iPad:This is NOT about Apple’s latest product

Last night, I was waiting to watch the release of ‘Apple Tablet’ like many Apple enthusiasts all over the world until I could wait no more. I fell asleep. So, I was half asleep when I asked ‘Apple Tablet release vayo?’ (Is the Apple Table out yet?)  The reply was: ‘Hoina tesko naam iPad raicha.’ (No, its called iPad). And the first thing that crosses my mind is the sanitary pad. The term ‘pad’ automatically gets interpreted as ‘sanitary pad’ in my head. Of course, I know there are notepads and other ‘pads’ but they all come later. So, the American women aren’t alone in seeing the sanitary connection here. The correlation was instantaneous even for a Nepali like me. Though it could be an entirely different story for many Nepali women where the access to pads is an issue in itself. There’s chhau padi tradition, untouchability issues and what not. We (Nepali women) could write a novel on menstrual cycles if we wanted to, couldn’t we? And I could definitely contribute more than a few chapters.

पुतलीको देह

नामकरण गर्ने शक्ति प्रायः पुरुषकै भएको हुँदा स्त्रीलाई ‘देवी’ वा ‘सहिद’ जस्ता विशेषणहरूले सोभित गर्नुपर्ने आवश्यकता परेको हुँदो हो

तर बुझ्नुपर्ने कुरो अर्काे पनि छ- दुईवटा अवस्थामा मात्र नारी ती पुरुषप्रदत्त शाब्दिक आभूषणहरूको लक्ष्य बन्छे । पहिलो, जब उसले पितृसत्तात्मक सोचको आन्तरीकरण गरेर पुरुषकै भाषामा बोल्न थाल्छे । उसकै अपेक्ष्ााअनुसार आफ्नो शरीरलाई मोटो-पातलो गराउँछे । आफ्नो विचारलाई ढाल्दै लान्छे । उसको इच्छाबाट चल्ने पुतली बन्छे । दोस्रो, जब पुरुषप्रधान समाजलाई उसको ‘विद्राेही’ स्वभावबाट कुनै खतरा हुँदैन ।

This is the excerpt from an article by Sanjeev Upreti titled ‘Putaliko Deha’ published in the Kantipur National Daily ( Jan 24, 2009) which compares the existence of women to that of Dolls and explains it by taking the example of the slain journalist Uma Singh. Read the complete article below.