SMALL ACTS, BIG REBELLION

There is freedom in saying no and there is freedom in saying yes. And then, there is freedom in saying nothing at all

Ever since my book, Small Acts

of Freedom came out, the question I’ve been asked most often is why I chose that title. There is no one answer to this, and every time I think about it, my mind finds a new reason, a new meaning to the title of my own book and that in itself is an act of self discovery for me.

I relate to the word ‘small’. After all, I was a small feisty thing trying to turn ripples into waves in the massive, terrifying ocean that is Indian politics and activism. I like the word freedom; it’s the first thing that comes to my mind when someone says India. This might be because of the NCERT books I grew up cramming, where history and political science courses talk only about the freedom struggle from grade six to 12, or maybe it’s just in the air; in the hearts of the people and in our minds.

I grew up surrounded by women, as strange as it sounds and as impossible as it may seem. I never really noticed how this environment shaped me as a person, as an activist and as a writer, until one day when I was pouring my heart out to my best friend (also a woman) over a cup of chai and she pointed it out to me. “Gul, it’s so crazy how you grew up in a world seeing women take up authoritative roles—your mother, your grandmother, the teachers in your all-girls convent and now here in Lady Shri Ram College for Women. No wonder you are the way you are.” I spent the whole night thinking about how true it was, but what really piqued my curiosity was how these women who seemed so comfortable in the roles I saw them in, reached that point in their lives, what were their battles? What were their small acts of freedom?

Patriarchy is not exclusive to India, but it is very prominent, which is also why it is an act of rebellion, an act of defiance, a resistance, when a woman performs even the simple act of walking out of the house in a pair of skinny jeans to take over the world. And sometimes, skinny jeans or not, simply choosing to be at home, having the power to shape your world, how you wish for it to be is that act of rebellion. The smallest yet most important act of freedom is being able to make your own choices, good or bad, popular or unpopular, it is about having that agency over yourself. Freedom is walking into a hair salon and colouring your hair blue, even when everyone around you disapproves because they are still caught up in their web of prejudice Freedom is choosing who you want to marry or choosing to have someone else make that choice for you. There is freedom in saying no and there is freedom in saying yes and there us freedom in saying nothing at all, whatever one wants. The millennial in me will say freedom is doing whatever the hell you want to do and sometimes it can mean standing up for what you grew up believing in, peace and non-violence, even if it means contrasting and challenging the narrative set by the most powerful in the country. Just another small act of freedom. The writer is an author, activist and student