The Rare Rainbow

She treated the rain with disdain, as she walked out from the panchayat office. A far severe storm was brewing in her mind. Her eyes were flashing, matching the summer lightning; and her anger, more explosive than the thunder.

They all called her the "Leader". The different tongues, spoke of course in different tones affection, admiration, respect, ridicule. She was thirty-five years old and only last month had won the panchayat elections. Not because of a reservation policy or a political family. Her victory had been purely the result of her hard work she had done for the villagers, over the years.

The Leader was alone on that rainy road, her umbrella struggling with the winds. The sky lighted, only by streaks of silver lightning, and not, by the golden sun.

Her cheeks burned in spite of the cold wind. In anger. Her face was wet. Not due to this sudden rain but the tears from her pain.

It had started with explicit lunchtime jokes and stories, then pictures and today… Earlier she had tried to laugh along and when she couldn't, had tried to ignore the innuendos. But it had been like fighting fire with oil.

The trees seemed to sway to the tunes of wind and water, as she swayed between the alternatives tossed around by the storm in her mind. Should she resign and go home (like the animals seeking shelter from the storm)? Or continue ignoring (like the sun who had vanished but had not been vanquished)?

When in women's mind stress lurk
Due to sexual harassment at work
Either from her work she'll shirk
Or ignore and put up with the murk

And she thought about the third option, the toughest of them all. To fight them with law (like her umbrella which tried its best to shelter her from that rain)

She was the leader who knows the way, shows the way and goes the way. And so, she decided to fight,
Maybe her battle would be a source of light,
To other women, with similar plight.

It would mean facing two battles legal and social.
Later, she would learn that legally in its decision in Vishaka v State of Rajasthan (1997) the Supreme Court determined that sexual harassment is not confined to instances of rape or assault.

Instead, it can include "such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as physical contact and advances; a demand or request for sexual favours; sexually coloured remarks; showing pornography; and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature."

But at that moment, she was not that familiar with those laws, and therefore, was neither apprehensive that they could be inadequate, nor appreciative of their presence. She was anxious only about the social battle. Her family would consider it a stigma, some would ridicule that it could not occur, simply because she was older, while those who had suffered, (probably more than her) would feel she was making much ado about nothing.

Yet she was determined to fight. She wanted to prove that this form of harassment was not just about lust and passions but also about politics and preconceived notions.

From sickening physical assaults to sleazy screensavers, it is prevalent almost everywhere. Ignorance of law, fear of social ridicule, lengthy legal battles, are just some of the reasons, rarely protested against and thus not prevented.

She walked on, to the police station, surmounting the storm in her mind, her face aglow with determination.

Passively, on millions of rainy days
The sun had let the clouds, hide its blaze.

But today, even the sun, was inspired by her glow,
And its rays pierced the dark clouds, its foe.
It saluted her, with a celestial bow
Rewarding the earth, with the rare rainbow…