Consumer Psyche

"Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. Did your read this book? It tells all about men and their psyche. You should read it and use it for your Consumer Psyche."

"Yes. On a Sunday some fifteen years back. That is a kid's guide to handle relationships."

"Well?! What do you think?"

The look on her face gleamed as if she had won the argument. Moonlight and her hair played hide and seek as she tried to hold back some lose strands behind her ear. This was a tough task as we were standing in the doorway of a running train.

Men are so boring. Men aren't romantic. Men don't have emotional quotient. Men don't care for the simplicities of life. Men don't appreciate the color of pink, the feel of satin, fresh morning breeze, getting wet in rain, eating ice cream in winter, don't love the neighbor's dog and don't cry! This is just what I remember. Several things she kept muttering in a single breath and I was looking amazed at her ability to speak non stop. Did she breath?

"Can't men be like Sharukh alias Surinder Sahi from 'Rab ne banadi jodi'? she quipped.

"Yes we can and we don't mind illuminating all the city with lights to spell a word if we work in the electricity board!" I quipped. She didn't appreciate my comment and went on.

The problem with men is that you don't have any sense of how we feel. We need space. We need independence. We want our rights. Why don't you understand our need for being an individual? We just live and go on through the motions of life. Superiority, love, hate, dominance, carelessness, callousness, sexist oppression, domesticating, exploiting, abuse and what not. All possible ways of hurting a women are done.

Again she stops for a gasp of breath. A police personal comes and looks at us suspiciously and gives a wicked grin. Shravya gives him a frosty nosed look that send chills down his spine and makes him go back to his den with his tail between his legs. She turns her attention back to me and here she goes.

Did you see the look on his face? All men are like that. So disgusting and cheap! You will never understand what we go through day in and day out. Women have been subjected to bad treatment socially, economically, physically and mentally. Just flip through the pages of history and you will find it all through: the story of suppression!

She paused again. This time to look at a passing house with a kerosene lamp and a dog barking ferociously at the train.

"You are silent. Say something." A smile of satisfaction lights up her face.

"You are right," I tell her, "We might not be as good as you want us to be but trust me we are in this together."

The underlying current is strong in her argument. Some dissatisfaction and lots of anger. I do not pick that with her. At least not yet. The night is young and the journey is long.

The train approached a station and we picked up tea and a biscuit packet.

"All men may not illuminate the city like Surinder but trust me there are men who illuminate lives."

Shravya gave me a wicked smile, adjusted her hair and settled like she is ready for another fight.

What happened next? How did the clash of the psyches end? That is another story.

Pic is from here.