Women's liberation

I first saw Lakshmi in December 2007, at the school in which I volunteered as a teacher. While she had a demeanour of shyness and quiet – all that is expected of a 15-year-old girl in the tenth grade, she had all the inquisitiveness and curiosity to learn once the class began. If I were to tell you how irregular she was with homework and how often she walked in late and dozed off during lessons, I will be taking away from the point I wish to make. She was not one of my best students by any stretch of imagination but the sincerity with which she said that she did not have time to do homework or that she had to wash clothes before coming to school was real. I paid her as much attention as I could while handling the rowdy class of 17 but it never seemed enough. 

Three months went by and soon the final exams approached. Lakshmi did not turn up to school for the last week. I asked around and discovered that it was because she could not pay the exam fees – a measly Rs. 200. I decided to investigate further and found that she came from a family where her mother was the single earning member. Her father had run away many years back and the family of five (she had three younger sisters) had to manage expenses with her mother’s salary as household help. This explained her behaviour somewhat, as she had to do a lot of the housework herself. However, the fact that she could not afford Rs. 200 was unfathomable. I even offered to pay the fees myself but Lakshmi steadfastly refused to come to class. The real reason turned out to be not poverty, but that her mother wanted to get her married as soon as possible and be relieved of at least one burden.

After having spent seven years in the United States and taking gender equality and women’s rights for granted, this incident was a shocking reminder of the lack of status and opportunities for women in India. While we tout our rise as a nation of opportunities and growth, our girl child is still neglected. While we toast to the new Indian woman who is now a CEO, award winning writer or sports champion, it can be easy to forget that less than half of Indian women are even literate. The number of women in India is approximately equal to the entire population of the European Union, but the average Indian woman lives in a web of ignorance, poverty, and backward social customs.

This incident prompted me to look for statistics relating the status women enjoy in a nation to the overall development of the nation. Could it be mere coincidence that women in the greatest nations of the world enjoy gender equality in all aspects of life? I could even say that women’s empowerment was a good indicator of how developed the nation is. Nowadays, four US women graduate from university for every three US men and this trend holds true for fifteen out of the seventeen rich countries in the world! Even a country steeped in tradition, Iran, is now trending towards having more women graduates. This is clearly an indication of the upward mobility women are seeking and nations are enjoying.

I have been fortunate, having had a lot of support from my family to choose my way of life and make the most of the opportunities that have come my way. I have always enjoyed being a path-breaker having been an active sports player at school and being the first from my extended family to study and work abroad. From a veiled existence in my younger years, it was hard for me to look beyond my social circle to the millions of unfortunate women who did not enjoy the same luxury as I did. Living in the United States further distanced me from ground realities in India. I had always assumed that subjugation of women in India was because women chose not to fight for their rights; they chose not to break rules and traditions. Moving back to India changed these perceptions.

I have a neighbour who is “married” to an already-married man. The law does not recognize her marriage as valid but she refuses to accept the fact and still considers him her husband. It does not come as a surprise that she was not educated beyond 8^th grade. Had she been, she would have been aware of the law, of her choices and of the consequences. This kind of illiteracy regarding the law and the opportunities available is what has made women susceptible to the whims of men. We have cases of female infanticide, dowry deaths, and child marriages every day in our country, which can be prevented simply by educating not only women, but also men. Millions of Indian parents, particularly in rural areas, are averse to sending their daughters to school. They say,” Of what use is school? Will it teach her how to cook and clean the house?”

The general opinion is that gender equality refers to giving women access to education, health-care and employment opportunities but I believe that the status of women in society can be significantly improved when men start realizing that women are not inferior in any way and that they are equals in any endeavour. That women can be breadwinners, homemakers, or both, is an attitude that comes from within, either through family or peer influence.

You may wonder whether this topic has lost relevance in modern times. I can assure you that the welfare and well-being of a girl child is as much of an issue today in India as it used to be in the days of Rama Mohan Roy and Annie Besant. We may have uplifted the creamy layer of women from being a homemaker to an equal earning member of the family but the poorest and the most ignorant of them remain so.

The incident with Lakshmi moved me deeply and has given me even greater determination to do all I can to help women in India. This is an issue that I feel passionately about since I have seen first-hand some of the problems that women face within our society. I am also convinced that India can never achieve its potential as a nation until we empower our women. After analyzing the reasons for my success and that of several other friends, I believe that the first and most important step towards empowering women is through education. Empowering women will drive them to become the motor of development for the country.

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” I strongly believe that the power and the will to change things lie in the small, but firm hands of women.