By Ratna Manucha
It’s a man’s world, alright.
Which manuscript says man has to outmanouvre everyone and everything and be the manager of all he surveys?
And then, why does man have to manage or even micro-manage everything, literally every teeny tiny thing around him?
Must man arrange the mangoes, mangosteens and mandarins in the fruit bowl in a particular order?
Why is it mandatory for man to wear the mantle of the man of the house? It’s baffling and beyond comprehension.
Sometimes, just sometimes, wouldn’t it be wonderful if one could place man in the pride of place, on the mantle shelf as a mannequin, where all mankind would ‘oooh’ and ‘aaah’ over his manliness.
When the good Lord above manifested man, did He realise that sometimes his quirky mannerisms manifest themselves in many different ways and occasionally border on the mannerless?
Man’s ability to manipulate his better half in order to prove his manliness is one such mannerism that sometimes gets unmanageable and makes one look out for the nearest manhole.
Which manual or manifesto ordains that everything that is not natural is man-made? Like mandolins, mangroves and even maniacs.
Meanwhile, there’s a manhunt for the third kind of man.
And why is it called a manhunt, even if one is out looking for a woman?
Why does woman have to get a manicure? Why? Of course, man goes for it too but then it’s right up his street…it’s a manicure.
Why does man have it so good?
Why is a lady manager called manageress? Why can’t she be called womanager? Actually, forget it, even the word woman has man in it…
Why is it that we manually dismantle things and manhandle people?
Management can be good, bad or indifferent…but it remains management…
No offence meant…this was just plain manspeak.
There I go again…
P.S. And to prove my point, the most popular word in the Oxford dictionary in recent times, is ‘manifest’.
I rest my case.
(Ratna Manucha is an academician, storyteller, poet, columnist and author of fact, fiction and textbooks for children and young adults. She lives, dreams and writes in Dehradun, her happy place).
