Its 3.20 Pm, the time is ticking away, moment by moment, everyone waiting, with fingers crossed, for the verdict, hoping that its a neutral one, no gains no loss for either party. Soon time will tell. The whole city of Ayodhya has been transformed into a well guarded fortress, with security forces, army, paramilitary, police, even the airforce has been kept alert and ready to take control of any untoward situtation, and all this in the name of religion, in the name of the very God that we all turn to for protection and solace. Temple, mosque, places of prayers, all holy, yet the same holy symbol has today become the bone of contention. If one party wins, the other will not win. And then what will that lead to. Technically, the losing party can again make an appeal, and then the judiciary will again take God only knows how long to come to another conclusion.

Sixty years has passed since the first hearing had taken place, and in those sixty years, so much blood has been shed. Has India and its people, and more so its politicians and learnt their lesson. Who has benefitted in all these years and who will, after the verdict is out, really benefit. Will anyone carry the piece of land with them when they leave this earth, the ones whose dead bodieswill be burnt will have their ashes mixed into this very earth, and the others who are buried will also ultimately become a part of the dust of this very earth. Will they be able to then enjoy the piece of the land? In the name of religion so many wars have been fought, with no end to it. There is no winner here, yet no lessons have ever been learnt.

I wonder what would Lord Ram's opinion would be had he been around today. he is revered as the ' Maryada Purusottam'. For the sake of peace he had left his kingdom, choosing to live in the forest, and he chose the welfare and happiness of his subjects, to his wife, to the extent of even banishing her away in a pregnant state, all for the sake of his Kingdom and his subjects. What would he choose now, a temple in his name, or a mosque, or maybe a hospital to cater to the needs of one and all, irrespective of which caste, class, religion, or community they come from.

When ever there has been riots and wars, the worst affected were women. She has always remained a commodity, along with the material loot, she was also looted, raped, molested, and then asked to prove her chastity, again and again. Whether it was Sita of the Ramayan era, or Draupadi of the Mahabharata, it was always she who had to bear the brunt of all battles and wars. In a war between Ravan and Ram, it was Sita, who was used as the commodity, and later till today it is Sita who is blamed, all because she stepped out of her home to feed a hungry beggar. She couldnt help her caring maternal insincts, after all she was a woman, pity, love and care are her nature. How could she let the hungry beggar go away unfed from her door. Unfortunately she didnt know how to distinguish a real beggar from a fraud in disguise, so she paid for it. Ravan won a point against Ram.

Ram had to rescue his wife from ravan's clutches, it was his honour and the honour of his family that was at stake. Once the job done, he asked his wife to prove her chastity, in the larger interest of the society. Ram was Maryada Purusottam, but the same yardstick was not used for his wife. Inspite of proving her chastity, and show the society that she was after all worthy of being Ram's better half, she had to leave, pregnant, with the future heirs of the same kingdom, to the forest, for the sake of the society. Ultimately she had to perish into the same earth, on which stood the kindom, and its people who questioned her.

Draupadi, Kunti, are blamed for the Mahabharat war, had Kunti not hidded the fact of Karna being her son, had Draupadi not want revenge for her insult, thie war of Kurukshetra woulod not have taken place. But if Kunti had told teh world that Karna was her son, then would this same society not question her who was Karna's father. If Surya disown the fact that he was Karna's father, then too accusatory fingers would have been pointed at Kunti for being unchaste. Draupadi became a pawn in the war between the step brothers. Had Pandavas not won her, then the Kauravas would have. And all this to get the political support of her father. She was insulted before the whole assembly, called a whore, all beacuse she had five husbands. Even that was forced upon her, all for teh sake of keeping the five brothers united. Her husbands and their supporters called it her sacrifice, her large heartedness, while their opponents calle her a whore. Ahilya was turned into a stone, all because she was beautiful, and Indra couldnt control himself. Ahilya paid for being beautiful, and Indra continued to rule the heavens.

Torture of women has happened and is still continuing. Even today women has to prove herself to be a chaste, and more than capable wife, mother, and a equally good worker, among her male collegues at her work place. In most homes though she is an equal bread winner, yet the house hold chores are solely hers to do. In the marriage market, her worth is high if she is a highly qualified, and hefty salary earner, yet she is expected to bring along with her the moolah, too at the time of marriage. If a marriage breaks, the women are looked upon as the reason for conflict, a home breaker. Without a man by her side she is looked upon as available. If she choses to be single, then she is called arrogant. All rules of society are for her to abide. It is said men never grow up. Well they dont have to. They dont have to beware of being abused no matter how young or infant they are.

The riots during independance, 1992, all saw blood shed, there was no difference of colour in the blood of a hindu or a muslim. It was all universally deep red, but it was women who had to bear the humiliation, irrespective of what religion she hailed from. Here there was only one rule, she is a woman, a commodity, andjust like houses and property are looted and ransacked, burnt and destroyed, so also treat her to avenge the enemy and teach them a lesson. Some women continue to live with the memory of those horror, while others have perished.

It had to be only a man, Ram, who took the credit of releasing Ahilya of her husband's curse that he gifted her for no fault of hers. Pleas of Ahilya that she was ignorant of Indra's conspiracy had fallen to her husband's deaf ears, as she was only a woman. Draupadi lived on with the memories of the horror of her insult, the loss of all her sons, and the blame of the war on her head, Sita was fed up and killed herself.

Its the 21st century. Has the society changed, only time will tell. Whether the temple wins or mosque, what does it matter to us women. Either way, women cannot becomes priests, or maulavis. For now we all have to agree, that it doesnt matter who wins or who loses, hopefully all have learnt a lesson. No more bloodshed, no more riots, we have had enough, we cannot give even one more life for this cause, because we women know the worth of a life, it takes a whole nine months, and then intense pain before a life in born on this earth. Our nature is to care and nurture. Its time women irrespective of caste, religion, class, all stand up and demand, that this disputed spot belongs to all, so a hospital be built, where human beings shall be treated, a home built where the old are looked after, a child shelter is built where children have a safe haven to grow, to blossom, into a new world, that is free of any religion, caste or class, and all that remains is love and respect for each other, and spirituatlity.