Womaniya din especial

This article is a little late for Women’s Day, but it’s something I still want to talk about—the absence of strong female role models for many women growing up in India.

In patriarchal households like the one I grew up in—even the supposedly educated ones—free-thinking women are often villainized. A woman who demands her rights, sets boundaries, or simply states what she wants is seen as difficult, rebellious, or “too much.”

When I was growing up, I didn’t see many women who lived unapologetically. I saw educated women, yes—but many who quietly deferred to husbands and families, women who had voices but rarely used them. Some had romanticized struggle so deeply that sacrifice had become their identity. Others had convinced themselves that destiny had already been written for them.

And when a young girl grows up watching this, how exactly is she supposed to learn to draw boundaries? How is she supposed to look at a room full of male heirs and say, “I am just as capable, if not more”?

Some of the women I saw growing up carried silent battles their entire lives. A few of them left this world far earlier than they should have. I often wonder if the constant emotional negotiation required to exist within a system that treats you like a burden simply became too heavy.

What disturbed me even more was how easily women were persuaded to give up whatever financial independence they had—to sons, brothers, or male relatives who promised “support.” Or how they quietly held entire households together while unemployed husbands chased abstract spiritual quests but still claimed the authority of being “the man of the house.”

This is my perspective, shaped by what I saw growing up.

And it’s why I believe the absence of strong female role models is not a small cultural gap—it’s a dangerous one. Because when girls grow up without women who embody agency, courage, and self-respect, the only model they are shown is sacrifice.

And sacrifice alone is not empowerment.

Young women deserve better role models than the glorified image of the endlessly self-sacrificing woman who believes that silence is strength. True empowerment begins when women see other women claim space, speak openly, and live on their own terms.

Stranger things have happened

Stranger Things: When the Ending Didn’t Stick the Landing

I’ll admit it I was disappointed. Not immediately, but gradually, the kind of disappointment that settles in once the dust clears and you realise the show you loved didn’t quite end the way you hoped it would.

Vecna’s (or Henry/mr what’s it” as I kept emotionally processing him) arc was probably the strongest part of the finale. His pain, his isolation, the slow corruption—it worked. You felt for him, even when you weren’t supposed to. That tragic villain energy was done well. But for all that buildup, I kept waiting for a bigger twist. Something that would flip the story on its head the way Stranger Things used to do so effortlessly. It never came.

El leaving felt inevitable. Somewhere deep down, I knew this wasn’t going to be a neatly wrapped happily-ever-after—especially after Kali alluded to it seasons ago. So while it was emotional, it wasn’t surprising. And maybe that’s the problem: the show once thrived on surprise, and here, it played it safe.

What disappointed me more was what happened to the rest of the characters. They drift off into separate, almost boring lives. For a group that survived interdimensional monsters, government conspiracies, and psychic warfare, their endings felt oddly… flat. It was realism, yes—but dull realism. And for a show built on chaos, wonder, and constant escalation, that felt like a letdown.

Will’s arc was handled gently and with care, and I appreciated that. But it came too late. His emotional truth deserved space earlier, not as a quiet afterthought near the finish line. It landed—but softly, when it should have hit harder.

And then there’s Winona Ryder hacking Vecna. I’m sorry, but that was unintentionally hilarious. Iconic? Maybe. Intense? Not really. It pulled me out of the moment when I should have been on the edge of my seat.

Overall, it was the last episode that disappointed me the most. Not because it was terrible—but because it was underwhelming. For a show I loved for its twists, risks, and emotional punches, the ending felt like it chose comfort over courage.

Stranger Things will always have a special place for me. But this finale? It didn’t haunt me the way the Upside Down once did.