Proud to be a woman

Another beautiful morning and I wake up thanking God to keep me alive so that I could rise and shine once again. I gather the newspaper from the doorstep and a quick scan tells me that its International Women's Day today. But I wonder what difference does it make to me or my daily routine.

As the day progresses, my thoughts keep running hither and thither, back to my childhood and teenage years and without realizing much, I was paying my deepest regards and thanks to all those women who moulded my being with their powerful or not so powerful personna and helped me be what I am today including my teachers, my aunts, my friends, my grandmother and my lovely mother :) whose mere thought brings me a wave of warmth, comfort, joy, protection and a childlike happiness.

Since childhood, I have read numerous stories from our hindu mythology and our Indian history about great women who wrote huge histories like Devi Sita, River Ganga, Maharani Kunti, Rani Laxmibai, Maharani Padmini- Queen of Chittor, Jijabai, Rani Laalbai, Razia Sultan. I remember them all today and feel proud to be a woman.

I am still thinking who among these greatest of women inspired me most. My thoughts once again, run back to the morning newspaper. As a child I grew up reading another kind of stories too. The stories of brides burnt alive, domestic violence, women dying due to lack of health awareness and malnutrition, women sufferring various other mistreatments at the hands of their own family, unbelievable acts of horror especially in rural India for example - accusing innocent women of witchcraft etc.

These stories always filled in me an anger and a greater resolve not to ever let myself become a victim to any of these barbaric crimes against women. It was this resolve that made me realize the importance of education, importance of becoming capable of doing what I wish to do and be what I wish to be and stand up for my rights to live as an equal in the society.

These stories of various unnamed Indian woman inspired me the most to be able to stand on my feet and I am glad that today, far more women in general, have broken the social barriers to carve a niche for themselves in different spheres of life and broken free of the social taboos and stigmas.