Sab kuchh mil gaya tha na? Women don’t need anything else, right? That’s what everyone says at least. Bachche, I was very confused about this women’s day concept, so I spoke to some learned men in my colony. Just to understand what men are still doing that is against the well-being of women. And they collectively said, “Yeh women’s day vagairah sab bakwaas hai”.

These are all uncles who have a lot to say on WhatsApp groups about politics, RWA matters, and why the new generation deserves no joy. Itna gyaan toh gyaani hi dete hain. So, I decided to ask the uncles here, senior and junior, a few more questions.

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Women are not expected to do all the house chores for free anymore, are they?

Yeh sab toh pehle hota tha before we started having careers. Like men. And yes, it took some time for men to understand that women are human too and can’t work round the clock without rest. But now it’s okay na? If the WhatsApp forwards of men sweating it out in the sun, managing two full-time jobs to feed families etc. are true, then we finally have a level playing field now.

Men do household chores also every day and not just when they want to. They take care of their aging parents on their own now and can even care for their own children. Now everyone wants bete ke haath ka khaana, not bahu ka. Obviously, right? I mean, it’s 2025, kitchens are a gender neutral space now. You see men cooking three meals for the whole household every day, office jaane se pehle and office se aane ke baad.

Women are not considered a man’s property anymore

Can you imagine if we were still living in the time when women were considered to be either their father’s or their husband’s property? Horrifying na? When women were forced to change their surnames after marriage, when they were told daughters are not entitled to inheritance from the parents and daughters-in-law have to survive on whatever the husband hands them, when their parents would call them paraaya dhan and their in-laws would keep them out of “family matters”. Ab thodi hota hai aise. Women are treated as actual family members now and not acquisitions. Right?

A woman’s ambitions are respected now

Just like men. No one questions how a woman got that promotion or why a man hired them to work with him. Remember when women were taunted with the word “ambitious”? No one uses it to degrade women anymore. Haina? Kuchh zyada hi ambitious hona is now considered a good thing. Now, men take orders from women just as easily as they would from a male boss.

There is no culture of locker room jokes in any industry and men never exclude women from post-work team hangouts or give them the “womanly” tasks like organising birthday parties in office. Women don’t have to work extra hard at the same job just to prove that they belong. And of course, all young girls are expected and encouraged to have careers now. Just like men. Right?

We are safe everywhere

If you haven’t understood the sarcasm of this article so far, you need to read a lot more about feminism, bachche. But the safety of women is not something I can joke about. Don’t be fooled, women are not safe anywhere. Not at home, not at work, not in public transport, not in their own cars, not in hospitals, not in places of worship. Nowhere.

So, if you’re pissed about the roses and chocolates that the women in your office get on March 8 every year, please know that the women are pissed too. Not about the gifts, but about the fact that the date or occasion won’t affect the creep on the road or in their home who thinks women are up for grabs.

For me, International Women’s Day means a lot of things. But the main takeaway for men should be to think about how they treat the ladies in their lives.

Kuchh achcha nahi kar sakte, toh bura bhi mat karo.

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