Common questions that are asked to me because I am a Muslim and I chose to wear a Hijab. I have revamped my blog and removed all my old posts, except for one. The one that I truly identify myself with.
Just when I thought that we were done with racism and stereotypes I was yet again proved wrong. I have faced judgements like these
almost for five years now, five years because that’s how long I have been wearing
my Hijab. So with Hijab comes the very expected curiosity especially when I
CHOSE to wear it. The most common (good) questions like, why did you choose to
wear it? What’s the best thing about it? Etc and the common silly questions
like do you feel hot in it? Do you wear this at home too? Not that I mind
answering these questions and trust me I do n I will continue to, but these
questions amuse me a lot. Because obviously people who ask me are some of d
smartest people, even well read but unfortunately blinded by the image and
stereotypes created by the media or just blinded because they choose to be that
way. In today’s world when information is just a click away, it does get
frustrating for me. The questions and the stereotypes don't frustrate me, it’s
the people. It’s frustrating because it’s not like the people have come from
the jungles of Africa that they need to know like does it feel hot when fully
clothed? Hell yes it does, don't you feel hot too in those jeans, hell yeah you
do? The temperatures around 41degrees, even a naked man will feel hot. In my
case I just would be feeling a little hotter than everyone else, so what was
the question again? Do I
wear my Hijab at home, for the record I DON'T. The whole purpose of my Hijab is
that I decide what I want the others to see. No you cannot see my hair if I
don't want you to, no you cannot see my hands, my legs, I have the power, the
authority to decide what I want others to see. I feel freedom, I feel
confident, I feel powerful and I feel the opposite of oppressed. A piece of
cloth, a non living thing cannot oppress me but a human can. I have had these “cool”
suggestions given to me like, you can remove your Hijab in the college, your
parents wouldn't know etc. Please know that my Hijab is not for my parents, it
is for me and for my creator. I am not afraid of my parents, I am afraid of
losing myself in this materialistic world of western slavery that we term as
being progressive. After the questions that I have been asked by some of the
most "modern" people I believe, let me tell you, it’s not the clothes
that make you progressive, it’s your mind. Especially us Indians, the western
world is our scale to determine the modernisms or progressiveness, why is that?
I am sorry to say but I got my independence in 1947 and I don't need a western
scale of modernity to tell me how progressive I am. My education, my job, the
luxuries I have been blessed with is my point to prove how progressive I am,
not my clothes. Women pilot in Hijab, women scientists in Hijab, women doctors
in Hijab( fun fact: a survey conducted by Indian express says that in Srinagar,
which is a Muslim populated area, there is at least one girl who is a doctor in
every house), soon a woman journalist in Hijab( yes I am talking about me,
lol), name it and I'll tell you, only that I don't support spoon feeding and
I'd rather have the people just take a little time out and start learning about
what's happening in the world today and Google it themselves. We haven't
progressed if we still continue to have stereotypes ingrained in our brain
cells like today someone told me "Arabs with their 10 wives" and Arab
women with their Gucci’s and Versace’s inside their Hijab, obviously taken out
from the Hollywood movies, I can actually list some out but that’s not my
point. No, Arabs don't have ten wives; they are normal family people just like
us Indians, in fact traditional just like us. Do some have more than one wife?
They probably do but that’s a whole another topic of discussion on polygamy.
And true fact, polygamy exists in my country India too, but that’s just the
truth, the fact being that according to a survey the percentage of people
practising it is NOT the minority community. So my point is, with this fact I'd
rather concentrate on my country and try to figure out where the problem lies
rather than the country I hardly know about.
All with globalization and, thousands of Indians employed in the Gulf
aka the Arab countries I thought people would know better. The Arab countries
are one of the most technologically driven countries of the world. The
technologies used in Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc are so futuristic that we can only
expect to see it in movies when in the real world the Arabs already have it.
Modes of travelling: they have camels and horses and then they have the sports
cars and bikes, that’s the most progressive the human species can be. And if
they still decide to travel on camels( which I find is the coolest ride ever)
or decide to wear the Hijab, what with the oil resource and money the creator
has blessed them with aaaand still have traditions very much alive and going,
then that is progressiveness.
Please know that, this post is not a rant, it’s just answers
to the most common questions asked to me. I don't think the questions are going
to stop coming my way after this post. And I will continue to answer them in
future, patiently, the way I've been doing it. When people continuously ask me
questions like these, I doubt their intentions. What do they expect? Do they
expect my answers to change every time or what is it? For the record, my
answers will remain the same because the questions are repeatedly the same. No,
I will not feel embarrassed or insulted, I will only be amused. Yes, I will
never stop answering your questions and your doubts because I stand by what I
believe because I am strong like that.
This strength comes from the technologies I have, from the hoards of
books my Dad has piled in our home, from his knowledge that he passes on to me
and my siblings and last but not the least from the faith and belief that I
stand by so strongly, that has made me this progressive.
