“The Price of Being a Woman: Worshipped in Temples, But undervalued in Reality”

A few days ago, I wrote an article about Goddess Kali- about the divine energy women embody, the roles we play, and the constant struggles we face. I spoke of how women should be respected in very form, not just revered as goddesses in temples, but as human beings who deserves kindness, love and dignity.

But what happened to me last night shook me to my core and made me question everything I thought I knew about respect.

I was riding in an auto, just another ordinary night, trying to get home. But the moment I got in, I felt uncomfortable-almost as if my presence was being measured, weighed and judged. The driver kept glancing at me through his rearview mirror, and then, without any shame, he began to speak in a vulgar tone to someone over a call, all while staring at me. I told him to stop-his words were degrading, unnecessary and disrespectful.

But he didn’t care.

Instead, after another couple of kilometers, he had the nerve to ask me for ₹280-almost double the usual fare. When i questioned it, he grinned and said, ”Women like you, if they take my auto, it’s gonna be fun.”

That sentence hit me like a slap to the face. I felt nauseous. My stomach twisted in a way I can’t describe. It wasn’t just about money-it wasn’t even about the ride. It was just about the way he saw me, the way he reduced me to nothing more than an object, a tool for his amusement. I wasn’t a person, a woman with voice-no. To him, I was just some piece of entertainment.

In that moment, I wondered: Is this how men see us all? Are we nothing more than toys or distractions? Is this kind of world I have to navigate everyday? A world where a man can look at me and feel entitled to make me feel small, to degrade me, simply because I exist? I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to disappear.

I got home feeling shattered. I couldn’t keep it inside anymore. I told my sister everything hoping she’d understand, hoping she’d understand, hoping she would somehow make me feel less.. alone. But then, my mother overheard the conversation. And the pain in her voice, the reality of her words, took me to surprise.

As she said. “No woman in this country is safe.”

It hit me harder, than any of the ugly words that man had spat at me. Because she’s right. And it hurts. It hurts deeply that I don’t know how to breathe sometimes.

She then told me about a woman from neighboring society-a woman who had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore. She took her own life. And all I could think in that moment was, What have we done to women? How did we get here? Why is a woman’s pain so easily ignored, dismissed or even accepted as normal?

In that raw moment of pain, I turned to my mother as said, “Maa, this is the reason, why I’m afraid to get married. This is why so many women like me are afraid to get married. We hear these storied, we live these fears, and it makes us question-Is it too much to ask for a man who will respect us, love us, care for us? Is that truly a dream too big to chase?

She replied with words that are as old as time, “Not every women goes through the same, and even if we have to we are taught to be strong and accept everything the way it is, for the respect of our family in the society.”

How can that be an answer? How can we keep telling ourselves that? How can we ignore the fact that there are countless women living in fear, living in silence, just waiting for something good to happen, only to be disappointed again and again?

To my mother’s statement, I replied,” If that is the case, I would never want to marry.”

Women are worshipped as goddesses in temples, but when it comes to the real world, we’re made to feel like we don’t matter. We’re made to feel like our voices don’t count, our pain doesn’t exist, and our worth is only tied to how we look or how useful we can be to someone else. We give so much of ourselves, and yet so often, we are left with nothing but empty promises and shattered hearts.

It’s time we stop pretending that just because we’re put on a pedestal as divine beings, we’re treated as anything close to worthy.

We’re more than statues to pray to. We’re living, breathing souls who deserve love, respect, and kindness-not just from those who claim to love us, but from every person we encounter.

“We are not gods to be worshipped. We are women to be respected, loved and cherished.”