Let's give her wings to fly...!

My blog is like a personal diary to me. And I decided not to write so called ‘breaking news’ kinda things here. In fact, I have always maintained to write happy, inspiring and motivating kind of things on my blog. And I don’t want to break that tradition.

Recently, three women officers have been commissioned into Indian Air Force as the fighter plane pilots. That was really a milestone for us. India too is now in the elite club of countries where women fly fighter planes. Kudos to all three! And here I am. With one more post on a very interesting topic.

When I read this news, the first thing came to mind was – a very popular punch line of recent Government’s campaign – ‘Mera desh badal raha hai, aage badh raha hai’. Indeed, India is changing. With this happy note, let me appeal to everyone reading my post here that let’s think about the change we have always been talking about. But before that let me put my point.

Recently, during my preparation for a competitive exam, I attended a seminar on ‘Women Empowerment’. Honestly speaking, by mere eagerness about what government is doing for this burning issue (in fact driven by gut feeling about this topic being the hot cake for Essay paper), I enthusiastically attended the seminar. But, it has left me thoughtful. And today that thought mixed with the news I mentioned above triggered my emotions to pen down something on it.

Before I write anything, let me be clear that I am not a social worker, nor do I belong to any think tank and I am not scholar enough to write on such issue (where million others have tried their pens already). But being the educated youth is what makes me eligible to share my thoughts on it.

Sometimes back I read an article on ‘Women Empowerment’ and I read a very touchy line there.
It said, “Ours being a democratic country, both men and women having equal rights, the phrase ‘empowering women’ is a misnomer.” Ooopppppps! It was right. When we talk about women empowerment, we apparently admit that they are inherently unequal and hence they need support of our patriarchal society. Let me go 70 years back and I can proudly mention that our constitution has many provisions on the rights of women. Thanks to Dr. B.R Ambedkar and his team – especially their vision- that today almost 30% of Indian women have excelled in all walks of life. And however late it may be, we have at least 3 Indian daughters as fighter plane pilots today. It’s a beginning. “Such mein mera desh badal raha hai!” But, the 70% of them (mostly who live in rural India or rather real India) still suffer and still await sweeping changes in our gender biased system.

Let me put those effective lines; from some of the speakers of that seminar I attended; that made me write this post here.

“On one hand they say that women are like Goddesses and on the darker hand they treat us as lower species meant for domestic work and to serve men folk.” said one of the speaker (who unfortunately was a widow)

“My father encouraged my education only up to an age. I wish, if he had helped me further, I would have earned my bread and butter today on my own.” said a village woman from a famous NGO.

They all had their stories. In fact, every girl has her story – her story of atrocities, her story of abuse, and her story of being exploited. Since time immemorial women have been the target of atrocities in our society. Be it infanticide, harassment for dowry, rape, abuse or other inhuman treatment, they have always tolerated our system.

None of us might have forgotten the ‘Nirbhaya case’. That incident has shaken us inside out. In fact, rape is the most heinous crime in the history of mankind. Women who go through this soul hurting incident must be living – or rather dyeing everyday – with lost self-respect and dignity. In spite of the availability of stricter legal provisions, dowry death is registered in many corners of our country. Sexual harassment cases make almost every week headlines. And millions of women spend their whole life just playing the role of a home-maker, whether they are educated or not. And this is not the end. I can write whole 1000 pages on what women suffer. This condition of women; even in 21st century; is a big blot to any civilized society. With no other alternative, the woman, who cares for her husband, children, brother, father and has no independence of thinking, suffers in silence. But, in spite of these tragic conditions, women have always proven their steel and made the world salute them. And I will need one separate post to name them. Perhaps the world today is sustaining because of the enormous tolerance power these women possess. Perhaps, that may be the reason that our Earth is also being given a feminine name – Mother Earth.

But there is always a hope. And after independence we have made a number of legal and constitutional provisions to give women an equal status in society in every aspect like birth, education, marriage, property etc. The most important thing which gives relief is that there has been some improvement in our attitude towards women. Rigid mind-sets of men have changed recently due to changing economic, social and political situation at national as well as international level. But do women; who make almost 50% of mankind on this planet earth; need this sympathy?

Let’s not talk about solution of this. Let’s talk about what we can contribute. Recently we have seen many initiatives by Government and other NGOs for the betterment or rather empowerment of women’s condition. I am not against it. But I do not advocate it even.

The first thing we have to start changing with is - our mind set. We should first learn the definition of equality. Women too are the creatures of Almighty Nature. They claim the same rights as a man do. I believe that we need to stop empowering and start inspiring. This word ‘empower’ implies giving of my strength to your weakness or that I have the power and you do not.

They don’t need your sympathy, they need your support. We teach them ‘self-defence’ in schools. But I suggest we should teach all the boys during school to respect them. Women don’t need a Panic Button on their mobile handsets. Instead, they need Helping Hand of a real man. They don’t ask for reserved seats in buses or trains, they ask for reserved places in our heart. Bravery awards should be conferred upon to those who protect women and their rights publicly.

Let’s not just have a ‘Selfie with Daughters’, let’s give them selflessness that they deserve. The home-maker has all the ability to become a nation maker. Let her flourish and let’s give her wings to fly fearless like a bird. Let India give more Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh. Let this not stop here with an entry into history books. Let it be an everyday story.

With hope…!