“Hi, there is an event which will be organized on coming Friday. Are you interested?”,
“Yeah, if it is about public speaking, why not? Give me an insight of the event.”,
“Yes, it is an open mic competition. It will be organized in Mr. Beans Café. Timings are 6 pm to 9 pm. Shall I register both of us?”,
“Wait! 6 pm to 9 pm on Friday?”,
“Yeah, what happened?”,
“Hardik, are you crazy? Papa comes back home around 7 pm. I have to be at home before 7 pm anyhow.”,
“What? You are sounding weird. How can the event that starts at 6 pm can get over by 7 pm?”,
“Yeah, Ok leave it. You get yourself registered. I ain’t so interested.”,
“This is weirdness at its peak. I mean who puts a time restriction for his/her daughter? Request your father and tell him event’s importance.”,
“No Hardik, in any case, he would give me a maximum of 30 min relaxation. 9 pm would be too much for even asking for a permission.”,
“So aren’t you allowed to roam outside home late night?”, I was curious to ask her actual scenario.
“Yeah, 7 pm is the maximum time in any case. Sometimes, I take a relaxation of 30 minutes, but that too happens seldom.”,
“But why has your father imposed this restriction?”,
“He thinks that I shouldn’t roam around (specially with male friends) after 7 PM since it is a threat to my integrity.”,
“Integrity? Seriously? Are roads so unsafe? Isn’t it craziness?”,
“Craziness? Hardik you are tagging it craziness because you don’t have a daughter. You can’t realise worries of a father about his daughter. Dude, get married and have a daughter. And maybe 20 years down the lane, we’ll again discuss over this.”
May be she is right. May be her father is also genuinely worried. May be the roads are too unsafe. May be time restriction really plays an important role in deciding character.
But, wait, I saw her brother yesterday, partying with his friends late night in a club. There were few male friends and 2-3 female friends. He was enjoying without having any worries about “late night” or “character assessment”.
I was curious, surprised and confused. I thought may be the boy lied to his parents about party, else, he should also have been at home after 7 PM. I called her again.
“Hey, don’t take it otherwise, but I think your brother cheated your parents yesterday.”,
“Why? What happened?”,
“He was partying with his friends late night in a club.”,
“Yeah, we know this.”,
Alas! My confusion, surprise and curiosity were all mixed on her reply.
“But you told me that your father doesn’t allow to stay outside home after 7 PM”,
“Idiot, that rule applies only to me, not to my brother. He can roam around till as much time he wants”.
Yes, needles of clock have nothing to do when a boy stays outside home late night. Only character of a girl depends on the time – if she is outside home late night, she is a characterless girl or there is a threat to her integrity.
Why do we always assess the character of a girl by her home arrival time? Why girls are always expected to come back home highest by 7-8-9 pm?
And the parents, who put all these restrictions on their daughters, are the same parents who don’t have any issue if their son roams around late night with his friends. Even if a girl is outside home late night, roaming or partying with friends, it doesn’t mean that she is a characterless girl or there is a threat to her integrity.
And the worst part – people aren’t concerned only if a girl is outside home for partying. They are ready to assess her character even if she is coming from a business meeting or an important career event.
Time is evolving and with it, event durations are also changing. You can neither finish any meeting exactly by 6 PM nor start any party exactly by 7 PM. There are business meetings or events at late night also. There are late night parties also.
Another major concern for parents – if she is with one of her male friend, her integrity is in danger and she could become a prey for him. Really? Are you considering all her male friends a probable rapist? If the boy is with a female friend, and she is safe with him, the same holds true for male friends of the girl too.
There is a high time that we should make an environment for the girls where they can realise that breaching 7-8-9 pm limit isn’t a punishable offense. That terrified look on a her face if she hasn’t reached home in the given time limit, shouldn’t be there anymore.
As long as you trust your daughter/sister/wife/female friend, and believe that she wouldn’t break this trust or cheat you, needles of the clock hanging in your bedroom or the time displayed on your mobile shouldn’t be the deciding factor if her character is good or bad.