A tale of two brothers | Feature

I am Sexual Terrorism and my brother is HIV/AIDS. We live all over the world but today I will talk about my role, position and status in a sad country, Nepal. I love this place: people are poor and illiterate and so blooming ignorant making life just delicious for me. I have lived in this country for centuries. My father, Patriarchy, is a great man and my mother, Submission, is a tragedy in herself. Well she is a woman and that says it all – silly creatures, females – just good for serving us men. My sister, Oppressed, is worse still. She has such a lack of dignity and confidence; it's just too embarrassing to define. But then I think, if she were more like my aunt, Liberation, and her daughter, Empowerment, I might lose my high existence. Thank god I know how to play my cards.

In the past, papa Patriarchy and I were absolute rulers. Our ploy was to make women feel that they were born to obey our beck and call. This brainwashing, we would start at an early age lest they grow clever enough to understand what was happening, also simultaneously maintaining impeccable wariness in avoiding aunt Liberation and 'not so dear cousin' Empowerment. We would make women feel like they were completely dependent on us though the situation was actually quite the reverse. Oh indeed the mind is a powerful instrument. One of the effective tools of maintaining this dependency and our supremacy was through denying women any real market value skills and economic independence. We made laws whereby they had no rights to neither land nor property and in most cases, not even their own bodies. We always made them feel that they belonged to a man, be it father, husband or son, a baby producing machine through which men's lineage progressed furthered. …But enough of my great father and me!

My younger brother HIV/AIDS (HA) is great. He is much younger than I am and just so adorable. He is wickedly vicious and at such a young age (in his early 30's), has managed to traverse all the continents… quite the globe trotter – or dare I say, the globe - galloper! His trusted allies are Lust and Ignorance. He makes friends in their (people's) times of weakness. Sometimes he uses my name and my father's patronage to get his way. Apparently, Syringe, a tediously sharp young man is a good mate of HA as well. I don't know them too well though. I suppose we are from different leagues: I being more mental where as they, more physical. I think HA is more open minded than I am, i.e. he is not discriminatory and more than often tends to hang around my neighbours, viz., sex workers, drug users, migrant populations, homosexuals and others who are made 'more' vulnerable by economic and social instability and political crises. I can certainly vouch that he commands my respect. I can be so limited in my social networking skills.

However of late, life doesn't seem to be as fun, relaxed and exciting as before. My daily dose of emotional and economic toll upon women has reduced greatly, leaving me quite the hungry hunter. This has also left my darling of a brother HA to suffer as it has somewhat narrowed his target audience, namely dire strait women and girls. To add fire to the fuel, aunt Liberation and cousin Empowerment have become sworn enemies of ours. Their baking skills have aided them tremendously in their war against the male members of my family. One hears that they are baking and distributing that scrumptiously delicious pie called AWARENESS for free and cousin Empowerment's friend, the detestable Miss. Use Protection with her army of Condom soldiers are proving quite a nuisance for HA. To top it all, a certain Ms. Education seems to be forming an ally with this group. What has the world come to? We should request His Excellency, Dr. Fast Food Chain to announce them as terrorists.

However, a ray of silver lining though! A very well deserved good news! One hears that this certain Mr. Bureaucracy is helping prevent efforts of my enemies…though I hate to admit, he is no ally of mine either. The lack of co-ordination between Mr. INGO and Mr. Government and Mr. Discriminatory Laws … almost forgot Mr. Political Instability and Mr. Peace Talks, such interesting people and quite the personalities about town, is a most encouraging factor for my basic rights and existence. I think they should receive more respect and less work and a plaque made in honour of their contribution(s) and their social importance in Nepal. I know that some colleagues of HA (HIV/AIDS is employed fulltime in the department of DSDF - Disaster Science and Disease Forever, such an enviable institution), namely TB, quite the chameleon, and Malaria, a robust young lad from the tropics are facing a rather grim future. All the same, so long as Mr. Community, Mr. Government and Mr. INGO are disoriented about their articulation of priorities, I'm safe and will be able to create a living, well not as opulent as in the past, but indeed for a long time to come. Poor HIV/AIDS though, he has developed a strange irritation/allergy to rubber products and they seem to be everywhere he goes.

Aww… off to bed now!!

But before I go, VIVA Patriarchy - my great father, Viva Uncle Bureaucracy, Uncle Ignorance, Uncle Exploitation, Uncle Bond More Labour and of course our new found friend Dr. Communal Insurgency.

So long!

Sexual terrorism!!