Everyday Is A Women's Day

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Everyday is Women's day, Yes International ,Universal, Cosmic, however you name it. Woman is the first manifestation of life in almost  all myths. Even in the Genesis, the woman is  in man, the thirteenth rib, came out by divine surgery. The earth is The Woman, gives birth to life, sustains it and becomes the stage for its Lila. Woman brings man on the earth, mankind is woman's creation despite man's shenanigans. Woman holds the family together, makes the home liveable. She gives the joy of beauty and love. She sends the man to the battlefield, she sends man to conquer the Everest, swim oceans and explore the space. In the Sankhya philosophy she is the Prakriti, man's  allhadini shakti , the regulatory energy as Radha was to Krishna.

I know you will raise your eyebrows, call me old fashioned. But who has defined woman? We men have defined her position. We thought beauty, delicacy and lithe grace cannot hack ferocious animals, cannot fell trees, cannot do business, cannot enter the entangled web of the market system, cannot fly a fighter jet, cannot kill enemies-she can only clean the floors and kitchen , give birth to children and take care of their upbringing. She is weak and hence should be protected. In the marriage vows man is to protect the woman, feed her and provide for her. Strangely she was never thought of as a celibate. Celibacy was man's monopoly and even for that man needed her companionship. If her shadow falls on a celibate saint the saint will be desiccated. All rules of behaviour, social etiquette were made by men and she was not allowed to sing, dance or read. Many saw her as distraction for she is a temptress.

But all those ideas and rules are now changed. The woman is now everywhere on earth and sky. She mothers the ailing men in hospitals as nurse, she puts the steatho on man's chest as doctor, she wields the scalpel as surgeon, she drives auto and heavy vehicles, she parajumps and works behind enemy lines, she spies in enemy territory, she invents, creates new designs, fashion's the men's world, writes poetry and fiction, anchors  debates and programmes, commands parades, reigns as the head of a state, judges, advocates, performs diplomatic functions and over and above all male functions she bears children which man can never do.

The woman was denied her rightful place in the human order. Now she has claimed her rights by her intelligence and fighting spirit. Woman was always a womb and her rights, if any, were given by men. Mothers taught their  daughters to eat after everyone late, to serve the elders  and take care of the younger ones. Today the parenting has changed. The girl child is no more an unwanted economic curse. Mothers now speak a different language. They are now trained, taught and counselled to be free, brave and pursue their aspirations.

But now the woman has disappeared! That is she is not at 'home' under a veil. She is everywhere participating in all human activities. Those who say the woman has disappeared, are not men only. In the lower middle class families the mother in law always had a role to play that is to order around the daughter in law. These households have missed a free servant. The working women today are self confident. They supplement the family income and at the same time serve the society. Of course the home- workplace situation exists but when a women opts for work she would definitely solve the  accompanying problems. Her will power and  self- belief however get shocks when she gets waylaid  and some drunken men rape her. This problem exists in India and elsewhere in the world despite laws and social alertness. This clearly means that the male order has not changed the mindset. The woman is meant for pleasure and it does not matter  if it is by force. Despite  advance of civilization respect for women is not in the value code of men. In the Muslim countries the woman now is beginning to find her voice.

Women's Day is an official recognition of women's rights as human beings. But the male population should shake off the earlier prejudicial ideas. Women today are well educated in all disciplines of knowledge. In any Board or University examination they are the toppers. They are everywhere but under the protective care of the States. per their due. They are half of mankind yet they are shown 'mercy' by the male world by giving grudging concession  in several areas of life. They are not free to operate in society as per their wishes. They suppress very often their ambitions because of family pressure.  They sacrifice their careers for the family which is sad and unacceptable. In America since 1776 no woman has ever become President. Men never allow their free minds to flourish. But the women are now penetrating and breaking the glass ceiling by their own hard work and intelligence. In the sports field,  Defence territory they are making their presence felt. But now that kind of 'exclusively for women' attitude should change. General inequality has now been  mostly a thing of the past. Why then men's cricket and  women's cricket? If we think the woman Minister is as capable as any man a footballer too should be equally capable to serve her country. If such things do not happen women will always remain as the other sex protected by the Original. No Almighty God of any religious faith is a woman. Hence although she is now free , her fetters have not been removed.

But women should be women not wear men's pants