Gone are the days when women used to be behind the veil serving tea when the husband came back from work. Times have changed and so have women. Women in India have indeed stepped out of the Lakshman Rekha that society had imposed with the false pretence of shielding them from evil eyes!
In today’s rapidly modernizing but regrettably still largely male-dominated India, womenfolks have managed to carve a niche themselves. That’s why, you see a woman here and a woman there, whether it is the discipline of politics or computers, science or music, literature or business. Women have indeed found their space and there are many who have achieved unprecedented success! There are hundreds of thousands of females out there who’s done well for themselves yet when you talk about women who are strong role models for the young girls in India, you go dumbfounded or think hard to name one. Or, is there anyone that we look up to?
History cites plenty of great names who have made a difference and changed our country. We have Indira Gandhi, Rani Laxmi Bai, Sarojini Naidu and Mother Teresa to name a few. They are women who represent beauty and bravery both. These women stunned the world by breaking the stereotypes and myths and proved that just by the strength of mind, anybody can do anything. They were infact too bold for their times, isn’t it? And of course in the yesteryears, we had Nadia Comaneci, Hellen Keller and Florence Nightingales that girls from all over the world looked up to. Even when you dig deep in Indian mythology, you had women who were strong role models. Remember the famous five — Sita, Savitri, Draupadi, Ahalya and Arundhati? Yes, these Pancha Satis were the five ideal women that were put on a pedestal and looked up to.
Women have proved that they are second to none but, barring a few like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Bedi and Arundhati Roy, there’s a serious dearth of leadership in our country and a need of women like Rani Lakshmi Bai whose love for the country was much more than love for her home or Mother Teresa who dedicated her whole live for the cause of humanity. They were role models whose qualities we wanted to have and were women we wanted to become. They stunned and inspired not only us but the future generation with their remarkable energy, wisdom and commitment.
Do you have a role model? Which Indian woman of today has greatly inspired you?
My Role Model – Aung San Suu Kyi, the non-violent pro-democracy social activist of Myanmar (Burma). She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. She remained under house arrest for almost 15 years. Her struggle against oppression is still continuing.
@ Anita – She is a brave lady! I also admire her a lot.
Hey this is interesting, I have never looked upto someone famous and thought she was my role model and said.”wow, I want to be like her!!”. Though I have not read many autobiographies (read helen keller, anne frank, indira gandhi, taslima nasreen and recently shobha de..)but none fascinated me enough to follow her. Maybe because I have always thought them as being fictional. However I have some friends who really inspire me especially during depressing times, Like my friend S who was burned by her husband of 8 months (bodyfriend of 4years)and yet she always had a smile on her face all through out her tough times, or one of those enumerous women who juggle between a demanding job, motherhood and a difficult husband and yet dont sit down and cry. I look upto them when I want to crib about how tiring my job is..(to be frank, how hard is to sit on an AC office and make people look beautiful!!). There are loads of people who surround me (Paramjit, Amit, even Sameer’s dad( I had a nice conversation with him the last time I met him..),and many more) and who have really taught me trivias of life. I guess I pick up little things from people whom I know and use them to shape my life in a better way.
@ Roh – WOW…I quite liked what you said, and agree with you too. Eventually it’s the people that surrond us, people we know personally affects our lives and inspires us. Your list made me think of my list. 🙂