INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
It is very late for me to write on this topic. But I had this in mind and some reasons prevented me from doing this. But now I am here giving expression to my thoughts.
PLIGHT OF WOMEN IN INDIA
Women have been suppressed in all countries and all through the ages. This is more true of our country and countries in the middle east. In India women were supposed to do household chores only and so educating them was taboo and considered unnecessary. Man was the ‘karta dharta’ of the house and women to look after him and the children and do housework. Over the ages thinking has been so set that even women folk subscribe to the same plan for their daughters. The mindset is so strong that even in cities lots of families do not think of their daughters and the ‘bahu’, daughter-in-law, in spite of education and service. I know of cases where the bahu, after returning from work, has to prepare tea for the husband and the in-laws and even when the husband wants to help, parents stop him from doing so. There are people who would go for several hours visiting places but on return food preparation for the whole family is the responsibility of the ‘bahu’.
Things are changing but slowly as against the above. Even in villages women are becoming Panchayat members and this way can assert for the women. Change is rather slow in coming to the villages and small towns but in big cities it is very much noticeable. Particularly important change is taking place in the field of education and jobs. The result is the confidence exuded by the girls. There are now an ever increasing number of women going to work, at least in big cities. Unfortunately there is also increase in violence against the females and both the society and the police have to be more vigilant. But the city woman is educated, confident, independent in thought and actions, dressing, eating, friends and job. These are very good signs regarding the emancipation of our womenfolk.
The SCENE IN BIG CITIES
There is another aspect more gratifying and happiness giving in respect of liberation of women from the old drudgery of their old style work is the progress they have in the field of creativity, reaching high positions, becoming entrepreneurs and becoming young achievers. We now have examples of women entrepreneurs who have created, from scratch, highly successful pharmacy company or have carried on the working of an existing one when called upon to hold the reins, there are successful women who are MDs of engineering firms, electronics, CEO’S of Banks and financial institutions, Professors in Universities and what have you. A woman has founded a very successful pharmaceutical company starting from scratch literaly, in a garage. There is no field where women are not entering, Army, Air Force, Pilots and everything else. Perhaps there is no area where women have not achieved excellence. Not only here but many of them are occupying top positions in International Companies. I have deliberately avoided writing names of these worthies, partly memory regarding remembering the exact names, partly not sure of the reactions. Let us hope and wish that this trend will continue and flourish. I salute the independent spirit and the achievements of our womenfolk despite all the hurdles.
