India, Sept. 24 -- If it wasn't such a tragedy, so base, the two steps forward, one step backward movement in which gender equality is stuck for so long would be a cruel farce, at least from my perspective. Because just when I begin to think that we may never witness its diabolical manifestations, a gruesome incident occurs that rudely jolts me from my reverie.

As happened recently, when a young, aspirational, married woman was burnt to death, within the larger NCR area - close to the centre of power. The visuals that played repetitively on sundry platforms nauseated me with their graphic content, as if it were a macabre game in a sinister circus. The incident laid bare - once again - the mindset that follows women in our society, at eac...