Time to give women the respect they deserve

A mother gives birth to us. All our life, with the blessings of Goddess Saraswati we yearn to get the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi so that Goddess Annapurna favours us. The beauty of ‘Mother’ nature always appeals more than the best of technological comfort. A woman is the vehicle for humans from heaven to earth. Sadly, forgetting the debt of the umbilical chord, a man starts overpowering women as he grows. This is akin to a child playing langadi. While the child balances and hops on one leg, the other leg is comfortably forgotten. But after some distance, both legs are necessary for comfortable walking. Similarly, the role of women is conveniently ignored in society thereby losing an imperative balance.

What may have started as a sign of respect to the so called ‘fairer sex’, many actions soon assumed an authoritarian aspect and slowly graduated to superstitions. The easing of strenuous activities like climbing long innumerable stairs of temples or cooking in unventilated hot kitchens during the menstrual cycle slowly turned into hard restrictions. As times progressed and newer activities emerged, the restrictions and differentiation adapted into new ‘social ethics’. 

‘The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.’ This line aptly denotes the influence of a woman on the human civilization. However the ability of a woman to ‘influence’ has also stifled her freedom. While men are free to do as their will, the same acts by a woman raise eyebrows of ‘watchdogs of the orthodox society’.

The modern society is yet to free itself from the age old clutches of discriminative vision. The freedom of a woman is decided by the rotation of the earth round the sun. While women are free only where the sun smiles on the earth, the patriarchal society illuminates all 24 hours for a man. Going against these time based norms of the society brings questions against the moral character of a woman. Merely getting out post sunset risks women of being labeled with shameful professions. The right to relax and socialize after a long day of work is seen limited to men only.

Women not only work shoulder to shoulder with men, but also lead them in many fields. Despite higher competence and greater efficiency, there is disparity in the pay for same work. Such discrimination in modern omniscient Google (according to US labour report) is disheartening. The support and fan following of a women’s sports team is much lower than corresponding men’s teams. The Indian Air Force took nearly seventy years to follow the Rani of Jhansi regiment of the Indian National Army and allow brave women officers to fly fighter jets, despite the unflinching participation by female freedom fighters in our national struggle.

It is necessary for the patriarchal society to recognize the freedom of women and change its psyche before a Razia Sultan who Iltutmish considered equal to his twenty sons comes and turns the tide on men. We can rightfully face our Bharat Mata only when all her daughter’s are free to move like the air we breathe.