True essence of Women’s Day

On the eve of the International Women’s Day on the 8th March, I came across a beautiful quote, celebrating all the women on this planet. The quote read:

“ All women are working women, albeit only a few are salaried.”

The quote made a very deep impression on my heart and inspired me to pen a few lines, celebrating all the women. There’s a distinct change in our attitude towards women and this is very much evident from the way the girls are being brought up by the parents – with absolute parity with boys and no discrimination whatsoever. Girls are being provided with the similar opportunities like their male siblings and are allowed to pursue area of their interests without the Damocles sword of “ marriage” or “ settling down” hanging on their heads. In fact, I go a step backwards and notice a distinct change in the expecting parents, who are eager to welcoming a girl child with similar enthusiasm, if not more as a boy. No more gender determination pre natal tests or lamenting the arrival of a girl in a reconciliatory tone of treating it as arrival of “Laxmi!”

And girls are seizing the opportunity by competing with boys in all the fields, including the hallowed precincts of defence services. The domination or to put it more moderately, equal precipitation  of girls is not restricted to teaching, PR jobs, air hostesses, doctors, nurses etc., but in space technology, police service, administration, IT, aviation, business, self entrepreneurship and defence, as aforesaid. Several organisations have women CEOs, CFOs and other senior functionaries. Many women are leading large businesses, including new gen businesses and start ups. More noticeably, most of these successful women are the kind of women we all deal with and know on daily conversation basis. They are wives, mothers, grandmothers, aunts etc, who have gone through all the cycles that a woman has to in her life time – pregnancy, motherhood, family affairs such as managing aged parents or parents in law etc. 

Coming back to the aforesaid quote, a home maker deserves as much recognition, respect and importance in society as her professionally employed avatar  enjoys, because, in many cases, such women have foregone their aspirations  due to family circumstances. Even if a few have chosen to be a home maker, it in no way belittles their contribution to the family, society and nation!

True celebration of International Women’s Day would be the menfolk deciding from their heart to treat the women around them – mothers, sisters, wives and colleagues – as their equal in all respects – in office, kitchen and above all in life! Happy International Women’s Day to all men and women.