Kanya Puja is a Hindu Holy day celebrated on the eighth and ninth day of Navratri festival. On that day, young girls (usually nine) are invited for the Puja in several houses and worshipped as the nine forms of Goddess Durga. They are offered Prasad and gifts and people seek blessings from them by touching their feet. It all looks so good, the aura seems to be so vibrant and you feel worthy and divine like a Goddess for a moment.

The personification of girls as the divine power remains valid for a day or two. The next day itself, the situation changes. They have to face several injustices in the remaining days of the year. Why is it so? On one hand, we worship Goddess Durga (the symbol of feminine power), and on the other hand, we treat our girls despicably. They are kidnapped, raped, murdered, undergo domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, burnt alive in the name of dowry, honour killings, so on and so forth. An endless list of atrocities. The pathetic part is at the end of the day, girls and women are blamed for each and every act happening against them in the society. They are held responsible for their behaviour, attitude, attire and everything that goes wrong in their lives. They’ve been socialised to zip their mouth, lock it and hand over the keys to the culprit.

It’s high time to change your attitude as a part of the society. Stop judging her and don’t hold her questionable for the crimes against her. If you can’t give value and respect to her, then stop portraying her as the epitome of Shakti, the goddess Durga. Stop worshipping all the female deities. Though you have closed your eyes for ages while praying, at least open up your mind to see the fact. Accept it and let’s collaboratively bring a change in the social values.