Saturday, March 6, 2010

Wooooooomen's DAY!! Is it "worth it"???

Today is celebrated as a day dedicated to women across the globe. A celebration of liberation, freedom, independence, achievement, non-chalance etc. etc. The newspapers and dailies are full of it; tom-toming it since more than a week now. Corporates are supporting it by organising rallies, walk-a-thons, parties, fashion shows et all. Glossies have monthly issues after it. Social networking sites have pop ups, pages, sub sites dedicated to it. My question is - Is this hoopla WORTH IT?

The above paragraph would make me sound like a male chauvinist or someone who cares a hoot to the women's cause but the fact is otherwise.

Lets go a lil(actually a lot) back in time. Our mythology gives us innumerable examples of how women have been a pillar of strength through thick and thin. May it be Godess Sita or Mother Mary or as per the new findings(debatable but interesting); Mary Magdelene. Women in olden times have been brutally abused, tortured and tormented. Immediately after Jesus' crucification millions of women were killed as a combing operation to find and end the SANGREAL(holy grail).
Since thousands of years, women in orthodox surroundings are labelled as withches if they exhibit even a lil bit of liberation or free will.

In our country, women in mythology are refered to as SHAKTI, ultimate symbol and source of strenghth and power but ironically rather than taking care of this we put it to ultimate test. Since times immemorrial female foeticide has been rampant in areas like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, UP and Bihar. The figures are scary and disheartening. Its surprising to know that these some of these states are also the most productive and developed states of India and are key contributors to the GDP of our country.


The best example is in the print ad of Girnar Tea in today's Mumbai Mirror. It clearly shows how subtlely but surely in our culture women are NOT equal to men. In our education and social behaviour too they have been always refered as lesser than men. Our country has many social demons like practice of SATI, ban on widow remarriage, Devdasis, purdah which have been created for women folk to prove time and again that they are inferior and always dependant on the men who they belong(they are treated like commodities!!) to.
Though in the Vedic age women were equal and educated too but somewhere we lost our way in the medieval age.

With British rule our country got introduced to Christianity which again to a certain extent was orthodox and non liberal towards women but it also gave us convent education which till date has educated millions of girls across the country. The seed of liberalisation and free thinking were sown from this time. Great names like Rani Laxmi bai, Chand Bibi etc. are floated around but forgotten names like Pandita Ramabai and Kittur Chinamma are seldom mentioned.
During the freedom struggle, lot of influential(and ofcourse rich) families sent their daughters abroad for higher studies which helped and boosted this drive of women liberalisation in the country.
Today we hear various names in the modern age of Indian women like Indra Nooyi, Kalpana Chawla, Kiran Bedi, Naina Lal Kidwai who are making us proud not only nationally but also on a global platform but do we as individuals ever think how greatful we are to them.
Women as mothers are the greatest living examples of our planet. She nutures us, feeds us, takes care of us, never stops GIVING, sacrifices her own sheer existence for our well being.
Women as wives support us mentally and physically. They are always there when we need them without us asking for it. They sacrifice their families, friends etc. to accompany us in the journey called LIFE. How many men would be ready to leave their parents and live in their in-laws' house without feeling a pinch. I dont see a lot of hands going up there. But women does this non-chalantly. Women accept men's families as their own but not seen a lot of guys doing the same with their in-laws. Its from my personal experience that im talking that men will never discuss their wives' families ever for some strange reason. Its discussed only if there some disputes or some turbulence in the "system". I call it hypocricy and to a certain extent superiority complex or the lack of it.

But women are a bit weird too. My mother still waits for my dad to come back from work(how much ever late it is !!) to have dinner which sometimes gets very unnerving. After a lot of explanations and arguments, I have been unable to change this practice. And to continue the tradition even Kiran does it though we live seperate but dunno where has she got it from. I guess, its their DNA which cannot be changed by us, lesser mortals.

But to wrap it up, WOMEN ARE MUCH WORTHIER THAN WE THINK and I would humbly request all my friends to recognize all their deeds and actions and try and thank them for what we are. Without them we dont stand a chance hence RESPECT them and give them the recognition(however small it mite be) as they are "WORTH IT"(from the Maybelline commercial).

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