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Lives of Indian Women : Bristling With Paradoxes
International Women’s Day 2024 is already becoming part of history.But the hype and fervor- call it what you wish- will last a couple of more days… BUT let’s admit nothing will change for our sisters and comrades at the grassroots level, in small towns, cities, and rural areas of our vast sprawling countryside.
Day in and day out Paramjeet a 12th pass homemaker from Ludhiana will run from the kitchen to the dining room to serve perfectly round, piping hot chapatis to the menfolk of the family. If not tender or fluffy enough these will land on the floor. Plonk! The mom- in- law will utter obscenities against her maaika / father’s home for teaching her nothing…
Champa a tea plucker in one of Darjeeling’s tea estates, rises early each morning, finishes her house hold chores and then heads to the garden for day-long tedious duty. Meticulously she picks the two leaves and a bud,,tossing them into the conical basket on her back . For a basketful of tea leaves she gets a paltry amount that can hardly assure her minimal luxuries. Elsewhere, in Lucknow, Kranti is a safai karmchari in a prominent media house. For cleaning all the toilets and disposing garbage she earns around ten quid.. After the dreary job she .winds her way home in a slum cluster where she resides with her paralysed husband and three children.
Such momentous occasions come and go…but nothing reallychanges. These are just a few instances from the present; there are several other aspects of our social life where deprivations and denials continue unabated.
An oft-quoted Sanskrit shloka says yatra pujyate naari ramante tatra devata (lit: where women are venerated, the deities are pleased). Logical. But how does one justify the high incidence of PNDT (pre natal sex determination test) and female foeticide? It won’t be tough to spot a d veteran surgeons (Brahmin born ) officiating as a priest during community worship of Durga/Kali (mother deity/ shakti/ creative energy) with utmost devotion and fervour. On another occasion the same individual may be wielding a scalpel to unscrupulously snuff out a tiny life in the womb,.
There are instances galore. The union as well federal governments offer mid- day meals in government run schools in a bid to lure more pupils. Believe it or not more often boys outnumber the females. In a more gender specific context, parents of adolescent girls discourage their wards from using sanitary napkins and iron capsules provided gratis by schools in collaboration with Ministry of health. Lest some harm befall them.
A few decades earlier The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right. Interestingly a survey conducted three year ago reveals only 20 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 in India completed at least 12 years of schooling. On the other hand, approximately four percent of girls in this category did not attend school. The major factors being poverty, distance from school, teenage marriage followed by pregnancy.
Any mention of Indian women’s education down the centuries invariably tosses up names like Gargi Maitreyi Lilavati Lopamudra, Apala, Urvasi, , Saswati, and Kshana pertaining to the ancient Vedic age. I am tempted to ask:what about the teeming millions? Why were they not encouraged to garner knowledge? The periods that followed witnessed a series of political turmoil and upheavals. Logical . However In the post-1947 years till date educational and welfare schemes have been implemented. Then why is female illiteracy still rampant in the country? The “fault is not in our stars” The rot is in the minds of people who still latch onto the archaic notion that for a “Woman” marriage-home-family is topmost priority. Education is a second. Time to usher in change…Is anybody listening??
Am a trained and experienced features writer with 30 plus years of experience .My favourite subjects are women's issues, food travel, art,culture ,literature et all.Am a true feminist at heart. An iconoclast read more...
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