An Eternal Being

When I finished reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, I realized that the status of a woman in our society has been the same for ages. Be it the condition of women in Kabul with the advent of Taliban or deep down India following the Sati Pratha. The Burqua or the Pardah or the ghunghat have adorned women of all ages and stood by as a symbol of protection from unknown men, from wandering eyes and has also withstood time in this fast changing era. But behind this symbol was buried by mankind himself some dreams, some struggles, some willingness to live. Today every now and then newspapers feature heart-rending episodes of women burnt down to death or marriages cancelled on the D-day due to undesired demand of dowry. What we fail to notice in such situations is what the society loses; a woman’s pride, a woman’s dignity.

Woman liberalization has definitely taken some pace in the modern times. More and more women are now coming in the forefront be it Kalpana Chawla or Pratibha Patil or Kiran Bedi all trying to inspire the others to do what hasn’t been dared till now. But with each woman succeeding there is another being forced to follow the Sati Pratha, with one woman landing on the Moon there is another female infanticide taking place, with every woman flying a plane there must be one in your own neighborhood being confined within the doorsteps and forced to handle the chulha chauki.

The constitution of marriage seems to follow some principles. Many a times some questions arise in my mind and remain answered. Why does the bride have to leave behind her house & past life which she has been cherishing ever since her birth? Why does she single handedly have to manage and care about the household without any support from others in the family? Why is she supposed to follow and listen what her husband says, though he is someone who suddenly enters her life? Why doesn’t she have her say in any important matters of the family? Why she has to enter the kitchen in the evenings though she is also one of the bread earners of the family? Even now in some of the suburbs the girl child has to crush her dreams of going to school and studying whereas the son is allowed to study, husbands still snub their wives when a girl child is born or is instructed to abort if she is conceiving a female child.

But the answer to all this lies within. Women Liberalization & Empowerment are not mere words but has a deeper meaning. Women have to realize this inner power that will rescue them from all odds & will enable them to withstand the social norms that come in the form of beliefs and misleading by the society which has to be curbed in such a way that they do not overshadow the dignity, pride & the whole being of a woman.

A woman is considered an epitome of eternal love. She teaches the whole mankind to share, care and sacrifice playing multiple roles of a mother, a sister, a wife & a lover. But at the same time she has to be strong like Sita who despite all her sacrifices had to go through agnipariksha but still brought her kids all by herself, She has to become like Ma Durga who fought with Mahishasur and fought all odds to destroy the devil.