Alka Kashyap

The recent Supreme Court ruling that permanent commission be granted to women in the Indian Army has sent a wave of jubilation across the country. What a proud moment for our diligent and hard working ladies breaking new barriers with this landmark judgment.

Once again the age old mores and restrictive conventions have proved redundant in the face of progressive thinking. From time immemorial women have been subjugated as part of ‘tradition’. But what good is tradition which shackles the free spirit of womanhood and makes her feel inferior to the menfolk?

Society has often failed to acknowledge the mind and heart of the “thing of beauty,” it has extolled. The irony was that women were worshipped as a deities and in real life tethered as slaves.

Remembering guru nanak dev ji’s words

Way back in 1499 , Guru Nanak Dev ji hailed the innate strength of women. He said , “ It is from a woman from where we come and it is from her that leaders and kings are born. Then why denounce her?” There is a lot that the custodians of social order could have learnt from his teachings.

Only those women stood out in history who dared to perform as efficiently as men. Rani Laxmi Bai was the undisputed epitome of bravery in the nineteenth century. She broke into the male bastion and shone like a beacon, much before society came to recognise women as a source of great tenacity. As the world gaped at her, Laxmi Bai unflinchingly decimated the enemy camp.

words that stoked the fires of freedom

The twentieth century saw the unbridled charm of Sarojini Naidu, a poetess par excellence who worked relentlessly for the emancipation of both men and women. She empowered the freedom movement by her writings and proved that a pen is mightier than the sword. Her efforts were lauded and she won the coveted sobriquet, ‘Nightingale of India’.

The world was once again witness to brave heart Kalpana Chawla exploring the vagaries of the unknown universe. The astronaut brought glory to our country, even at the cost of her life.

don’t let fear bind women in chains

It is sad when we commit a self goal by putting down our own women as weak and incompetent. When we say women cannot step outside after dark , or they cannot enter all fields of work or temples , or when they work for lesser wages. How can a nation progress by subduing almost half the ratio of its population?

If there is an iota of truth in the saying, ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’, then they deserve a bigger applause.

It is also heartening to see women are taking the road less travelled nowadays, choosing careers in mechanical engineering, forensic science and becoming cab drivers and even wrestlers.

We have certainly started recognising their true abilities even though we still need to clear a few cobwebs from our minds.

A lot has still to trickle down to the grassroots level. Till the day our house help stops taking the domestic violence meted out to her. Till the humble secretary stands up against the lecherous intents of her male bosses. Till the time a movie actress stops compromising for a role and works for lesser remuneration. Till the time there is resistance to female infanticide, sexual harassment and dowry.

It is then that we are likely to stop celebrating Women’s Day and change it to ‘humans day.’