Dedicated To The Society, do think about this!!!!!
''Men are allowed to have passion and commitment for their work ... a woman is allowed that feeling for a man, but not her work.’’
-Barbra Streisand
This is true for the world we are living in, where women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. According to a report women constitute 70% of the population living below poverty line in the rural areas. They constitute for 89.5%of the work force in agriculture, 55-65%in the farm production, 94% in dairy production and 51% in forest based small scale enterprises. Will these figures raise questions in our minds now, when some one asks ‘’ if women are weaker than men.’’???
When did our society started accepting women to be weaker than men??? When did women started to raise their voice to secure a respectable status in the society??? When did they start feeling the need to secure a position in the society and not to be looked down upon by men??? Women enjoyed equal status and rights, as men, in the early vedic period. But, when practices like sati, child marriage, devadasis crept in the society, in the medieval period the woman’s position started deteriorating. Reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra fought against these evil practices, and fought for the upliftment of women in the 19th century British raj.
What happened to the pride of women in the independent India??? Indira Gandhi became the prime minister of India for the longest serving period of 15 years. Presently, our president is a women and the chief minister of our capital city is again a very diligent women. Does this means that the position of women today in our society is better than before, when Razia sultan became the monarch to rule delhi, or when Rani Laxmi Bai was leading the Indian rebellion of 1857??? Well the facts again contradict the picture of women empowerment shown to us because less than 4% seats in High Courts and Supreme Court are for women and they make up for less than 3% administrators and managers.
This does not mean that women are not excelling in corporate affairs. Kalpana Morparia and lalita gupta are the managing director of ICICI. Sullaja Milwani is the joint managing director of Kinetic. Neelam Dhawan is the M.D of Microsoft in India. Globally women are excelling in all spheres. Starting with the U.S secretary of state Hillary Clinton, M.D of Morgan Stanley Zoe Cruz and president of New Zeland for three successive terms Helen Clark. From politics to business firms women are excelling every where and even doing great in the music industry with Judy Mcgrath as the chief executive of MTV and VH1.
But in some places the society does not allow a woman to step out of her house and participate in this fast moving competitive world. Rape, Eve teasing, dowry, domestic violence are some of the evils which surrounds the life of a women. Who is the culprit then??? What is making a women feel so insecure on facing the world fearlessly??? Is it the so called ‘’stronger men’’ of our society?? Is domestic violence, dowry killing a way to show your strength?? Well, answers to these questions are crystal clear, but not accepting them makes the society and men even more weak. Who says women are weak?? They have fought against these ills of this society. Activists like Arundhati Roy, Medha Patkar, Anita Desai, former IPS Kiran Bedi have raised their voice against all social issues and have devoted their lives for the welfare of our country. Walking the slut walk (Besharmi Morcha) was an initiative taken by women recently expressing the umbrage of the women against the fears of ghastly comments which they face from the opposite sex when they step down on the street.
Women are ricocheting. Various women from rural india have come forward to take part in various sports events and are excelling in it. Some of the famous names which have got us various medals and respect to our nation are PT Usha, Shobha , Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Karnan Maleswari and many more. Women have risen to great heights and to debate on the issue of ‘’who is stronger- men or women’’, will never bear any fruit. But, what must be admired is the struggle which the women have made since the past, the self-belief which they have gained fighting against the norms of the society, that restrains them in the hollow chains of culture and dharma.
Yes, it’s a mother who brings all of us in this world and she was never weak to endure any pain for us. It is evident that women have the courage to patiently bear all pains to achieve a respectable position in the society and that is what makes a difference. Men already had what they have now and women have earned what they did not have earlier.
