International Women’s Day is celebrated the world over on
March 8th every year. This day
seeks to celebrate the achievements of women across all fields – economic,
social, political, cultural or in the personal front. It is also a day to create awareness and is a
call for action - to bring about parity in gender.
While gender parity has been achieved to a great extent in
developed countries like the USA and in Europe, India still has a long way to
go. We don’t have to look too far to see
the disparity that exists. Every maid
working in Indian households will give you the real picture – where the husband
comes back home, drunk and tottering, demanding money and sex. And if he is refused, he immediately slaps
the woman and starts a fight. Their
little children are mute witnesses to this injustice and suffer the wrath of
the drunken father, their psyche scarred for ever.
For every Kalpana who has bravely and successfully flown
into outer space, there are thousands of ‘Kalpanas’ in our villages who have
not crossed the thresholds of their homes to enter the gates of a school. For every Mary who has trained and fought
diligently in the boxing ring, there are thousands of ‘Marys’ who have been
pushed into early and unhappy marriages or who have been pawned off to
brothels. For every Kiran and every
Aishwarya who have grown successful businesses and who have attained international
acclaim in beauty pageants, there are thousands of Indian girls who are victims
of acid attack, whose beauty has been brutally peeled away, mutilating them
forever; and several whose young lives have been quashed for not providing the
necessary dowry. For every Lata who has enthralled millions with her beautiful
voice, there are thousands of ‘Latas’ whose woeful cries and plaintive voice
remains unheard.
Ours is a culture that celebrates womanhood, that reveres
‘Shakhti’, that acknowledges, welcomes and worships ‘Devis’. When Lord Shiva is depicted as ArdhaNarishvara,
Shiva and Parvathi are portrayed as equals - both co-exist to form the
whole. Despite such high philosophies in
our scriptures, we turn a blind and often hateful eye when we view our
women. Why do we treat our womenfolk
worse than animals?
Women’s Day is truly a clarion call - a call for all of us
to rise up, and to quell the atrocities against women. Until women are first
and foremost recognized as human beings and treated fairly, we will have to
consider every day as Women’s Day; and work towards their betterment. Just
as King Porus, though bound in chains and captured by Alexander, bravely
answered that he wanted to be treated as an equal, similarly too, Indian women should be able to stand up on
their feet, and look into the eyes of men – not as their tormentors or masters
but as their equals. Only then can we
really celebrate Women’s Day.
