patriarchy is not a natural law, but a constructed system. It is a structure designed for male dominance ; its inevitable byproduct is a profound inequality that leaves women in a perpetual state of identity crisis . ​In this world, the 'male' is socially engineered into the role of the provider—a title used to justify his position as the absolute head of the household. Driven by these unscientific gender roles , women are conditioned to believe their purpose is to serve and live in the shadow of men. Perhaps the most tragic element is how the system sustains itself through the support of women who have been taught to view their own subordination as a privilege . ​In such an environment, freedom is a restricted commodity. A woman’s autonomy is routinely dismissed by men who were, ironically, raised by women—women who were themselves victims of the system, yet remained blind t...

 ​I am a Keralite , and while I can read and write Malayalam , I often feel the weight of its limitations in my daily life. I was raised in a somewhat sheltered environment, with my social circle mostly restricted to my parents and school friends. Through this experience, I’ve realized how deeply language shapes family dynamics. ​Though I was born into a Malayalam-speaking family, we—like many in my generation—tend to use contemporary English words instead of their Malayalam counterparts. A few days ago, I overheard my mother talking to a neighbor about a core memory involving my sister and my paternal grandmother. Back when my sister was in kindergarten, my grandmother, who had little formal education and spoke very little English, tried to show her a goat. ​She said to my sister, "Nokk, athann aadu" (Look, that is a goat). However, my sister didn't know that "aadu" meant goat, and my grandmother didn't realize my sister only knew the English word. They beg...