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
