Naman to all our girls, women, and mothers on Women’s Day!

Kalpana Bora

(kalpana.bora@gmail.com)

March 8 was declared to be celebrated as Interna-tional Women’s Day eve- ry year by the United Nations in 1975. Since then, the whole world has been observing it to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. Before that, also, Women’s Day was celebrated in different parts of the world since the early 20th century. Such programmes were initiated to promote and safeguard equal rights for women, stop violence and assaults against them, etc. Moreover, every year, the United Nations declares a theme for Women’s Day, and this year’s theme is For ALL Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment. (https://www.un.org/en/observances/womens-day).

Keeping this in view, it is truly appropriate to discuss the relevance of Women’s Day in the context of Bharatiya women. We begin with the legacy of status and empowerment of women in Bharatiya Itihaas. Every child of Bharat is familiar with Mata Sita of Ramayan, Mata Kunti and Draupadi of Mahabharat, Mata Jaiwanta Bai (Mother of Maharana Pratap born in 1540), Mata Jijaibai (Mother of Shivaji Maharaj born in 1630), Devi Ahilyabai Holker (1725-1795), Rani Chennamma of Kittur (1778–1829), Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi (1828–1858), Rani Gaidinliu of Manipur and Nagaland (1915-1993), Birangana Shahid Kanaklata Barua of Assam (1924-1942), and many more. Our Bharatiya women used to enjoy a very respectable and prestigious position in family affairs and in running the kingdom. They had the freedom to choose whom they would marry, in Swayambar. Rani Draupadi used to look after the expeditions of Raja Yudhishthir, keep accounts of the Royal treasury, and even manage the daily kitchen meant to feed the less privileged people of their kingdom. Devi Ahilya Bai Holker, Queen of Indore, worked untiringly for good governance, social welfare, and promotion of cultural, religious, and architectural aspects. She led many battles against invaders like Ahmad Shah Abdali. We can keep on writing endlessly about the heroic stories of the great women of Bharat, and we find that women of Bharat were already so empowered hundreds and thousands of years back. It should not be forgotten that many great women of Bharat were trained, skilled warriors too—be it Mata Sita, Draupadi, Kaikayee, Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, Rani Chennamma, or Jhansi Rani Laxmi Bai.

So then, the question is, why were we made to believe that women in Bharat did not enjoy a respectable status? The picture that the British and leftist intellectuals after independence have tried to paint before us is that Bharatiya girls had no right to education, that they were kept confined inside homes, that they had to wear Parda (veil), that female foeticide was prevalent, that they had no say in family matters, etc. There has been systematic work in academia on building these false narratives so subtly that we indeed started believing them.

The truth, purposefully kept under the carpet, however, is that during the invasions and rules by foreign invaders like Turkish, Afghanis, and Mughals, our girls and women were incessantly assaulted; they would just abduct our girls and women, assault them sexually, forcefully marry them, and convert their religion. Consequently, to protect them, our people started keeping them confined inside homes, and their education was hindered. Still, people would keep tutors at home for the education of their daughters. And that’s how the Parda (veil) system also began.

Thus, it is our duty and responsibility to understand that we, the Bharatiya women, have never been oppressed, that we did and do enjoy a highly respectable position in family and society, and that we were not and are not inferior to women in any other part of the world. Thereafter comes a sensitive debate on the rights and responsibilities of women and mothers to contribute to character and nation building.

Our country is going through an epoch-making phase of progress and development. We just started the journey to make the dream come true of becoming a developed nation (Viksit Bharat 2047). It’s time again to contemplate that nations are built by the character of their citizens, and character is built in families. Mothers play a pivotal role in building the character of children, as children learn what they see in families. We observe that children are under a lot of stress due to fast-changing times in their careers and employment. Children and youth also face social evils like drinking, drug abuse, and the explosion of information on open media, etc. There have been attacks on our culture and values, leading to their contamination. Children are lonely and depressed, and hence they fall prey to several addictions. Our girls are getting married at a late age due to career demands, and even if they get married, many of them bear children at a late age, or maybe some of them don’t want to bear children at all! If the birth rate falls below the replacement level, we will have an ageing population that will lead to a shrinking workforce and affect the economy.

It seems that our sacred institution called “family” is facing imperilment. Because of their talent, career aspirations, changing lifestyle, and economic factors, many Bharatiya women are working and don’t get enough time to spend with their children. True, when the mother is also working, the father should also help with household chores. But some realities and values never change. Like, only a mother can provide love and care during the initial years of a child’s growth due to breastfeeding. Our girls and women are very talented, and they deserve the name and fame in their careers. But then, how much? Why so much competition and mad race? Only money and success in a career cannot be the index to measure happiness. It has to be a balance between our careers, families, and the upbringing of our children. Because, once children grow up, their childhood times will never come back. A mother needs to understand that “they are my children; it is my dharma to raise them the best way.”. Just money can’t do this.

So, it is a challenge for today’s smart woman, who are working mothers, to actualise that it is okay if they achieve a little less in their careers, but it would do wonders if they could spend some more time at home with their children, talking to them, telling them stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and listening to what they have to say. This would contribute to their holistic mental, emotional, and spiritual growth and development. Of course, professional duty should not be neglected; only healthy rationalisation and and fine-tunings are needed. The definition of happiness and ambitions may be re-gauged. Parents need to become friends with children, more so true for mothers. Then they would start sharing their problems and feelings with us. We, the mothers, need to bring a reasonable and sensible balance between the happiness of family and personal career advancement. Our mothers need to learn to be happy, in that although she is working, it is fine if she are not able to achieve as much as their male counterparts, because what they are doing for their children cannot be done by anybody else. After all, nothing can be more important than the future and happiness of children. Our modern mothers need to comprehend these issues.

We, the women and mothers of Bharat, are so bold, practical, confident, and complete, emotionally and spiritually empowered, that we can define our happiness index, which is a relative term indeed. And it has been our legacy to run the families and kingdoms and and raise children with efficiency and perfection. We are Laxmi, Saraswati, and Durga—we just need to understand our duties, responsibilities, capabilities, and boundaries. This will give us contentment; this will spare us some more quality time for our children; we can talk to them; and we can impart in them the Sanskar that our parents gave us, which carries a legacy of thousands of years. Remember, the heritage of our Sanskriti (culture) teaches us what is best for us, the essence of which can never be wrong. Only means to realize the change with changing times with a perfect fusion of our heritage and modernity. When our smart, modern Mothers will understand and implement this using their judgement, they will be raising great children, building their character, who will contribute invaluably to Nation building tomorrow.